TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Pass the pie, madame president

ADVERTISEMENT

By STEVE OTTO Steve Otto

sotto@tampatrib.com sotto@tampatrib.com

Published: May 15, 2009

Bailey's great - and if you've tried his shrimp and grits, with sides of mac and cheese and greens, you know what I mean - little restaurant in Hyde Park only is open Wednesday through Friday for dinner. Owner Kim Bailey spends the rest of his time catering and doing special events.

But even he was taken aback when he was asked to cater a dinner for the visiting president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirlief, who was in town last week to deliver the commencement speech at the University of Tampa.

"It was a little different." Bailey says. "It's not like you just meet with the host and ask them what they want. I had to get with the Secret Service, the sheriff's office, the police and there were even people from the bomb squad."

The dinner was at a private house just off West Shore Boulevard. Bailey and his people met there and went over logistics of feeding a head of state. "They gave me and one other person a pin that meant we were the only ones authorized to actually serve the food."

"The most important thing for me was to cook something she would like. I mean I would hate to have an international incident over shrimp and grits. They told me she liked fish, so I tried to work everything around a fish course and then something else for anyone who didn't. I mean there was plenty of food."

Guess so. He says there were 22 guests, "but there were another 15 to 20 people we fed as well, including the Secret Service. I don't want you to think they messed around. They ate in shifts, but they ate a lot."

In case you wonder what a Liberian president gets when in Tampa, the menu included sweet potato biscuits with ham and boysenberry horseradish; crab cakes, shrimp canapes, homemade pear sorbet, pan-seared Chilean sea bass, oven-roasted ratatouille, and prime beef burgundy.

There was lots more but you get the picture: a typical supper here in Tampa. I asked Bailey why he went with foreign sea bass from Chile instead of maybe an all-American catfish and he didn't have an answer.

He did say Her Excellency ("They told me to call her either Madame President or Her Excellency") cleaned her plate, had seconds and had his all-American apple pie a la mode.

Name dropping

First it was an invasion of love bugs. Then last week the names of political candidates began spattering all over the landscape. It was a reminder of what we face next year even if the recession ends this year.

Here's a name I didn't see much this week, although it has popped up in the past. A friend who listens to political zephyrs out of Tallahassee says former attorney general and Department of Children & Families head Bob Butterworth is seriously considering a gubernatorial run against the likely Democratic front-runner, Alex Sink.

Sam Gibbons

No, Sam Gibbons' name did not crop up this week as a potential candidate. Too bad. But he was honored on Thursday by Seniors in Service as they celebrated 25 years at their annual breakfast; although Sam's service to this country began long before he became a senior.

Keyword: Otto Graphs, for more of Steve Otto's musings.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT