spin on the Vegas-style casino restaurant. That presidential tale made it into the title of Samuelsson’s 2012 memoir, and onto the menu at Marcus – one of several celebrity-chef driven restaurants putting a D.C. Chef Michael, was so nervous… so the President shook his hand and Michael just screamed out, ‘Yes, chef!’ I knew right then, that’s something we have to use.” “He was so kind to wait around, him and the first lady,” he says, “and he talked to all my cooks. Afterward, President Barack Obama greeted Samuelsson’s culinary team. In 2009, Samuelsson explains, he oversaw the Obamas’ first state dinner at the White House. Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s face lights up when asked to tell the story behind his “Yes, Chef” cocktail, made with pineapple juice, ginger beer and vodka and served at his restaurant, Marcus, inside the new MGM National Harbor resort and casino.
