The Obamas rolled out the red carpet for the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, and the actor Roberto Benigni, among other distinguished guests, when they hosted their final state dinner at the White House last month. Mario Batali, the US chef known for putting his own spin on classic Italian dishes, created the menu. Our spies tell us that Paola Antonelli, the senior curator of architecture and design at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, was in attendance. So how was it? “It was a great honour, great fun and [there was] great emotion,” she says of the historic bash.