FEATURE
EXPERIENCES | WORKING FOR THE PRESIDENT’S HOUSEHOLD
Since opening in March 2008, the success
is still continuing. Honestly, right now I’m
figuring our how to expand to make it even
larger. My background validates me being a
curator because I actually did the job in the
Whi te House.
What can visitors find in the museum?
I wanted to showcase all of the 45
Presidents’ favourite foods. You can see
them visually here in the museum and I
tell a lot of jokes to tourists. Visitors love
to see that Donald Trump’s favourite is the
Keebler Vienna cookies with the little elf on
the front of the package. They also like to
know that Nixon eats his cottage cheese
with ketchup poured all over it. People who
visit get to see weird little things about how
THE INN OF THE PATRIOTS
the Presidents behave and when you put it
out there they find some of it quite hilarious. Elizabeth’s mum wasn’t sure how to eat
Of course, funny little incidents that have a hot dog and didn’t want to shove it into
happened in the White House resonate very her mouth. Instead she ate it with a knife
well with our visitors. and fork, like a civilised person. They tried
For example when King George VI was
to turn it into a smear campaign but the
visiting America, Franklin Roosevelt served White House Press Secretary managed to
him a hot dog, he ate it so fast that people stop that. We have the silver fork resting on
were shocked. He asked for another one, a hot dog in the museum. Even President
when people told him the hot dog was Obama didn’t know about that till he visited
actually just for photographs for the New Buckingham Palace.
York Times he replied ‘no I would really like
In the first instance, people think the
another one, they are really good.’ The Presidential Culinary Museum sounds
King had a very successful visit and people stupid. People ask me what the fascination
started cheering and clapping. Queen is with the museum, it’s just about what
people eat? The museum is about culture
and we’ve had tens of thousands of
visitors. It’s been featured on Food TV
Network Magazine, newspapers and we
even had a major television series. The
public loves to know what people are
eating. It’s something we do three times
a day, so why wouldn’t you like to talk
about it?
What are your plans for the future?
I want to expand the existing hotel and
maybe build it up to about 200 rooms. Our
goal right now is to open the restaurant
with a menu that consists of the favourite
dish of every American President. No one
has ever done that, making it a totally
new concept.
September 2017
www.hotelowner.co.uk
25