Obama celebrates 49th birthday with Oprah Winfrey, Chicago friends

US president Barack Obama who turned 49 celebrated his 'bachelor birthday' with top show host Oprah Winfrey and his long time Chicago pals at a funky food restaurant here, as his family members including his wife Michelle were vacationing abroad.

Before leaving Washington yesterday with the family dog, Bo, Obama got a couple of presents.

First lady Michelle and the couple's younger daughter Sasha are vacationing in Spain, while another daughter Malia is at a summer camp, leaving Obama in the company of his old friends and colleagues at their home here.

According to the The New York Times, the president's security refused to let the attendees at the AFL-CIO meeting present him with a cake. Upon learning of the terminated treat, Obama said he was "a little disappointed."

Obama who has a home here celebrated his birthday with a dinner at the Graham Elliot Restaurant, known as Chicago's first "bistronomic" restaurant.

After dinner, first Winfrey and King got into a black sedan parked on the street and waited. Marvin Nicholson and Pete Souza went out next. Moments later, Obama emerged wearing a dark jacket, white shirt and no tie.

The president spent more than three hours at his birthday dinner with several of his closest Chicago friends -Eric Whittaker, Marty Nesbitt and Valerie Jarrett - as well as Oprah and Gayle, according to a White House press release.

Obama seemed to be in a good mood as he left the restaurant. He smiled and waved to a crowd of about 75 people who had been waiting nearby for hours and cheered as he walked to an awaiting SUV.

The Graham Elliot restaurant is located in Chicago's trendy River North area and basically serves funky food. The menu features eclectic flavors and twists on the usual fare.

The owner of the Graham Elliot Restaurant is Graham Elliot Bowles, who was a contestant on the Bravo TV show Top Chef Masters.

Perhaps Obama is trying to keep cool as he gets older because the restaurant web site says the place does away with "old world" type of restaurant atmospherics - white table cloths ... tuxedoed servers" - and replaces it with "hip music, dynamic gastronomy, and a lively and relaxed atmosphere", the White House statement said.

Earlier in the day, Obama received two phone calls wishing him happy birthday aboard Air Force Once en route to Chicago - one from the first lady Michelle Obama and Sasha who are vacationing in Spain; and another at lunch time from daughter Malia who is away at camp.

When asked by reporters whether they could wish him a happy birthday, press secretary Robert Gibbs declined saying Obama was busy playing cards.