Audacity of Hops: Foodies ride Obama tide

Zilly Rosen cheered the election of Barack Obama with sugar and all-purpose flour.

Before the final election results were even certified, Rosen was whipping up some 1,200 cupcakes and fashioning them into an Obama mosaic. Afterward, she gave them to local campaign volunteers in Buffalo, N.Y.

"Food is so frequently the cornerstone of any celebration in any culture," said Rosen, who is both an artist and baker.

She is now working on a 5,600-cupcake installation of Obama and President Abraham Lincoln for the Smithsonian American Art Museum that will be on display Feb. 14.

"Every cupcake I was making was like another vote," she said. "Another vote for Obama!"

Rosen, like other artisan food producers and chefs across the country, has been captivated by the president-elect and is using him as inspiration for culinary creations. Restaurants are offering inauguration specials, and Obama's image is popping up on everything from chocolate confections to sugar cookies at Safeway grocery stores. Meanwhile, Chicago restaurants that Obama frequented are becoming tourist attractions, and celebrity chefs have chimed in about the sort of message they'd like to see the next president send to the American public about healthy eating.

"The way our government works, with checks and balances, there are certain limitations to the executive branch," said Danny Meyer, a New York City restaurateur who sent a letter along with chef Alice Waters and Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl urging Obama to name a White House chef who emphasizes local and organic food. "There are virtually no limits on the bully pulpit or the symbolic nature of setting trends and putting things in people's consciousness."

Foodie-in-chief
Presidential historian Barry H. Landau said Americans have always been fascinated with what the president and his family ate.

Landau, who authored "The President's Table: Two Hundred Years of Dining and Democracy," said that there have been major foodie presidents — from Ronald Reagan, who special-ordered steaks from the 21 Club when he was on a movie set, to William Howard Taft, who weighed 335 pounds and determined where he was going based on food and golf.

But now, thanks to blogs and the 24-hour news cycle, the tiniest details are available about what Obama and his family are eating.

"Barack attracts so much attention about food because he's skinny — and always seems to be eating," said Eddie Gehman Kohan, the creator of the blog Obama Foodorama (Obamafoodorama.blogspot.com), which tracks all things Obama and food related. "The ultimate fantasy is that you can be a foodist and still be skinny."

So when did all the Obama food buzz start?

Gehman Kohan thinks two comments prompted it, the first in the summer of 2007 when he asked, "Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?" The second came in April when he responded to a reporter's question about President Jimmy Carter's meeting with Hamas with "Why can't I just eat my waffle?"

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Gehman Kohan said she was fascinated at how those food comments would then be used in political attacks, such as how Obama was "waffling" on an issue.

But a lot of the draw is pure star power. "Top Chef" season 4 contestant Spike Mendelsohn opened up a burger restaurant in Washington, D.C., this past summer, and put Obama and McCain burgers on his menu during election season. The Obama burger — with blue cheese, bacon, red onion marmalade and horseradish mayo — was far more popular.

"Obama brings a very hip, rock-star feel to D.C., and food is very popular," Mendelsohn said. "Everyone wants to be involved in food and know who is eating what."

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