Cristeta Comerford, a long-time White House executive chef who recently retired after nearly three decades of preparing meals for five presidents and their guests, says first families are โjust regular peopleโ when they are at home in the private living areas of the Executive Mansion.
โItโs not what you see on the news,โ she says.
Preparing the first familiesโ meals was among Comerfordโs many culinary responsibilities. Meals would mostly be prepared in the main kitchen, then finished off in the residence kitchen on the second floor.
โAt the end of the day, when you do the family meals upstairs, theyโre just regular people at home. They just want a good meal. They want to sit down with their family,โ she said.
โIf they have children, they eat together. And just to see that on a daily basis, itโs not what you see on the news.
โItโs the other side of them that we get to see,โ she says.
