Cristeta Comerford is hanging up her apron at the White House after 29 years of service cooking for five presidents and dignitaries from around the world.
The Filipina American became the first person of color and first woman to be named executive chef at the White House. She began working there in 1995 as an assistant chef under the Clinton administration. She went on to serve George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden as executive chef after being appointed in August 2005 by then First Lady Laura Bush, reported Food Network. She competed with 450 chefs for the job which included what she described as a final “cook off” round. Her last day was Friday.
“I always say, food is love. Through her barrier-breaking career, Chef Cris has led her team with warmth and creativity, and nourished our souls along the way,” Jill Biden said in a statement. “With all our hearts, Joe and I are filled with gratitude for her dedication and years of service.”
Born in Manila in 1962, she studied food technology in the Philippines before immigrating to the United States at the age of 23. The National reported she cooked up everything at the White House from snacks for presidents to state dinners for VIPs.
She worked with a team of three sous chefs and an executive pastry chef.
“To be a White House chef, it’s really your temperance that really counts for a lot. Because it’s not just your knowledge and your skills and the way you cook – it has to be the way you treat people, the way you delegate your work, the way you put your team as a cohesive force,” she said in a 2014 interview with CNN.
“At any point in time that you cook for the first family and cook for the president of the United States, it’s such a humbling experience.”
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