How Did Two Young Lawyers Get To Have Dinner With The Obamas?
How did two small-firm lawyers from Alabama wind up having dinner with President and Mrs. Obama?
“It was bizarre, surreal — like a Dalí painting,” said Caleb Ballew. “It was one of those experiences where you have to be there to know how you’re feeling.”
The official printed invitation, which came a few days after the email invite — the printed invites had to be redone, due to President Hollande’s complicated love life — listed 7 p.m. as the official starting time. The southeast entrance of the White House opened at 6:30 p.m. for the security checks. It took the Ballews about 20 minutes to make it through security.
After the security checkpoint, they entered a reception area where guests were greeted by White House personnel. The crowd included such luminaries as Justice Kagan and former NBA commissioner David Stern (also a lawyer, a former partner at Proskauer). But nobody seemed to be putting on airs.
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“I never got the feeling that these A-listers and big-time people were sending out the image of being super-important,” said Caleb. “Everyone was so down to earth; that’s the vibe I got.”
They moved from the downstairs reception area to an upstairs reception area, where cocktails and hors d’oeuvres were served. The guests then fell into a receiving line to meet President Obama, President Hollande, and Mrs. Obama. While in the receiving line, the Ballews had this fun celebrity interaction, with NBA star turned Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson:
The Ballews were in the receiving line by Johnson when they realized they were standing in front of the portrait of George Washington that Doll[e]y Madison saved before the White House was burned during the War of 1812. Johnson asked Caleb if he would take a picture of him and his wife in front of the painting.
“Just hearing me say that makes my head want to explode,” Caleb said.
The Ballews got their photo with the George Washington portrait as well:
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When they reached President Obama, a White House functionary announced the Ballews to the president. As they shook hands, the president said to Caleb, without any prompting, “I really enjoyed your letter. Thank you so much for that.”
“I was very impressed,” Caleb said. “There were a number of us ordinary citizens at the dinner, and I was so impressed that the president remembered me and my letter.”
After Caleb and President Obama exchanged some pleasantries, the president said to Caleb, “You’re sitting at my table.”
“I thought he just used that line on everyone,” Caleb told me. “So I said to him, ‘Mr. President, I don’t believe they’d seat me at your table.”
“I’m pretty sure,” President Obama said to Caleb. “I’ll see you in there.”
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The Ballews then met President Hollande, who shook their hands, and First Lady Michelle Obama — who gave them big hugs, and who told Caleb how much she appreciated his eloquent letter.
Caleb said to the First Lady, “Who knew that good grammar could get you a trip to the White House?”
The First Lady said to Caleb, “I want you to go back home and tell every single one of your grade teachers that!”
The Ballews and the other guests then took a trolley to the South Lawn, where the dinner was being held inside a heated tent. When they arrived, Caleb asked one of the honor guards where he could find the Ballews’ table, table 19.
Caleb expected it to be a table somewhere off in a corner. The guard, without even having to look around, directed Caleb towards the large rectangular table directly in front of the stage.
“I said a four-letter word to Kourtney,” Caleb recalled, “then said, ‘We are sitting with the president tonight!'”
The Ballews found their name cards at the President and First Lady’s table, table 19. As is traditional at formal dinner parties, the members of each couple were separated. Caleb was at one end of the table, seated between Lenise Stephenson, the wife of AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, and fashion designer Duro Olowu, the husband of Studio Museum director Thelma Golden. Kourtney was at the other end of the table, seated between Arcelia Rocio Saenz, the guest of labor activist Eliseo Medina, and Frank Skinner, the husband of Maryland teacher Jennifer Bado-Aleman. Two seats away from Kourtney sat Stephen Colbert, and three seats away sat Michelle Obama.
“I could literally touch them if I wanted to,” Kourtney said, “and it took a lot for me not to! But I kept my hands to myself.”
After toasts by President Obama and President Hollande, the dinner proper began. The menu, developed by White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford (another Filipino-American), started off with a fingerling potato velouté, served with American Osetra Caviar, quail eggs, and crisped chive potatoes (photos by Kourtney Ballew):
The soup, which the Ballews identified as their favorite dish, was followed by a “Winter Garden Salad,” which had an “amazing” dressing and elaborate presentation:
The main course consisted of a dry-aged rib-eye steak, with blue cheese and shallots:
The dessert offered a shout-out to the state where President Obama grew up. Check out the Hawaiian chocolate-malted ganache:
After dessert, petit fours — little cotton-candy sticks, more chocolates — were passed around in large, ornate bowls that were themselves made out of sugar. The First Lady is known for her war against obesity, but luckily she instituted a ceasefire for one night.
Following dinner, Mary J. Blige treated the guests to a musical performance. There was no dancing — perhaps to avoid putting President Hollande, who went stag, in an awkward position — but at various points, guests would stand and sway at their seats.
One of the Ballews’ favorite moments of the evening came during the show. Mary J. Blige invited all the ladies in the house to stand while she performed a special song for them. “It was like a private concert just for the women in the audience,” said Kourtney.
Because the men around them were seated, Michelle Obama and Kourtney Ballew were standing right next to each other, singing along with Mary J. Blige and moving to the music.
“Michelle Obama and my wife were singing back and forth to each other,” Caleb Ballew recalled. “They were even hitting the ‘woos’ at the same time! I got to watch my wife jam out with the First Lady. It was a spectacular image that I will never forget.”
At some point during the dinner, the president made the rounds to personally greet each guest at his table. During his conversation with the president, Caleb invited President Obama and the First Lady to come over to dinner should they ever find themselves in northern Alabama, promising to make them his special eggplant Parmesan. Said the president, “I love eggplant parm!”
When President Obama reached Kourtney, he said to her, “I was talking to your husband, who invited me and Michelle over for eggplant parm.” Kourtney replied, “Mr. President, I can vouch for my husband’s eggplant parm. I just don’t know that the rest of the evening will match the hospitality you’ve shown us tonight.”
Following closing remarks by President Obama and President Hollande, the evening concluded and the guests departed. The festivities ended shortly before midnight.
“We got to spend six hours at the White House,” said Caleb, “which was more time than we slept on either Monday night or Tuesday night.” After staying the night at the apartment of a college friend of Caleb’s, the Ballews hit the road before 6 a.m. on Wednesday, and made it back to Huntsville right before the snow.
“We had a great time, and it felt really nice once I got over my nerves,” said Kourtney. “I was afraid of being a bull in a china shop, since I’m not that up on etiquette, but it didn’t feel like that at all. I’m so glad we had the chance to do it — and without becoming a viral video!”
“It was just an incredible experience,” said Caleb. “The President and First Lady showed such genuine care and concern for what was going on with us — and with all the citizens of this country.”
Expected Attendees at Tonight’s State Dinner [White House via Non-Sequiturs]
Behind the Scenes at the France State Dinner: See the Menu [White House]
A little less pomp and pageantry: Obama hosts fewer state dinners [CNN]
Huntsville couple dines with Obamas at White House state dinner [AL.com]
Citizen-Stars of the State Dinner [The Note / ABC News]
