WASHINGTON – Cristeta Comerford may be on the way out as White House executive chef if the buzz making the rounds in the Filipino American community in the US capital is to be believed.
The buzz intensified when the Washington Post reported that for Wednesday’s state dinner for Mexican President Felipe Calderon, President Barack Obama and wife Michelle invited a guest chef to preside in the kitchen instead of Comerford.
Last November a Swedish chef created the meal for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The report in “The Reliable Source” column of the daily’s pullout Style section on Tuesday was headlined “Cookin’ up controversy?“
Until the Obamas moved to the White House, guest chefs were very rare, the report said.
It quoted an unnamed former White House staffer as saying bringing in a guest chef for a state dinner was “deeply insulting.”
Others don’t see any problem and Eric Ripert, a top restaurant chef, said it’s very common in the industry to host another chef.
The beauty is that both chefs learn new techniques and see new products from each other, he told the daily.
Comerford, a naturalized US citizen from the Philippines, was an assistant chef in the White House kitchen from 1995 before being named by Laura Bush to be the top cook in August 2005.
Michelle Obama elected to keep her on when President Obama was inaugurated into office in January 2009.
A few months later Sam Kass, the Obama’s personal chef in Chicago, was brought in to work as Comerford’s assistant.
Since then Kass has eclipsed Comerford.
His work on the White House kitchen garden and nutrition programs, signature projects of the first lady, has vaulted him from the food section to the news pages.
The White House executive chef reportedly earns over $100,000 annually.