A pastry chef or pâtissier is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, bakeries, by caterers, and some cafés.
Roland Mesnier was a French-born American pastry chef and culinary writer. His creations during his twenty-five years as Executive Pastry Chef (1980–2004) at the White House earned him the reputation of a creative genius.
Mount St. Mary's University is a private Roman Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It has the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. Undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, the Richard J. Bolte School of Business, and the School of Natural Science and Mathematics. "The Mount" has over 40 undergraduate majors, minors, concentrations, and special programs, as well as bachelor's/master's combinations in partnership with other universities, 8 master's programs, and 6 postgraduate certificate programs.
Cristeta Pasia Comerford is a Filipino-American chef who served as the White House executive chef from 2005 until her retirement in 2024. She is the first woman and first person of Asian origin to hold the post.
Walter Stanley Scheib III was an American chef who was White House Executive Chef from 1994 until 2005.
The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor that a United States congressional committee would select which journalists could attend press conferences of President Woodrow Wilson.
A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in his or her official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is held to celebrate diplomatic ties between the host and guest countries. Depending on time of the day, it may be referred to as a state dinner or state lunch. The size varies, but the numbers of diners may run into the hundreds.
William Yosses is an American chef who is best known as co-author of the book Desserts For Dummies and for being the White House Executive Pastry Chef from 2007 to 2014. Yosses was the owner of the pastry company Perfect Pie, which was based in New York City.
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 private entertaining, and official state functions at the White House in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage.
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awards are presented at a dinner in New York City; the chef and restaurant awards were also presented in New York until 2015, when the foundation's annual gala moved to Chicago. Chicago will continue to host the Awards until 2027.
Joshua DuBois is an executive and former government official who served as the head of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Executive Office of the President of the United States from 2009 to 2013. In February 2013 he stepped down to write a book of devotionals based on the ones he sends Obama, start a consulting firm, and become the weekly religion and community solutions columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. DuBois has been included among "The Root 100" and Ebony Magazine's "Power 150" lists of the most influential African Americans in the country. He also appeared on the cover of Christianity Today magazine as one of the 33 most influential Christian leaders under 33. In September 2017 it was announced that DuBois would become a CNN Contributor.
René Verdon was a French-born American chef and author. Verdon was the chef for the White House during the administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Verdon was hired by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961.
Najat Kaanache is the host of AMC Networks' cooking series "Cocina Marroquí" which airs on Canal Cocina in Spain and El Gourmet throughout 20 countries in Latin America. Kaanache was born and raised in San Sebastián of Spain's Basque Country. She gained fame as a lead actress on Spanish daytime television series and then traveled throughout the Middle East and South America working in philanthropy to empower women and street kids. She later attended culinary school and gained fame as "The Pilgrim Chef" by blogging throughout her four years training with the world's top chefs: Ferran Adrià, René Redzepi, Thomas Keller, Grant Achatz, Heston Blumenthal and Martín Berasategui.
Culinary diplomacy, gastrodiplomacy or food diplomacy is a type of cultural diplomacy, which itself is a subset of public diplomacy. Its basic premise is that "the easiest way to win hearts and minds is through the stomach". Official government-sponsored culinary diplomacy programs have been established in Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, Israel, the United States, Cambodia, Japan, and Nordic countries.
Hans F. Raffert was a German American chef who was White House Executive Chef from 1988 to 1992. He was the first White House chef to annually build a gingerbread house for the Executive Residence's Christmas holiday decorations.
Jon Hill is an American chef who was White House Executive Chef from October 1, 1987, to January 7, 1988. He was the first American-born chef to serve in the capacity.
The Culinary Institute Lenotre (CIL) is a French-owned Culinary College in the US located in Houston, Texas, and was founded in 1998 by Alain Lenotre, son of the acclaimed French pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre (1920–2009), and his wife, Marie Lenotre.
