Dinner is Served

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a State Dinner

Chefs holding plates of food while journalists take photos (© Andrew Harnik/AP)

On November 30, 2022, White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford, right, and White House executive pastry chef Susan Morrison, left, hold dishes during a media preview for the state dinner with President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron. (© Andrew Harnik/AP)

On November 30, 2022, White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford, right, and White House executive pastry chef Susan Morrison, left, hold dishes during a media preview for the state dinner with President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron. (© Andrew Harnik/AP)

Executive chef

Jill Biden speaking to two chefs, who smile and listen (© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. first lady Jill Biden thanks White House chef Cristeta Comerford, center, and pastry chef Susan Morrison as the Bidens host French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife for a state dinner on the South Lawn of the White House in December 2022. (© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. first lady Jill Biden thanks White House chef Cristeta Comerford, center, and pastry chef Susan Morrison as the Bidens host French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife for a state dinner on the South Lawn of the White House in December 2022. (© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Feeling adventurous? You’ll be asked to cook all types of cuisine. Cristeta Comerford, the current executive chef, has fed five presidents and says in Asia Society magazine that part of the job is to “taste as many types of food as possible.” Chefs also accommodate. In 2009, chef Marcus Samuelsson cooked for the Obamas’ first state dinner, making a mostly vegetarian menu to suit Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and baking Indian and American breads so guests could break (their favorite) bread together.

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