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President Obama’s credit card declined at fancy restaurant

Posted at 6:22 PM, Oct 17, 2014
and last updated 2014-10-17 18:22:40-04

(CNN) — Ever had your credit card turned down at a fancy restaurant?

President Obama can commiserate.

Speaking to workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington on Friday, he recalled a moment last month when, at the end of a dinner out in New York City, his plastic was declined.

“I guess I don’t use it enough, so they thought there was some fraud going on,” he said. “Luckily, Michelle had hers. I was trying to explain to the waitress that I’ve really been paying my bills.”

The President and first lady dined at Estela in downtown Manhattan during Obama’s stay in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly session in September.

Based on a photo of their kitchen order that the restaurant posted online, we know the Obamas dined on burrata with salsa verde and charred bread, and an endive salad with walnuts and anchovies.

The restaurant is run by a former staffer at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a farm-to-table mecca in the Hudson Valley where the Obama family attended the wedding of their personal chef this summer.

Obama was at the financial agency Friday to sign an executive order bolstering security measures for government credit cards.