Results tagged “Barack Obama” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Lawrence Ferber timed his visit to Rio de Janeiro well, arriving just in time for the announcement that the city won its Olympic bid for 2016. He sends along a dispatch from the weekend's festivities.
 
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Obrigado, Olympics Committee! A geyser-like spray of silver confetti greeted the announcement that Rio won the bid to host the 2016 Olympics, and the glittering cloud engulfed the jubilant crowd of Cariocas who had gathered in front of the Copacabana Beach stage, flanked by giant TV screens, to take in the news and par-tay.

With the famed Copacabana Palace Hotel looming to the left, and the ocean to the right, the celebration was one big samba, with music and local celebrities keeping everyone entertained. But come 1:30 p.m. the televised proceedings from Copenhagen held us rapt. Rio had lost its 2012 Olympics bid (and at least two others before it), but now following a two-year campaign it had beat out second front-runner Madrid (which was booed when the name came up during the announcement), Tokyo, and Chicago. Not quite gingerly but politely enough, many Brazilians, and even some North American visitors, remarked that Chicago would have been a boring choice - "it's South America's time!" nodded one visiting American journalist.

As executive chef and co-owner of two ingredient-centric Blue Hill restaurants in New York, Chef Dan Barber is a leading figure in the nation's farm-to-table movement. In May, Barber's reputation was boosted when he was voted to the Time 100 list of the World's Most Influential People, and by his James Beard Award win for the nation's top chef. Then of course, there was the highly publicized Presidential date night, where Barack and Michelle Obama dined at Barber's New York City restaurant while all the world watched.

While Blue Hill in Manhattan's Greenwich Village satisfies the urbanite's appetite for Barber's innovative cuisine, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, 45 minutes north of the city, has become a destination for food lovers of all sizes and stripes. The restaurant shares 80 acres of Rockefeller family land with the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, a diversified organic farm and educational center. The center's rich mix of programs and activities (cooking classes, tastings, farmer-in-training after-school activities) is complemented by the restaurant, which brings field to the plate by highlighting the pleasure of eating seasonal ingredients grown or raised just outside the door. Writer Pat Tanumihardja caught up with Barber at the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sustainable Food Institute to chat.  

Did you have an "aha" moment when you knew you wanted to be a chef? How did the sustainability factor come into play?

I never had an "aha" moment. I wish I did. I'm still having a moment of figuring out what's the best place for me. The sustainability question happened kinda naturally over the course of my life. I grew up working on my family's farm where my grandmother was a proponent of open space and using farming to promote the natural beauty of the land. That's sort of what I became inculcated with. It informs the chef I became.

You are often called a celebrity chef and receive a lot of attention for the work you do to connect the farm to the kitchen, especially at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. How are you dealing with all this fame?

I like celebrating food. I don't know if I like celebrating myself [laughs]. People always talk about Stone Barns and me like I'm this leader leading everyone to a new frontier. I consider myself to be the recipient of a lot of attention based on an issue that has been forced to the forefront, not because of me, but because of visionary people: farmers, writers and serious academics. [These people] have taken fringe ideas and made them more mainstream. So I look at it like crashing a party. I'm lucky to have this canvas of Stone Barns to work on where what I say or do gets the light shining on it. It otherwise wouldn't have happened with our other restaurant in midtown Manhattan.

I've been meaning to blog about my visit to Ray's Hell-Burger (get it?), a fantastic burger joint in Arlington, Virginia, which I visited the weekend before last. So imagine my surprise to hear that I missed spotting President Obama by just a few days! Turns out the POTUS and VPOTUS went out for lunch to the local eatery yesterday afternoon, surprising a long line of patrons who had turned up to grab a juicy burger and got a glimpse of the commander in chief instead. How's that for a burger endorsement?

It's obvious that Barack has good taste when it comes to burgers, and these are some of the best I've found in the D.C. area. The shop, which opened last fall, is a no-frills local spot decorated with B-movie posters; paper towel rolls stand in for napkin holders on the tables. The admittedly huge portions come laden with toppings, which range from the standard applewood smoked bacon and cheddar cheese, to highbrow selections like foie gras and truffle oil. The burgers themselves are made of the trimmings from the proprietor's other restaurant, Ray's the Steaks, which is just down the block from the shop, and all of them come served on a brioche roll, which does get a tad soggy if you're a slow eater. Best to grab it with both hands and dig in. No fries are served (apparently, the owner believes they detract from the burger experience) but you can get a side of cole slaw or potato salad, both of which are top-notch. Finish it off with a root beer and you might mistake Ray's Hell-Burger for heaven. 

Plan Ahead: If you're in the Washington area, you can check out Ray's by trekking across the river from D.C. to the Courthouse Metro stop in Virginia. If you arrive on a weekend, be sure to check out the flea market that pops up in a large parking lot nearby.

Ray's Hell-Burger: 1713 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22209; +1 703 841 0001.   

Some people knew they'd be heading to the Inauguration weeks in advance. But Traveler photographer Catherine Karnow made a last-minute decision to hop a flight cross-country to witness history. On Tuesday morning, she stood alone on the Mall with her camera. She got the amazing shot below, and here, she tells us the story behind it.

I wasn't planning to go to the inauguration. I was going to stay home in San Francisco, watch it on TV, and then go to my brother's house for fish soup and champagne.

Then on Sunday night at nine o'clock, I suddenly decided I must be in Washington, so I booked a seat on United and started packing cameras and long underwear. I arrived late Monday night, studied the inauguration website for rules and routes, repacked to get all my gear to fit in a tiny evening bag (the only small shoulder bag that I had), and slept for two hours.

I wanted to be on the Metro by 4:30 a.m., as the warnings about crowds and access had me extremely worried.  One friend had told me that she was denied access onto the Mall during Sunday's concerts because "it was full." The Mall was full? I wasn't taking any chances. My plan was to get to the Lincoln Memorial, park myself in front of a JumboTron and be amongst the people and the excitement. I didn't need to be close to the Capitol, just fully immersed in the crowd.

I arrived in town at 5:30 a.m. It was pitch dark, and already people were streaming towards the Mall. I went with the flow, and ended up at a spot much closer than intended, within a clear view of the Capitol. People were strewn on the ground, sleeping on cardboard and wrapped in blankets; it was bitterly cold. I decided to stay where I was. I wanted to be near a screen, and be surrounded by people who felt right and whom I wanted to photograph. It was important to me to be in the right place. This felt right, somehow. 

Our friends over at the National Geographic Channel are hopping on board the presidential news cycle - literally - with their in-depth program, premiering this weekend, all about Air Force One. National Geographic was there when President Obama boarded the plane for the first time, and the clip above shows him meeting the pilot and staff - and checking out the menu from the in-flight kitchen (he likes his burgers medium-well, with cheddar cheese and fries).

Visit the Channel site to get the inside scoop on the plane: I love the virtual tour of the jet's layout, and the awesome paper airplane models you can download and build. Plus, who knew that you could follow Air Force One on Twitter?

Watch On Board Air Force One on the National Geographic Channel on January 25th and 28th, at 8pm EST.

Video via the National Geographic Channel

Cultural Tourism DC, a nonprofit coalition that promotes authentic cultural institutions in DC, has compiled a handy and extensive list of inaugural celebrations and specials at local museums for those braving the crowds next week.

Some of our faves include:

• The Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences will offer free admission next Tuesday. Stop by to learn the scientific principles behind one of Obama's campaign priorities, global warming. If you're one of the first 500 visitors, you'll get a free commemorative key chain.

• While the National Portrait Gallery is always free, what better time to visit its collection of presidential portraits, the only complete one outside of the White House, than on Inauguration Day. Be sure to also check out Shepard Fairey's now-iconic, mixed-media stencil collage portrait of Obama in the New Arrivals section on the first floor.

• Relive the drama of Obama's 18-month presidential campaign as photo historian and NYU professor Deborah Willis discusses and signs copies of her book, Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs, at the recently revamped American Museum of National History from 1-3 pm.

• With temperatures expected to hover in the 30s on Inauguration Day, head indoors to the National Archives to watch a live telecast of the Inauguration in the McGowan Theater. It's free but try to arrive early as Pennsylvania Avenue, a direct route to the Archives, may be closed to pedestrians as the parade nears.

For more great ideas on things to do this weekend, be sure to check out Traveler's Inauguration Travel Guide.

Image: Shepard Fairey/Obey Giant.com

Ben's Chili Bowl, where only Barack Obama and Bill Cosby can eat for free, is just one highlight of DC's U Street.  After chowing down on a killer half-smoke with chili, you can stretch your legs and explore the street that first gained fame in the early 20th century as Washington's 'Black Broadway.' Then it was home to Langston Hughes and Duke Ellington and hub for African American culture and nightlife in the city, and today it's enjoying a new renaissance, with distinctive shops like moojoo ken, top jazz clubs like Bohemian Caverns, popular bistros like Cafe Saint-Ex and Marvin, and a collection of wine bars like Vinoteca and Cork. In celebration of Inauguration Day, the bookstore cafe and gathering place Busboys and Poets will be open 24 hours, and Cake Love, our favorite place for homemade cakes, will be offering a special confection named 44, a "Salty Caramel layer cake to honor our 44th President" with individual slices for $4.40.

Traveler staffers Janelle Nanos and Krista Rossow had a blast making this walking tour photo gallery of U Street, part of our extensive Inauguration Guide to DC. But when they stopped at Ben's Chili Bowl and Krista pulled out her camera to photograph one of the famous half-smokes, the waiter stopped her. "Wait a minute," he said as he took the plate back to the kitchen. Uh-oh, thought Krista and Janelle. A minute later the waiter returned, with the half-smokes sweetly decorated, as if they were birthday cakes. Thanks, Ben's!

Photo:  Krista Rossow