ANAHEIM Calif. It ain’t easy working in the White House.
Ask Bruno Serato, owner of the Anaheim White House restaurant, who last week sent out an email to customers announcing that in keeping with a long-time tradition, he was dedicating one of his 12 private dining rooms to President Barack Obama.
The fine-dining restaurant located in a historic white mansion here has for two decades named one of the private rooms for the sitting president, as well as a bipartisan collection of former leaders of the nation, from Lincoln to Jefferson.
That’s why Serato was so shocked by the barrage of complaints that followed.
Serato, who has operated the restaurant since 1987, said he has received numerous emails and calls from customers saying they plan to boycott his restaurant, or asking to be removed from his mailing list, simply because of the decision to name one of the 12 private dining rooms for Obama.
“I was shocked. I’m not a politician, I’m a restaurateur,” said Serato. “I thought in 2009 we had a country united together, but I was wrong.”
Anaheim, in Southern California’s Orange County, is a largely Republican territory, but customers in the past have had no problem with the restaurant’s rooms dedicated to Democratic leaders, including John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. Other rooms are named for Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and George Washington.
Asking to be removed from the restaurant’s mailing list, one former customer wrote: “I am not an Obama supporter. Could never be, and as much as having an African-American in the White House could be a good thing, having one with Marxist ideals is certainly not a good thing! I will not be patronizing your restaurant, much less the ‘Obama Room.’”
Another wrote: “We’ve enjoyed your restaurant many times in the past. Given your new emphasis/room, please remove us from your email list.”
Serato said he has never experienced such a backlash from his customers — even when he changed the name of the George W. Bush room to the Jackie Kennedy Onassis room, because so many customers declined to book under the unpopular former president’s moniker.
Disappointed but undeterred, Serato said the Obama room is here to stay. “I’m going to make a statement and keep the Obama room forever,” he said.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].