Restaurant Reviewer-in-Chief

For those of you in the Bay Area, Chicago or Southern Florida you may be familiar with a public television program called Check, Please. The idea is to get three amateur restaurant reviewers each week; each critic would pick a favorite restaurant and review it, then review the picks of the other two reviewers.

I've watched it many times and it's a good way to learn about local restaurants.

Anyway, it seems that back in 2001 the President-elect himself, now known as the Reviewer-in-Chief, made an appearance on Check, Please.

According to the Chicago Tribune...

The producer called Barack Obama, a state senator at the time. Obama chose Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop in Hyde Park. They shot in August 2001-- but the episode was shelved. It will be revived, however, for the program's 100th episode on Jan. 16, days before Obama's inauguration as the 44th president.

Why the nearly eight-year delay? Both Producer David Manilow and then-host Amanda Puck remember Obama's debut as a restaurant critic: He was "too good--too thoughtful, too articulate, not enough of an amateur. He ended up dominating the conversation,'' Borelli notes.

Here is a snippet from Barack's turn as a restaurant critic...