Photo by dcJohn

Word spread fast through the Twitterverse, and now the French Embassy’s own Twitter account confirms — French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in town for meetings with President Barack Obama, ate lunch today at Ben’s Chili Bowl. He was joined by his wife Carla Bruni and his two sons from a prior marriage.

Given that Sarkozy isn’t running for local office — or is he? — and that he hails from a country that considers its food the best in the world, how would the French leader find his way to Ben’s? Our own food gurus guess that it might have to do with Ben’s use of natural casings on their half-smokes, a tradition also found in France. Another guess is that Sarkozy, an avid runner, worked out with Fenty this morning, who slipped him the tip on solid local fare. It could also been have Obama’s suggestion, who joined Fenty at Ben’s just before his inauguration last year.

Either way, Sarkozy is the first foreign leader to eat at the Washington landmark, at least that we can remember. Tres impressionnant, nous le pensons.

And yes, if you have to ask, his entourage did bring its own Grey Poupon.