President’s Day

President’s Day came early to Washington. … one week ago to the day, to be exact. That’s when Italian President Sergio Mattarella lunched at Georgetown’s Cafe Milano with Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero. President Mattarella was in town for a brief meeting with President Obama as part of his week long tour of The United States that included New York and Houston and no stop in Washington escapes the allure of Franco Nuschese’s Cafe Milano.

“It is my pleasure to welcome President Mattarella and his delegation to the Oval Office,” said President Obama when welcoming him to the White House. “The President has an extraordinarily distinguished career as an academic, as a jurist, as a public servant. He has the honor of being the first Sicilian to become President of Italy.” This comment, of course, was no doubt the impetus for a Sicilian lunch created by Chef Franco Sangiacomo, not withstanding the fact that Nuschese is also Sicilian.