Cristeta Pasia Comerford (born October 27, 1962) is a

Filipino-American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New S ...

chef who has been the

White House executive chef The White House executive chef is the individual responsible for managing the kitchens, and for planning and preparing of all menus and meals for the president of the United States and the first family, which includes their private meals, their p ...

since 2005. She is the first woman and first person of Asian origin to hold the post.

Early life

Cristeta Comerford was born as Cristeta Gomez Pasia in

Sampaloc, Manila Sampaloc is a district of Manila, Philippines. It is referred to as the University Belt or simply called ''“U-Belt”'' for numerous colleges and universities are found within the district such as the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest exta ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

to Honesto Pasia, a public school assistant principal, and Erlinda Gomez. She grew up on Cataluña Street (now G. Tolentino) in

. She completed her secondary education at the

Manila Science High School Manila Science High School ( fil, Mataás na Páaraláng Pang-aghám ng Maynila) is a public science high school in the Philippines. It is located on Taft Avenue at the corner of Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila, and was established on Octob ...

. She attended the

University of the Philippines, Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

, majoring in

food technology Food technology is a branch of food science that deals with the production, preservation, quality control and research and development of the food products. Early scientific research into food technology concentrated on food preservation. Nic ...

. However, she left school before completing the degree when she immigrated to the United States at the age of 23.

Career

Comerford's first job was at the

Sheraton Hotel Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an international semi-luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, Cen ...

near

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, ...

. She also worked at the

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacat ...

Regency hotel. After Chicago, she moved to Washington, D.C., and worked as a chef at two restaurants. She additionally spent six months in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

as a rotating chef. Comerford was recruited by White House executive chef Walter Scheib III in 1995 to work in the

Clinton White House Bill Clinton's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 42nd president of the United States began with First inauguration of Bill Clinton, his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democ ...

as an assistant chef. After Scheib resigned in February 2005, Comerford was appointed White House executive chef by

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

on August 14, 2005. Comerford is the first woman to hold this position. She reportedly was appointed to this position due to her handling of a large dinner that was held in honor of Indian prime minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

. On January 9, 2009, the Obama transition team announced that Comerford would be retained as the administration's head chef.

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

stated, "She is also the mom of a young daughter, and I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families." Comerford appeared on a special two-hour episode of ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, whi ...

'', originally broadcast on January 2, 2010. She was teamed up with

Bobby Flay Robert William Flay (born December 10, 1964), is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's ...

and competed against a team of

Emeril Lagasse Emeril John Lagassé III ( ; born October 15, 1959) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, cookbook author, and National Best Recipe award winner for his "Turkey and Hot Sausage Chili" recipe in 2003. He is a regio ...

and

Mario Batali Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and Ne ...

. As chef to a

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

, Comerford is a member of

Le Club des Chefs des Chefs Le Club des Chefs des Chefs (C.C.C.), founded by Gilles Bragard in 1977, is an international culinary organisation. The main purposes of this official gathering are to promote the national kitchen, and act as diplomatic representatives. The chef ...

Personal life

She lives in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...

, with her husband, John, and their daughter Danielle.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Comerford, Cristeta 1962 births Chefs from Maryland Filipino chefs Filipino emigrants to the United States Living people People from Columbia, Maryland People from Sampaloc, Manila University of the Philippines Diliman alumni White House Executive Chefs Chefs from Washington, D.C. Asian American chefs American women chefs 21st-century American women

Early life

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading

External links