Opinion: Forget the East Wing, let's take state dinners to the fair

The East Wing of the White House has been demolished to make way for a huge ballroom that will host state dinners for up to a thousand people. But what to do until then?

I have never been to a state dinner. I have milled outside a few with other reporters to shout questions at some of the politicians and celebrities going in and out. Sometimes, they smile.

The menus of what's served are made public. They sound like first-rate fare, without being too daring: heirloom tomato soup, Iowa ribeye steak, or Maine lobster, followed by maple pecan or orange chiffon cake. But as a couple of state dinner guests have told me — off the record, and with respect for the talented White House kitchen crew, you don't go to a state dinner for the food.

So in the pause while the rubble that was once the Ea