Well, if these are any indication, Obama likes a place with a good reputation, nothing too spicy or out of the ordinary, and prefers to be downtown, especially in the Village. His visits may temporarily cost restaurants business because of the crowd outside and the inconvenience of Secret Service agents, but they make up for it in the extreme afterwards because of the flocks of Obama-loving yuppies who will pay dearly for a bit of the nation's first family sheen.

Restaurant: Blue Hill
Location: 75 Washington Place
Date: May 30, 2009
Occassion: Date night with Michelle
Description: "Blue Hill's menu showcases local food and a wine list with producers who respect artisanal techniques. Ingredients come from nearby farms...Guests can choose from the regular menu or opt for the 'Farmer's Feast,' a five-course tasting inspired by the week's harvest."
Meal: Ate from the tasting menu. Barack had wine, Michelle had two martinis, that lush.
What Critics Say: "Although not as extreme or innovative as Craft, Blue Hill is the city's other seminal Greenmarket haven, so expect a certain amount of hushed reverence here, a certain amount of ecstatic whispering about the quality of the summer peas." [NY Mag]
What It Says about Obama: He likes to support local agriculture, while keeping a low profile.

Il Mulino
Location: 86 West 3rd St.
Date: September 14, 2009
Occasion: Lunch with Bill Clinton
Description: "Il Mulino...brings the Italian tradition of fine food and hospitality to your table. Simple, straightforward, wholesome and always fresh—it's the Il Mulino tradition."
Meal: Both had fish, pasta, and salad.
What Critics Say: "For more space, more invention and more restrained portions and sauces, you go elsewhere. But for trend-resistant cooks and tuxedoed waiters eager to pummel you into gastronomic submission, you go to Il Mulino." [NY Times]
What It Says Obama: He likes a safe place with a good name recognition. Also, he's trying to keep Bubba out of McDonalds.

Craftsteak
Location: 85 10th Ave
Date: October 20, 2009
Occasion: We're not sure yet.
Description: "Craftsteak New York redefinies the concept of a steakhouse by focusing on beef sourced from the world's top ranchers and artisanal producers and dry-aging it in the restaurant's own aging room."
Meal: He's probably placing his order right now. Suggestions?
What Critics Say: "The decor of the place is beautiful. I would definitely go there again, but would try something different. Love this new area it is located in. The last time I was in that area (16 or so years ago) it was swarming with prostitutes and some really bad looking ones at that!" [Yelp]
What It Says about Obama: He likes something that is sure to please everyone and won't be too controversial. Just like his policy decisions!

[Image via Getty]

Also:

Tuesday, December 4
I had a quick coffee at Balthazar, because I live a block away, with another person that's helping me out with another restaurant. I finally made it to Equinox on Crosby and Prince and got a yogurt and granola with fresh fruit at 'wichcraft at Equinox.

Then I didn't eat again till dinner that night. I went to Marlow & Sons and had roast chicken and a lot of Blue Point oysters — I think we had twelve. Then I came back to my restaurant where it was a really busy Tuesday night. At midnight I cooked scallops for the guys in the kitchen, showing them a new way. So I ended up eating six dayboat diver scallops. I'm always in the kitchen cooking, whether it's for me or one of the little line cooks ... we'll try to make Mexican or something.

Anthony Martignetti Plots a New Restaurant Over Croissants at Pastis

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They were mostly creamy and bland. Some of them were disgusting, while others were disgusting in a good way. A favorite was called "Trypto-Fan." It was sort of like Thanksgiving dinner mushed up in a dish, but it didn't take any prizes.

The winning casserole, which will be featured on Brooklyn Label's menu for a month, is called "Cheese Love," and all that we could discern about it was that it contains a lot of cheese. Christine Onorati, owner of beloved Franklin Street bookstore Word, was stoked, but was disappointed that her favorite hadn't won. "You have to try it! It's so spicy, though, I'm warning you," she'd said earlier. We tried it and it tasted like the flavor packet from a thing of spicy ramen. Later we thought we had food poisoning for a minute but maybe it was just Casserole Fever.

(This all plays into a pet theory: It's like the cast of characters that make New York interesting—Kenny Shopsin a prince among them—are constantly being called upon to reinforce faltering areas and retreating from hopeless ones. It's the strategy of a losing army. So the Lower East Side is richer for Kenny Shopsin and the West Village happy but poorer without him.)

Anyway. This isn't a knock on Market Table. Of the Bedford Street restaurant row, it is by far the best. Barfry is a bowling alley to its ballroom. Blue Ribbon bakery, though it's been there forever, can only look on in envy at what Market Table has done and think to itself, "Whoa, that is like a better us!" (That's how I feel when I look at Seth Meyers.)

The times I've visited Market Table, the food has been nicely done. There's also Yuengling which, as a Philadelphia boy, warms my heart. The crab cake sandwiches are, according to a Washingtonian friend with whom I ate, Chesapeake quality. Ed Levine calls their lunch hoagie one of the best in the city. The swordfish steak, on a bed of corn, avocado and greens, really showcases Price's ability to coax the best out of a fish.

The check comes in music books. One time I got a Marvin Gaye bio. The other night, my dinner for one (not sad, I had a book) came to $60, The check was tucked into the page of John Szwed's So What: The Life of Miles Davis. It was on page 269, at which point Miles Davis is roaming through the flash and funk boutiques of the West Village, high out of his mind. Would he have preferred Kenny Shopsin's blisters on my sisters to Mikey Price's apple and fennel salad?