Michelle Obama Birthday, President Barack Obama waved to onlookers as he and first lady Michelle Obama left dinner at Nora. Photo by Mike Theiler / pool.

The president assembled two of his predecessors in the Rose Garden today to promote humanitarian aid for Haiti.

The president will travel to Massachusetts tomorrow to help a Democrat win election to the Senate and keep the party’s 60-vote hold on the Senate – and with that, the president’s domestic agenda.

Tonight, the president took the first lady to dinner.

Sunday is Michelle Obama’s 46 birthday.

They went out tonight to Nora, near Dupont Circle. Nora bills itself as the nation’s first certified organic restaurant. There was no word on the first couple’s menu selection. Entrees run about $30.

The president wore a gray suit with a collarless black shirt. The first lady wore a black, long-sleeved dress.

But they were not alone.

The dinner roster included : Marian Robinson, the first lady’s mother, Valerie Jarrett, special adviser to the president and personal friend of the Obamas, Eric and Cheryl Whitaker, friends of the Obamas from Chicago, Eric Holder, attorney general, and his wife Sharon Malone, Marty Nesbitt, another friend from Chicago. Susan Sher, the first lady’s chief of staff., Elizabeth Alexander, who recited a poem at Obama’s inauguration,. Cindy Moelis, head of the White House Fellows program, and Jocelyn Frye, policy director in the first lady’s office.

They partied for nearly four hours. They arrived just after 6:30 pm EST, the first main course was served by 8:43 and desserts by 9:04. Guests started leaving at 9:40.

The first couple left the restaurant at 10:10 to the loud applause of bystanders, with about 50 people gathered at the corner of Florida Avenue and R Street singing “Happy Birthday” as the president and first Lady walked to their car.

Reporters from the attendant pool shouted “How was the party?” and “Was the First Lady surprised?” One woman replied that the first lady was indeed “surprised.”