Fil-Am is 1st woman White House executive chef

CRAWFORD, Texas — Filipino-American Cristeta Comerford became the first woman executive chef of the White House Sunday, six months after the resignation of her predecessor, Walter Scheib III.

Comerford, who has US citizenship, has been assistant chef at the White House for 10 years. Scheib was White House executive chef for 11 years.

"I am delighted that Cris Comerford has accepted the position of White House executive chef," United States First Lady Laura Bush said. "Her passion for cooking can be tasted in every bite of her delicious creations."

The key White House post has been vacant since March, when Scheib could not adapt to the culinary demands of the Texan first lady.

The announcement was made after the New York Times printed an article Sunday telling how Mrs. Bush asked Scheib "to pick up his knives and leave" and the prolonged wait while chefs were interviewed and asked to make test meals.

US President George W. Bush began his second four-year term at the White House in January.

Comerford, 41, had been one of Schieb’s two assistants in the White House kitchen from 1995. Her specialty has been "ethnic and American cuisine," and she was trained in French classical techniques, a White House statement said.

Now a naturalized American, Comerford finished a degree in food technology at the University of the Philippines and then gained experience as a chef tourant at Le Ciel restaurant in Vienna, Austria.

She has also worked at the top Washington hotels the Grand Bistrot and La Colonnade.

Comerford prepared the White House menu for the state dinner hosted by Bush for President Arroyo in 2003 and this year for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The menu for the state dinner in Singh’s honor included chilled asparagus soup, pan-roasted halibut with ginger-carrot butter, basmati rice with pistachios and currants, herbed summer vegetables and a salad of Bibb lettuce and citrus vinaigrette.

Compared with former US President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy, the Bushes are not known for the frequency of their official dinners.

Where Reagan held 50 official dinners during his eight years in the White House, Bush held only four in his first term and one so far in his second — the dinner for Singh.

Bush is also not a known gastronome. Being a fitness buff, the US leader eats only light meals, though his wife takes much more interest in food.

"Mrs. Bush has said she wants someone who cooks American food but also someone who can make a mean enchilada as well as the more complex interior Mexican food that she prefers," the New York Times said. "And the chef had better know how to make the president’s favorite cheeseburgers."

According to the New York Times, "plenty of chefs were interviewed, with only a few asked to cook for the Bushes."

Comerford had been a favorite with Chris Ward, chef at the Mercury Grill, a restaurant at Dallas in Bush’s home state.

While being executive chef at the White House has its share of prestige, the job can also be grueling. As many as 2,000 guests per month are fed there and Mrs. Bush has signaled her intent to do more entertaining than in her husband’s first term, when the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks curtailed festivities.

The White House head chef is responsible for designing and executing menus for state dinners, social events, holiday functions, receptions and official luncheons hosted by the US President and First Lady.

Top Washington chef Eric Ziebold had been approached, the New York Times said, but the newspaper also quoted Ziebold as saying that the White House post was "not a good career move."

Richard Hamilton, another reported candidate for the helm of the White House kitchen, said that whoever was chosen "may not be the best chef they can possibly find," but "the one with whom they are most comfortable."

Former US First Lady Hillary Clinton also cleaned out the White House kitchens when her husband assumed the US presidency, hiring Scheib to take over the post vacated by Pierre Chambrin, who had been hired by former US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Mrs. Clinton had hired Scheib because she wanted to feature American cuisine after years of French cooking ushered in by Mrs. Kennedy. — AFP, AP reports