Andrés further recalled how Harris once cooked a paella for him. “I may be the king of paella, but she was in charge,” he marveled. “When it comes to food policy, we got the right candidate.”
Lakshmi fondly recalled Harris telling her about a Moroccan tagine with tabbouleh that she recently cooked. “Yes, she’s a good cook, but she’s going to be an extraordinary president,” the former Top Chef host declared.
James Beard Award–winning chef Meherwan Irani lauded Harris’s knowledge of Indian cooking, fantasizing about what she would bring to the Oval Office as its first South Asian occupant. “I would love the thought of just the smell of cardamom and ginger and a little hint of clove just wafting through the White House,” he said. “If she’s in the White House, let there be samosas and let the chai flow freely.”
“We’re going to have our first real chef in the White House,” said film producer Jamie Patricof. Famed food critic Ruth Reichl agreed: “People who care about food have been waiting our whole lives to have someone who is a cook in the White House.”
Elsewhere in the 135-minute event, chef Suzanne Goin, co-executive producer of the program, led the demonstration for cooking Harris’s roast chicken, which is liberally seasoned under the skin with rosemary, thyme, lemon zest, and “a good amount of garlic,” then stuffed with more herbs, lemons, and six more cloves of garlic (“She is not faint of flavor,” Goin remarked of the vice president). The chef at the popular Los Angeles eatery A.O.C. echoed Harris’s recommendation that the chicken be pat dry and brought to room temperature before cooking to guarantee crispier skin.
Rep. Swalwell appeared alongside chef Susan Feniger, another co-executive producer of the event, from an immaculate stainless-steel-lined industrial kitchen, where the majority of the cooking on the live stream took place. The pair made Harris’s roasted chicken (with a South Asian spin that included pickled tomatoes, chiles, scallions, turmeric, and cumin), Walz’s “white guy tacos” (but with avocado and pickled onions added for flavor), and “Straight From the Coconut Tree” cookies.
Chef Stuart O’Keefe cooked up some fig and bacon goat cheese crisps and kicked off a running debate about whether, as Harris once claimed “bacon is a spice.” Reichl said it “definitely” is, while Lakshmi said she’s “doubtful” about it.
Niki Nakayama and Carol Iida appeared from the back of house at n/naka, voicing support for Harris while prepping dinner service. It was a thrilling albeit brief glimpse inside the organized chaos of a Michelin-starred prep station.
Famed pizzaiolo Chris Bianco beamed in from a fishing trip in Idaho to share his tip for making pizza at home: “Just give it time, don’t rush it,” he said, zeroing in on the benefits of fermenting pizza dough overnight.
Marcus Samuelsson appeared from Miami with friends, including rapper and chef Jarobi White, a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest. “Just by being an immigrant…just listening to Kamala’s stories and her mother’s and her parents’ stories, for me, obviously, it’s personal and it’s very inspirational,” he remarked.