As partners in their father’s business, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. do a lot of dining together — whether they’re talking to clients Stateside about Quattro, their upcoming restaurant in the Trump Soho building or cutting ribbons in the Middle East as they did this week. Don — or Donnie, as his younger brother calls him — prefers to eat downtown at places like BondSt and Woo Lae Oak, but that doesn’t mean he’s above stopping into McDonald’s for a sausage, egg, and cheese. “We’ve been brought up to have both kinds of taste: My father’s an all-American eater — burgers, fries, pizza — and my mother is more of a sophisticated, European eater.” Aside from a dinner at Raoul’s, Trump Jr. didn’t see much of New York this week owing to a trip to Greece, so we asked Eric to tell us what he ate.
Saturday, April 19
We arrived in Qatar on Friday. Saturday mid-afternoon Ivanka, myself, and Donnie returned from the hotel and sat down and had three lobster tails right on the beach near the Arabian sea.
That evening we met with various high-ranking officials at Qatar. We ate very traditional food; it started off with amazing caviar and went on to some of the more traditional Arabian soups with Arabian tea. On the side they had the stuffed grape leaves. That was a very nice meal. We also had lamb chops.
Sunday, April 20
We went to Abu Dhabi. We had a large catered meal — an amazing buffet with great desserts. They had everything from lobster to chicken to the traditional Middle Eastern rices, calamari, and salads. It was an infusion of Italian and Middle Eastern. I had a nonalcoholic drink I had never had before — a lemonade that they put a lot of mint in so it was all green. We had that while we were conducting our business.
We flew to Dubai that evening and stayed at the Burj Al Arab. We had our ribbon cutting at one of the other hotels that just opened up there and had a dinner for the unofficial launch of our building. We were seeing the building, doing architectural layouts. We had dinner with quite a large group. That started with one of the Arabic soups combined with a sashimi platter (it was either fluke or sole — raw sole is very good with a salad on top of it) and some kind of meat.
Monday, April 21
Back in the States, I was eating at my desk at Trump Tower. That day I had a scoop of tuna salad and grilled vegetable. We have a great restaurant downstairs called Trump Grill; most of the time I’ll order from there because it’s convenient. I also really like Cinema a few blocks north.
That evening I went home and made myself a salmon steak. I cook quite a bit for myself — my grandma was from the Czech Republic so she makes a lot of the thick native Slavic dishes — the chicken paprikas, the goulashes, the sauerkraut, the soups that contain a lot of cream and sausage and poultry. I often miss those meals. If she’s away I’ll cook them for myself.
Tuesday, April 22
Several business partners were in town coincidentally so we had a catch-up. I ate downstairs. Not to sound cheesy but I actually had a Trump steak. They’re absolutely delicious. In the summer I’ll take a few and grill them at our house out in the country or bring them to a friend’s house in the country. We’re very picky eaters — not picky in the sense that we like only a few things, but we know good food and if they weren’t we wouldn’t have our name on them.
Wolfgang’s is definitely my favorite steak in town — no doubt about it. It’s delicious. It’s hard to mess up a steak when you drain butter on it. My dad really loves Wolfgang’s. That’s our food — we’re a steak-and-potato family. He has been going to Peter Luger for a long time. At the same time he loves Jackson Hole as much as I do.
I ordered sushi for dinner, from Sushiya. It’s a smaller place, but it’s very good. During lunch it’s hard to get in (they don’t take reservations so you just have to walk in). I really like some of the spicy tunas, the sashimi, white tuna, salmon … I think their best roll is the crunchy, spicy king crab. If I had my pick, I really like Yama downtown — it’s always really fresh sashimi. It’s a smaller place and a nice atmosphere.
Wednesday, April 23
Again, I was in the office. I had a chicken-Caesar wrap downstairs.
I went home and cooked myself a grilled chicken breast and vegetables — I like asparagus, broccoli, and corn.
Thursday, April 24
I had a Cobb salad for lunch delivered to my office from downstairs. One of our favorites right next to us is Rothmann’s — they do a very nice job. There’s a wonderful restaurant by my mom’s house on 64th Street that I’ve been going to since I was 10 or 11 called La Houppa. In terms of a small, friendly environment with unbelievable food, they’re as good as it comes.
