Lobster and Bison After Inauguration

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/dining/lobster-bison-and-wine-at-lunch-after-inauguration.html

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WITHOUT a single filibuster or even a cross word, the bipartisan Congressional committee responsible for the lunch after the presidential inaugural on Jan. 21 has agreed on a menu featuring sustainable, artisanal and local ingredients. And many are from New York State.

At a tasting last week, Charles E. Schumer, New York’s senior senator, was relishing his role as chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and promoter in chief of his state’s agriculture. The menu features New York products including apples, cheeses, honey, maple syrup and red and white wines.

“I was hopeful of having Long Island duck, but unfortunately the tasters and I said the dish doesn’t quite work — where the bison was wow,” Mr. Schumer said, hastening to add that “the duck was not at fault,” but rather the preparation.

At 10:30 in the morning, the senator was sampling and praising the Tierce 2009 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling, to be served with the first course of lobster with clam chowder sauce, as well as the award-winning Bedell Cellars 2009 merlot from Long Island that will be served with bison. By 10:45, he declared that the lobster would be his lunch, with a few bites of the bison, a few sips of the Bedell and a sampling of dessert, a pie made with Hudson Valley apples.