After serving five presidents of the United States of America, Cristeta Comerford is preparing her final meal as the White House executive chef this Friday. She is retiring after 30 years of overseeing the White House kitchen and a widely-acclaimed culinary career. Comerford is not only the first woman to hold the prestigious title of White House executive chef but also the first woman of color and the first Asian. Media outlets received confirmation from the White House of Comerford’s retirement.
Comerford had a long road to the White House. She was born Cristeta Gomez Pasia in Manila, the Philippines, to a public school assistant principal and his wife. At the University of the Philippines, she majored in food technology. Leaving before she graduated at 23, Comerford immigrated to the United States and started her career working as a chef in restaurants in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Vienna, Austria.
In 1995, she was hired as an assistant chef to the executive chef of President Bill Clinton’s White House kitchen, Walter Scheib III, who personally recruited her. According to the New York Times, it was during President George W. Bush’s administration that Comerford was elevated to executive chef by then First Lady Laura Bush. She was moved to this position after handling a large dinner for the Indian prime minister at the time. Since then, she has used her expertise to oversee the day-to-day functions of the White House kitchen through the Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.
Comerford is married to fellow chef John Comerford and has a daughter, Danielle. Her role as a wife and mother helped her bond with the families she served. Former First Lady Michelle Obama praised Comerford for acknowledging the “importance of healthy eating and healthy families.”
Comerford, known as Chef Cris, was in charge of three sous chefs and an executive pastry chef in the White House kitchen. Under her watchful eye, her team cooked the First Family’s daily meals and handled the enormous task of planning and preparing state dinners.
In a statement to CNN, current First Lady Jill Biden said, “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. With all our hearts, Joe and I are filled with gratitude for her dedication and years of service.”
In an interview with CNN in 2014, Comerford said “temperance” is the quality that is most important when doing her job and leading her team, “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.
One of the hallmarks of Comerford’s tenure is her skill at creating dishes that blend American and International flavors, bringing her cultural background and influences to the White House kitchen.
The executive chef hasn’t only received high praise from the First Families but also from renowned chef José André, the Michelin-starred restauranter and humanitarian.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Andrés wrote in a post, “To our amazing @WhiteHouse Chef Cristeta Comerford, who served 5 presidents & cooked at 54 state dinners…you are a national treasure, a culinary diplomat who has shown the world how an immigrant can celebrate American food & share it with the world’s leaders…for almost 30 years! Congrats on retiring, we love you Cris.”
Comerford’s skill, passion, and culinary innovation during her tenure as the executive chef will long be remembered.
