White House Executive Chef

[2] President Ulysses S. Grant employed a Union Army cook until his embarrassed wife forced him to hire the Italian-trained chef Valentino Melah.

[9] President William McKinley hired a local cook for everyday dining, but a French-trained chef traveled from New York City to prepare formal dinners.

[11] American-trained professional chef Alice Howard served presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson,[12] while "head cook" Kathy Buckley worked for Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover[13] and Henrietta Nesbitt served as housekeeper and head cook for Franklin D.

[21] In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy reorganized the White House staff under her supervision, and created the title of Executive Chef for the first time.

Verdon established a new standard for White House dining, one in which only the highest quality ingredients and cooking techniques were acceptable.

The first meal he crafted for the White House, a lunch for British prime minister Harold Macmillan, was featured on the front page of The New York Times.

[35] In November 2009, Marcus Samuelsson became the first guest chef at a White House state dinner when Comerford temporarily stepped aside to allow him to cook for Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.

[39] The executive chef is responsible for planning and preparing all menus and meals for the first family and for all entertaining (informal, formal, and state dinners) served by the White House, either away or on-site.

[22] The chef receives no overtime, and the workload can vary considerably depending on whether the first family is in residence or traveling, if there is a special event, or if a holiday occurs.

[49] As of 2011, the White House executive chef used a natural gas oven and range manufactured by Vulcan Restaurant Equipment; a Traulsen refrigerator and freezer; a Cimbali M32 espresso machine; a Hobart 300 gravity-fed food slicer; Mauviel stainless steel pots and pans; and Misono knives.