Digging through the archives of the White House, one can trace back to a brief statement dated January 31, 1994, in which then-US President Bill Clinton and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl were reported to have "lunched together" at the Filomena Restaurant, an Italo-American eatery located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington.

Amidst a plate of lasagna and ossobuco alla milanese (just a few of the culinary specialties from the Bel Paese on the menu), the two discussed topics that could still be found on the diplomatic agendas of their successors: "Developments in Russia, Ukraine [...] and the Middle East," reads the document.