Chef Louis Eguaras: From Manila to the US White House

Marunong akong managalog (I can understand Tagalog), so don’t talk about me,” says former White House chef Louis Eguaras. He recounts how, early in his career as a chef in the United States Navy, he overheard a group of Filipino Navy chefs criticizing him. “Tignan mo yang puting yan. Tatamad-tamad (Look at how lazy that white guy is),” they scoffed. So he walked up to them and protested in unaccented Filipino,”Hindi po ako tamad, pagod lang (I’m not lazy, just tired.”). That he speaks fluent Filipino is not surprising. His mother is Filipino after all. She was once executive housekeeper of Intercontinental Hotel Manila and the family lived in the Philippines until Louis was 13. But the chefs must have been pleasantly surprised that the young man with markedly Caucasian features was a compatriot. And from then on, he was assigned extra tasks.

“They frequently said, ‘Hoy Tisoy, halika dito!’ (Come here, Mestizo!) In the Navy, the kitchen is controlled by the Filipino chefs,” chef Louis recalls. He muses that his superiors called on him constantly not only because he spoke Filipino, but also because he was willing to work harder than usual and cheerfully take on the extra tasks assigned to him.

Nelson Mandela enjoyed this at the White House: Layered Late Summer Vegetables with Red Curry.Photos By Boy Santos

“My viewpoint is that if the opportunity is there, you have to take it. You have to absorb everything you can,” he declares. “A good attitude towards work coupled with pleasant persistence is always important. I always volunteer. I always smile.” Conscious of the fact that the Navy, among all the military branches, offered the best culinary training (with civilian instructors from Le Cordon Bleu in its cooking school), Louis Eguaras persisted, paid rapt attention and learned all he could. “There was a constant striving to achieve excellence and efficiency,” he says. “You know from the start that in the Navy you’re expected to cook for thousands of people.”

That extra effort and discipline paid off. In a field of 250 aspirants, chef Louis was one of only two chefs who were picked to cook for then United States president George Bush Sr. “After graduating in 1992, military recruiters came and asked if any of us were interested in working at Camp David. I saw it as an opportunity so I applied,” chef Louis relates. He appreciates that he was highly recommended by his instructors.

But it wasn’t easy. “The background check was very thorough and in my case there were red flags.” He explains that his Filipino parentage and the fact that he travelled extensively could have been a disadvantage since the position usually went to US-born Americans who, more likely than not, lived in the United States all their lives. “But I was always very honest with my recruiters and in the end they chose me.” Chef Louis was stationed at Camp David Presidential Retreat from 1992-1993, working under the White House Military Office, before he found his way to the White House to serve United States presidents George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton.

What was it like cooking for two presidents of the United States? “I had top-secret clearance,” shares chef Louis. Apart from cooking for top US officials, visiting foreign political dignitaries (Russian president Boris Yeltsin, the Emperor of Japan, among others) and Hollywood celebrities (like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, etc.), he tells us that part of the job was to be part of the advance team of Secret Service agents during presidential trips abroad. His job was to make sure that the kitchens were secure. “We plated the food, switched the plates around so no one knows which one goes to the president, and brought the glasses of water to the podium.” But on ordinary days at home, he recalls that President Bush was partial to grilled meats or fish and Texas-style cooking; while it was simply hamburgers and fries for Chelsea Clinton who was a teenager at the time.

The chef singles out the meal he cooked for Nelson Mandela as the most memorable. “That was right after he was released from prison and his modest demeanor was very striking. For me, it was surreal that he went to the kitchen to exchange pleasantries and shake everybody’s hand. Other White House guests rarely did the same.”      

Humility is one trait that chef Louis values greatly, especially in his profession, “It is true that you can say that in our line of work the most important ingredient is the chef because he is the ingredient that changes things just a little bit. But in this industry it is important that you remain humble regardless of your stature.” He encourages other chefs, “Be that mentor. Be that leader. Look at yourself and understand why you do what you do. Skill is important but attitude will also help determine success.”

From his stint in the White House, chef Louis Eguaras has moved on to put up an enterprise called Presidential Culinary Services that provides culinary classes, gourmet catering and business consulting services for food-related ventures. He has written a book called 101 Things I Learned in Culinary School, and lent his expertise in building up culinary programs of various schools in the United States.

“Did you know that Filipinos were in the White House from as far back as Nixon’s presidency?” he asks us as we end our interview. “Just like the Americans have played roles in Philippine history, Filipinos are part of US history.” With a bucket list that includes writing a book about Filipinos in the White House, chef Louis Eguaras has truly come a long way from the kid who first learned how to cook Filipino-style sweet spaghetti in the kitchen of his family’s Mandaluyong home.