La Russas Provide the Menu for White House Dinner

It was the White House calling not long ago when the phone rang in Danville, Calif., at the home of Oakland A’s Manager Tony La Russa.

The message was the usual--”Please come to dinner”--but the reply was a little different from what the Bushes expected.

Elaine La Russa, Tony’s wife, accepted conditionally.

“We’re organic vegetarians,” she told the Washington caller. “We’d love to come--but no red meat, please, no poultry, no seafood, no fish.”

Normally, what George Bush says goes. But this time, what Elaine La Russa said went.

“We’ll find something,” the White House promised.

And so, as the La Russas describe their first state dinner, there was a vegetarian sitting next to Vice President Dan Quayle--that was Tony--and another one beside John Sununu, the President’s chief of staff.

Tony and Elaine could hardly have had a better meal at home.

“At home, we eat mainly out of our garden,” Elaine said. “You appreciate food more when you grow your own.

“On the road, we (frequent) the best restaurants. The really good restaurants have the best salads and the best-prepared vegetables. We don’t drink or smoke. We spend our money on the best food.”

The La Russa children, Bianca, 11, and Devon, 8, missed the White House date, but elsewhere, they’re usually seen with their parents.

“If it’s a play or movie that’s not for kids, we all pass it up,” said Tony.

They also pass up TV.

“Where we live, you need cable, and we’ve never bothered to get it,” Elaine said. “We do have a television set with a VCR, so we can see an occasional movie. We also see the National Geographic videos and the home-schooling videos.”

At home-school classes, she has usually taught the children herself, until this year, when they tried a nearby private school.

“It was a pleasure but no surprise to find that Bianca and Devon were both right up with their class,” their mother said. “They were on top of everything.”

A busy fund-raiser for American Indian groups, animal protection groups and other causes, Elaine doesn’t have much time for baseball. Minus television, she can’t even watch the A’s at home. Instead, she has brought back radio.

“(A’s broadcasts) are on the intercom in every room in the house,” she said. “We even have a radio in the garden, and I never miss a pitch. In the mind’s eye, I see the whole game. I’m always up on what’s going on.”

From April until October, Elaine is on her own.

“On opening day, Tony checks out,” she said. “The rest of the (season), his body may come home, but his head is always in baseball. He is consumed by it. To be the best, I guess you have to be.

“Tony has the kind of intelligence it takes to understand the game and the people in it. He can’t hang a picture on a wall, but he can manage a baseball team.”