White House Chef

President-Elect Barack Obama Selects White House Chef

After much speculation regarding the next White House Chef, Michelle Obama announced Friday that Chef Cristeta Comerford will remain in her current position as White House Chef. Named to the position in 1995 by the Bushes, Comerford is the first female and the first minority to hold the position. Many people thought that a new White House Chef would be appointed because the Obamas have markedly different eating habits than the Bushes.

According to the Huffington Post, "The President who notoriously wouldn't eat anything 'green' or 'wet' is being replaced by one who loves his meals straight from the garden.

While George W. Bush spent his two terms scarfing down BLTs, white-bread grilled cheese sandwiches and burgers (and there's nothing wrong with that, mind you), President-elect Barack Obama will usher in just as big a culinary makeover as a partisan one." (Huffington Post, Nov. 10, 2008)

However, to reduce Comerford's abilities to BLTs and burgers seems a bit narrow.

In addition to the dinners she has put on during her time as White House Chef, Comerford has also trained in hotels in the U.S. and has worked in Vienna, Austria. It seems that in addition to the many formal White House dinners she has organized (and BLTs), she will be quite able to handle vegetables and a low-carbohydrate diet.

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum currently has Cristeta Comerford's chef whites on display in the White House Exhibit.