Here's What President, Royals Ate at Lavish State Dinner

It was a fancy affair indeed at the White House Tuesday night, the Hill reports. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump hosted King Charles III and Queen Camilla for a state dinner built around spring ingredients and a nod to the White House's own bees. The meal opened with a garden vegetable velouté and hearts of palm salad with toasted shallots and micro mint, followed by handmade spring-herb ravioli using produce from the White House Kitchen Garden. The main course was Dover sole meunière in brown butter, plated with ramps, snow peas, and a potato pavé finished with parsley oil. The Washington Post notes the menu largely consisted of "classically formal French preparations."

?Dessert leaned into the bee theme: a beehive-shaped chocolate gâteau filled with vanilla-bean crémeux, served with crème fraîche ice cream and honey harvested on-site. Earlier in the day, Melania Trump showed the royals a new beehive replica of the White House installed on the South Lawn; as the Post notes, the royals are known to have an interest in beekeeping. Wines from American producers—Hopkins Riesling "Heritage" 2024, Penner-Ash Pinot Noir "Willamette Valley" 2022, and Newton Chardonnay "Unfiltered" 2022—were chosen to match the courses and underscore the US-UK relationship, the White House said. Decor included cherry blossoms, and entertainment was by US military musicians, Politico reports. It was the president's fourth-ever state dinner, the second of his second term.