[CANCELLED] The Rosenbach Presents Alexander Prud’homme, Author of Dinner with the President

Sponsored by Renée Sackey in honor of her late husband David Rosenbach Sackey

Registration

• This is an in-person program held at the Rosenbach. Please check your spam folder for your email confirmation. If you have questions, please call (215) 732-1600 or email [email protected].
• Registration opens for Delancey Society members on Wednesday, August 16, for Rosenbach members on Wednesday, August 23, and for the general public on Wednesday, August 30.

Description

Some of the most significant moments in American history have occurred over meals, as U.S. presidents broke bread with friends or foes: Thomas Jefferson’s nation-building receptions in the new capital, Washington, D.C.; Ulysses S. Grant’s state dinner for the king of Hawaii; Teddy Roosevelt’s groundbreaking supper with Booker T. Washington; Richard Nixon’s practiced use of chopsticks to pry open China; Jimmy Carter’s cakes and pies that fueled a détente between Israel and Egypt at Camp David.

In his new book, Alex Prud’homme invites readers into the White House kitchen to reveal the curious tastes of twenty-six of America’s most influential presidents, how their meals were prepared and by whom, and the ways their choices affected food policy around the world. And the White House menu grew over time— from simple eggs and black coffee for Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and celebratory turtle soup after and squirrel stew for Dwight Eisenhower, to jellybeans and enchiladas for Ronald Reagan and arugula for Barack Obama. What our leaders say about food touches on everything from our nation’s shifting diet and local politics to global trade, science, religion, war, class, gender, race, and so much more. 

The program will begin with a conversation between Prud’homme and Dr. Alexander Lawrence Ames, Director of Outreach & Engagement at the Rosenbach, as well as Judith M. Guston, the Rosenbach’s Curator & Senior Director of Collections, who co-curated the Rosenbach’s new exhibition Succession: Why Presidential History Matters Now.  Following the discussion, Guston and Ames will lead gallery tours of Succession, and Prud’homme will sign copies of Dinner with the President for sale in the Rosenbach’s gift shop. Whet your appetite for American history with this spectacular evening at the Rosenbach! 

About the Speaker

Alex Prud’homme is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and other publications. He is the coauthor of Julia Child’s memoir, My Life in France, and has authored or coauthored The French Chef in America, France is a Feast, Born Hungry, The Ripple Effect, Hydrofracking, The Cell Game, and Forewarned. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.