White House French Chef Quits; Makes Way for Domestic Fare

The White House chef and three other members of the White House kitchen staff will resign effective at the end of the month, the First Lady’s office said Thursday.

Neel Lattimore, a spokesman for Hillary Rodham Clinton, said executive chef Pierre Chambrin and the three other members of the kitchen staff submitted their resignations Thursday.

Lattimore said Chambrin left because his specialty is French cuisine and the Clintons prefer American cooking.

“He’s a really wonderful French chef, and when the Clintons came in they said they were really going to showcase American cuisine,” he said. “Pierre was really great and prepared wonderful menus” using American cooking, Lattimore said. But “he wanted to give the Clintons an opportunity to have someone whose specialty or expertise is American cuisine. His first love is French cuisine.”

Three other members of the kitchen staff also submitted their resignations in order to give the new chef an opportunity to put together his own team, Lattimore said.

But Lattimore said the pastry operation will continue under the direction of Roland Mesnier.