Day 26
Feb. 14, 2009
"It's crazy. You're eating dinner 30 feet from the most famous person in the world."
—Brandon Byrne, a 22-year-old Northwestern student, after spotting the Obamas on a Valentine's Day date in Chicago restaurant Table Fifty-Two
Barack and Michelle Obama, who are known for their Saturday-night dinner dates, use the romantic holiday to escape from the White House and return home to Chicago to enjoy a quiet dinner out together. They are given a private dining room on the second floor of Table Fifty-Two, owned by Oprah's onetime personal chef Art Smith, where the First Lady dines on pistachio-crusted chicken breast with coconut-ginger chili sauce and the President orders the grouper special.
Obama has much to toast on his date with his wife, since the stimulus bill was passed the night before. In his weekly radio/video address that morning, the President takes a victory lap, calling the vote "a major milestone on our road to recovery."