That lunch reservation at Engine Company? Oh, it's the president

Customers at the breakfast-and-lunch restaurant Engine Company No. 3 in Walker's Point on Thursday probably knew the president was about to visit before chef and owner Peter Sandroni did.

That's because Secret Service agents with metal detectors and dogs made their way through the restaurant's main level, checking each patron, while Sandroni was downstairs preparing a takeout order of 20 sandwiches — for the press corps traveling with President Obama, he later found out. 

The chef learned that the president would be at the restaurant, 217 W. National Ave., about a half-hour before Obama's arrival. The restaurant had already been vetted, unknown to him.

Sandroni said Jesse Rosen, a regular customer of his at his other restaurant, La Merenda, formerly was with the White House advance team that plans the president's trips and still helps coordinate Milwaukee visits, now that Rosen lives in Milwaukee.

The second-floor event space at Engine Company had been reserved for 12 people for a business meeting. That turned out to be the president meeting with people who had signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Obama was in Milwaukee on Thursday because the city won the federal Healthy Communities Challenge, a competition among 20 cities to sign up residents for health insurance in the most recent Health Insurance Marketplace open enrollment. He spoke at the United Community Center, also in Walker's Point, on Thursday.

While Sandroni was making sandwiches, two Secret Service agents approached him and "made it very clear that it was the president" who was coming to the restaurant.

"It was very surreal," Sandroni said.

Obama was at the restaurant for two hours, Sandroni estimated. "It was a full house, and he shook hands with everybody," he said. 

Upstairs, the president ordered patacon con huevo, a Colombian dish with egg, plantain, beans and rice. 

He commented that the prices were "ridiculously cheap" compared with Washington, Sandroni said. Maybe thinking the portions were small, the president placed a second order. "I'm in Wisconsin, I'd like the cheddar omelet," Sandroni quoted him as saying. It was made with Carr Valley's five-year cheddar, the chef noted.

The president was interested in the number of local ingredients on the Engine Company menu and commented, "Michelle would be very happy," Sandroni recounted. Michelle Obama has been a proponent of locally grown and produced foods since her husband was voted into office.

Before leaving, Obama had photos taken of himself with the entire restaurant, with his two servers and with Sandroni and his wife, Sonia. He also signed two menus, one of them for the Sandronis' young daughters, who will celebrate birthdays soon. "Happy birthday from President Obama," the menu reads.

Sandroni laughed. "I don't know if I'll be able to top that as a birthday gift. With the next president, I guess," he said.