George Bush could use some kinder, gentler eating habits. At a dinner shortly before his recent hospitalization he reportedly had steak, cottage-fried potatoes, French-fried onion rings and creamed spinach. Fat, fat and more fat; and let's not forget that he campaigned on pork rinds and has an aversion to broccoli.
While thyroid conditions are not directly related to eating habits, overall health certainly is, especially for an aging President. "This is a good time for a nutrition evaluation," says Mary Abbott Hess, president of the American Dietetic Assn. "Particularly after a medical scare, because it increases motivation. And certainly President Bush and his family and the nation want him to stay very healthy, for obvious reasons."
Finding out what the President eats behind closed doors is like trying to pry out the secret formula for a nuclear weapon. ("We are not releasing that information," said a White House spokesperson.) Still, clues from the President's food trail--gleaned from past trips to favorite chomping grounds--reveal an image of less-than-healthy food choices.
"George loves ice cream," says Robert Del Grande, chef and partner of Cafe Annie, who helped coordinate the Economic Summit dinner in Houston last July. "That's why we did peach ice cream with cookies for dessert." Del Grande noted that Bush also had Chinese food while in town for the summit.
The President showed the same tastes at a recent meeting with the prime minister of Japan. "He had ice cream with lunch, and at night, and before he left," says executive chef Michele Pieton of the Four Seasons in Newport Beach. Bush also ate a Chinese dinner at the hotel restaurant.
The President, who likes nachos, requested them for an afternoon snack at the Four Seasons; they were served with guacamole. The next day lunch was ordered in: a Philadelphia sandwich (steak and cream cheese) with French fries. "He ate everything, he loved it," says Pieton.
Indeed, Bush seems to clean the presidential plate when he eats a meal. "They really practice 'waste not, want not'--they finish everything they order," says Robert Tsui, vice president of one of Bush's favorite Chinese restaurants, the Peking Gourmet in Arlington, Va. "His favorite dish is beef Szechuan and he also likes the Peking duck."
Tsui contends that his duck is actually leaner than chicken ("We roast it and scrape away all the fat"). Tsui also wants to set the record straight on presidential vegetables: "He eats vegetables, by the way--just not broccoli."
Kennebunkport is a nutritional bright spot, because there the presidential staple appears to be seafood. His favorite spot is Mabel's Lobster Claw, says the Kennebunkport Chamber of Commerce, which also notes that Bush buys a lot of fresh fish from the local fish market when eating in. But Mabel Hanson, owner of Mabel's Lobster Claw, brings familiar news: "His favorite dessert is buttercrunch ice cream and plain vanilla."
Houston is another city where he eats relatively lean, at least part of the time. "President Bush definitely chooses more of the low-fat menu items," says Ronald Kyburz, executive chef at the Houstonian Hotel, where he stays three or four times a year. Kyburz adds, though, that the hotel always has fresh homemade ice cream waiting to quench a presidential craving ("Not that he has it every single time").
In Houston, Bush will often dine out in local restaurants that cater to his fattier eating side. He is known to patronize Otto's Barbecue, where his favorite order is ribs, leeks, a side of beans and a beer, according to an employee who did not want to be identified.
Bush also frequents a favorite Chinese restaurant in Houston. "Generally he tells me, 'Give me the usual,' " says Hunan's owner, James Huang. "The usual" consists of Hunan beef, Hunan pork, eggplant Hunan-style, mushu pork and a house specialty, Phoenix chicken. When dining with a large group of people, he adds Peking duck. If Bush has a dessert at Hunan, it is usually a banana coated with butter and honey and deep-fried.
Huang notes that Bush has been a regular customer since the restaurant opened about 15 years ago. He proudly divulges that he was a guest at a White House dinner last year and was seated at the head table. The main course: steak.
Another food glimpse of Bush is captured in "The New American Sampler Cookbook" (Kent Sate University Press: $24.75), a recently published collection of recipes from White House and congressional notables. Bush contributed four recipes, of which two entrees are particularly fat-heavy. His "Mexican mound" includes many fatty ingredients: sour cream, avocado dip, corn chips, two pounds of meat and Cheddar cheese.
The second entree, lemon chicken, sounds nutritionally promising but calls for a cup of whipping cream and a couple of tablespoons of butter. Both entrees are fat-heavy, with 60% or more of their calories coming from fat. Bush's other offerings are sounder: clam chowder and oatmeal lace cookies.
