WASHINGTON (AP) — Butter-poached Maine lobster, beef with shallot marmalade and an American cheese trio will be served when French President Emmanuel Macron takes his seat Thursday as the guest of honor at a red-white-and-blue themed White House state dinner, the first for President Joe Biden.
Dessert will be orange chiffon cake, roasted pears and creme fraiche ice cream.
Everything from the menu to the entertainment to the table settings and other touches for the glitzy dinner were designed by the White House — and first lady Jill Biden — to highlight the ties that bind America and its oldest ally, France.
A state dinner is a high diplomatic honor that the United States reserves for its closest allies.
“The design of this dinner was inspired by the shared colors of our flags, red white and blue, and our common values, liberty and democracy, equality and fellowship,” Biden said. “These form the bedrock upon which our enduring friendship was built.”
The first lady said she was handling the dinner the way that her mother handled family dinners when she was growing up. Her mother brought out the china, fresh flowers and lit candles “even if we were only having fish sticks from the freezer.”
“I learned that setting a table can be an act of love,” she said, before journalists were permitted to see the tablescapes for the dinner, which is part of a broader state visit to the United States by Macron and his wife, Brigitte. Macron landed in the U.S. on Tuesday…
