As the Restaurant Industry Struggles, the President Talks About Butter

He claimed he’d already “saved” the restaurant business, and at one point asked the chef Thomas Keller about his favorite butter:

THE PRESIDENT: What’s the difference in butter? Tell me. The difference in butter between what she sells you and what you would normally be able to buy. Out of curio- — I don’t want to —

MR. KELLER: It’s — it is extraordinary because it is — it is truly a seasonal product, so the butter changes flavor and color depending on the season. So in the early —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: There’s no comparison.

MR. KELLER: — in the spring, when they’re eating green, when they’re grazing on grass — green grass — the butter is —

THE PRESIDENT: That’s fantastic.

MR. KELLER: — a beautiful orange hue. And, of course, in the summertime, it turns lighter because they’re eating hay. So — and the flavors taste —

THE PRESIDENT: Mike just said there is no comparison. He knows. (Laughter.)

MR. KELLER: There’s a —

THE PRESIDENT: He knows. (Inaudible) from Indiana. He knows.

MR. KELLER: There’s a tremendous — a tremendous difference in the butter from —

THE PRESIDENT: No kidding. So, that’s good.

MR. KELLER: Oh, yeah. It’s extraordinary.

For those watching the remarks, or reading the transcript published by the White House, it often seemed like a few men — and all 10 of the restaurant representatives at the table were men — tipsily chatting over their picket fences on a summer afternoon.

source: nytimes.com