Fil-Am White House chef retires after 29 years

Filipino-American Cristeta "Cris" Comerford has left the White House kitchen after 29 years of service.

Citing a spokesperson for First Lady Jill Biden, The Washington Post reported about the retirement of Comerford, who served state dinners and family meals to five US presidents throughout her decades-long tenure. Her last day was Friday, July 25.

In a statement sent to the media outlet, Biden said that Chef Cris "has led her team with warmth and creativity, and nourished our souls along the way" in her "barrier-breaking career."

"With all our hearts, Joe and I are filled with gratitude for her dedication and years of service," she said.

Chef and humanitarian José Andrés previously posted about the culinary expert's retirement, calling her a "national treasure" and a "culinary diplomat" who "has shown the world how an immigrant can celebrate American food and share it with the world’s leaders."

"Congrats on retiring. We love you, Cris," he added.

Born in Sampaloc, Manila, Comerford took up food technology at the University of the Philippines Diliman. At 23 years old, she moved to the United States, where she showcased her brilliance in different restaurants in Chicago and Washington, D.C. 

According to a report by GMA News, she entered the White House kitchen in 1995 when Walter Scheib III, the head chef during the Clinton administration, hired her as his assistant. The Post reported that when former First Lady Laura Bush fired Scheib and opened the chef in chief position that garnered around 450 applicants, she later decided to give the job to Comerford, making her the first woman and person of color to get the position in 2005.

Bush's press secretary Susan Whitson told The Post that Comerford's "deft handling" of an official dinner for over a hundred guests in honor of India's former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a big factor in the former First Lady's decision. "She understands the scale of the job she’s undertaking and there’s a personal compatibility with Mrs. Bush," Whitson said of Comerford.

'A great honor'

Comerford's excellence in the White House kitchen shone through the years, appealing to the varied palates of different presidents over five administrations: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

In a 2014 interview with CNN International, the Fil-Am chef said it's a matter of "knowing each of them individually."

"Do they like their pizza with thick or thin crusts? What vegetables do they prefer? That kind of thing," she shared.

When asked what it was like to land the top culinary job in the White House in a previous interview with GMA News, Comerford called it "a great honor."

"It is something that I take very seriously on a day by day basis. You want to make sure that you are up there being the best that you can be all the time," she said.

For those who are hoping to follow in her footsteps and serve as a White House chef or succeed in the same field, she had this to say: "It is really just taking the responsibility seriously, that anything given to you is a chance to be good. It could be the simplest task, like chopping onions or something like that, but as long as you really give all your heart in whatever you do and whatever you cook (that could go a long way)."