Chef Dishes About Three Decades in the White House

Plus tonight, the Eleanor Roosevelt Center to host a virtual panel discussion about the fight against book banning.

Chef Cristeta Comerford prepares a meal inside the White House kitchen in this July 17, 2002 photo. First Lady Laura Bush announced on Aug. 14, 2005 that Comerford was named the White House Executive Chef. Comerford is the first woman to serve in the job. (White House photo by Tina Hager)

The White House Historical Association released its 100^th episode of The White House 1600 Sessions podcast Wednesday featuring a conversation with former White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford, who spent nearly 30 years working in the White House kitchen through the Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden administrations before retiring in July 2024. 

Stewart McLaurin, president of the Association, and Chef Comerford talked about the significance of White House kitchen staff members’ roles in ceremonial tradition, a meal as a diplomatic tool between two nations, and Chef Comerford’s historic achievement of being the first woman and person of color to serve as White House Executive Chef. 

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