DC Events

Washington, DC resembled Hollywood last weekend at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner. This annual black-tie affair gathers the WHC association's members who hold hard passes for the White House or Hill proceedings. This year, the over 2,000 event attendees also included attracted top-notch celebs such as Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman, Sting, Steven Spielberg, and Glenn Close.

Located at the Hilton Washington, DC hotel, the evening began with a number of elegant receptions. A blank fabric canvas backdrop was a showcase of changing audio-visual projections of automobiles, inventions and social issues through time at the Thomas Reuters reception, where guests also enjoyed political-themed cocktails such as the One Hundred Day Martini. The big Atlantic Media party featured Andy Warhol-like murals of President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and other politicos as well as a red carpet that welcomed the likes of John Bon Jovi and George Stephanopoulos.

On to the main event, the evening's dinner was crafted by the DC hotel's Executive Chef Andrew Cote, according to Obama Foodorama. Passed appetizers included prosciutto toscano, oregano brie, and spiced olives (about 250 pounds of prosciutto and 350 pounds of brie were used!). A wild watercress salad was served with a petite filet with sundried tomatoes and sides of seared escolar with olive tapenade; asparagus, cippolini, green and yellow squash with porcini; and mushroom demi-glace. Instead of dessert, a $23,000 donation was made by the WHCA to So Others Might Eat, a non-profit organization that works to meet the basic needs of DC's homeless and poor citizens.

In addition to feeding the hungry, the $200-per-ticket Washington, DC event also raised money for journalism scholarships.