The White House is serving a three-course meal, plus dessert made with honey from Melania Trump’s beehive, during its state dinner with King Charles and Queen Camilla.
The first lady pulled out all the stops when planning the Tuesday night dinner to honor the special relationship between the U.S. and U.K. as Americans celebrate 250 years of independence.
Guests will start with a hearts of palm salad and garden herb velouté sauce as the first course. The second course will feature handcrafted spring herb ravioli. And a third course of Dover sole meunière will be offered to guests. This French fish dish will include sweet snow peas and layered potatoes pavé.
The show-stopper will be the dessert course. Guests will enjoy a beehive-shaped chocolate gâteau, which is a French flourless cake, filled with vanilla bean crémeux custard. The dessert will also feature almond joconde, a French sponge cake, and will be served with crème fraîche ice cream and White House honey.
The king and queen landed in the U.S. Monday for their four-day visit. They were quickly welcomed by President Donald Trump and Melania, who walked the beekeeping enthusiasts across the White House South Lawn for a viewing of the first lady’s new beehive. The beehive is shaped like a miniature White House.
The White House beekeeping program began in 2009 under the Obama administration. Melania’s new hive adds two new bee colonies to the two existing colonies.
Melania’s new hive is expected to increase annual honey production by about 30 pounds, according to the White House. The honey will not only be used in White House culinary dishes, but will also be given as official gifts from the Trumps and donated to local food kitchens.
The state dinner courses are being served on both the Clinton and Bush china services and paired with three different wines — Hopkins Riesling “Heritage” 2024, Penner-Ash Pinot Noir “Willamette Valley” 2022 and Newton Chardonnay “Unfiltered” 2022.
The star-studded guest list for the state dinner includes chief executives, conservative-leaning Supreme Court justices and several Fox News hosts.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Paramount chief David Ellison were invited to the dinner, as were Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sam Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas.
Fox News’ Bret Baier, Maria Bartiromo, Laura Ingraham and Jesse Watters are also on the guest list. There were also members of Trump’s Cabinet, members of Congress and members of Trump’s family on the guest list.
On the British side, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Christian Turner, the British ambassador to the U.S., were invited.
Guests will enjoy music from performers in the Marine Corps, Army and Air Force.
After spending two days in Washington, Charles and Camilla will head to New York Wednesday to spend time with first responders and families of victims affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The king and queen will conclude their visit Thursday in Virginia, where they will take part in several community events.
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