Thursday, June 25, 2009  The First Ever White House Luau: The
Menu  The press pool was booted out of the historic White House
Luau this afternoon before festivities started, but they were
allowed to stay for President Obama's brief Aloha (above). The
lawn of the Hana Kea was decorated with thatched huts, flowers
garlands, shell leis, inflatable sharks and faux boats, and
Congressional members and their families packed the South Lawn.
Post-modern Hawaiian cuisine created by Hawaiian chef Alan Wong
was served as the picnic dinner, which included Wasabi potato
salad, farm green salad, Lomi Lomi salmon, stuffed new potatoes,
BBQ baby back ribs, Kalua pig, shrimp and clams, Tilapia tempura
rolls, crispy chicken hoagies, and grilled lamb chops. Desert
was strawberry tiramisu and chocolate bars. Historic
preservation considerations prevented the White House from
actually digging an imu (oven pit) in the South Lawn to roast a
whole pig, so the Kalua pig was slow-cooked in ovens on site.
Hawaiian dance troupe Tihati p