Guests at Thursday night’s state dinner at the White House for Chinese President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan will dine on a lavish three-course meal with dishes chosen to emphasize American ingredients “with a subtle Chinese influence.”
Mrs. Trump’s office unveiled the menu, which will close out a day filled with meetings and conversation between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi.
Chefs will serve a yellow squash appetizer drizzled with scallion oil and a main course of sesame-crusted sea bass and crisp baby bok choy. The two dishes bring “the culinary traditions of both nations together,” the White House said.
For dessert, state dinner guests will dine on vanilla cremeux with sour cherry confit, both topping a walnut frangipane, ice cream made with honey gathered at the White House beehive. Mrs. Trump unveiled the new beehive on the White House grounds in April.
Diners will also begin their meal by toasting a glass of Schramsberg Blanc De Nori as the dinner’s wine accompaniment. The White House says the wine is a reference to the 1972 “Toast to Peace” between former President Nixon and former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing.
Tables in the East Room will be laid with red linens and its urns filled with red blossoms, which the administration said is a reference to the color’s significance in China. The decor for the evening is “an expression of warmth and celebration,” the White House said.
The entertainment will be provided by opera singer Christopher Maccio, who performed this month at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas. Musicians from the U.S. Army and Marine Corps will also perform.
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