Cookerati

So much is going on today with the inauguration, I thought Cookerati should focus on the food, or rather the Executive Chef that prepares to food for the President of the United States.  Cristeta Comerford has been working in the White House for a while now. She was recruited to work for the Clintons in 1995 under Walter Scheib III and ten years later when Scheib retired, Laura Bush announced her to be the new Executive Chef for the Bush White House.  January 9th, 2009 Obama’s team declared that Cristeta Comerford would stay on as the Executive Chef for them. 

Called Cris bye her friends, she was born in the Philippines, raised in Manilla and immigrated to the US at the age of 23. She attended the University of Philippines majoring in Food Technology.  Cristeta worked at the Sheraton and Hyatt Regency Hotels in Chicago before coming to Washington.  She worked as a chef at a couple of restaurants and spent six months in Vienna as a rotating chef before becoming a chef for the White House.  Cristeta Comerford is the first female (and first Filipino) to hold the position of White House Executive Chef.

Read more about her at these other sites:

Gourmet Magazine White House Chef Wars by Christy Harrison

Rachel Ray – White House Tour with Cris Comerford

Washingtonian.com – Favorites of Cris Comerford

The Huffington Post