Author of the Declaration of Independence, prolific inventor, and founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was also the nation’s first epicurean president. In fact, he considered olive oil and upland rice equally as important as the Declaration in securing the new republic’s success.

Springtime bounty has inspired many a chef and foodie, but especially Jefferson, who enjoyed ramps, morels, and asparagus and grew 330 varieties of 99 species of edible plants in his garden at Monticello. Celebrate his culinary legacy at a private lunch at the beautiful Jefferson Hotel in downtown Washington, where award-winning chef Ralf Schlegel and pastry chef Fabrice Leray prepare a special seasonal menu inspired by Jefferson.

Between courses, Susan Sullivan Lagon, lecturer at Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute and historian at the Jefferson Hotel, discusses Jefferson’s contributions to American cuisine.

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• Roasted cauliflower, chickpea, poached egg, brown butter Hollandaise, bread crumbs, parsley almond oil
• Confit green asparagus, hen breast, truffle-broth pot au feu
• Jefferson's vanilla ice cream, garden strawberries, eggnog cream