Yes, that’s right. The caterers.
At least, that’s what one of the organizers told me, hinting that they had to resort to a last-minute change of plan to feed ravenous attendees.
Food eventually did make it into the venue — smuggled, some whispered — but maybe it should have stayed outside.
Lunch on both days for the hundreds of participants was a series of golf-ball-sized appetizers, all of which had some type of creative (and, in my opinion, unwanted) twist. Say goodbye to sandwiches, salads and pasta bowls; that’s not how the right wing rolls.
Imagine instead a sprawling feast of raw fish — smoked salmon, tuna tartare; raw meat — beef carpaccio with parmesan scales and arugula; and even a mostly raw egg. Cooking food is for liberals, apparently. It wasn’t all bad though, my POLITICO colleague wolfed down a “tasty and tangy” plate of courgette with pomegranate accompanied by some leaves and yellow stuff. He is British, though, so no accounting for taste.
The menu got real Looney Tunes, with one Bugs Bunny-inspired dish comprising a whole, gigantic carrot — which a conference attendee generously described as “bland” — mashed potatoes and chicken (cooked, thankfully).