White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen

by Andrew Friedman and Walter Scheib

Book Overview

"An engaging book about life at the Executive Mansion. . . . Hillary Clinton had charged this fiercely competitive, meticulously organized chef with bringing 'what's best about American food, wine,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471798428
• ISBN13: 9780471798422
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 327 Pages
• Weight: 2.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.7" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A JOY TO READ - FOR WHITE HOUSE FANS

As an Australian with a fascination with the White House and US Politics generally, I looked forward to reading this 'inside look' when I saw it reviewed on FOX News. The author is a hard working perfectionist chef, perfectly suited to the exacting standards of White House entertaining and the Clintons who encouraged greatness from the national residence. The menu and invititation copies were nice to see, for those who will never get an invite to the White House. The menus are all American classics or variations on same. It was an interesting 'inside' look at domesticated Hillary Clinton and a different view to the one we are seeing now as a presidential candidate. I was also interested to read the author's perceptions of the George W Bush's, who are portrayed as dull and uninterested in food or in presenting the White House in greatness. They throw very few State dinners or events, and eat the same dull food throughout the year. I highly recommend this book.

Great Book

This is a great book - couldn't put it down. Great Chef, Great Recipes, Great Stories and Incite. Glad I bought it and will use it. I highly recommend.

Great food.....Great Read.

Walter Scheib's White House Chef is a fascinating and compelling memoir of the inner workings of the White House kitchen and what it takes to be the Executive Chef of the House. After reading the book, I was greatly encouraged that this was not yet another tabloid infused penning of the lives of high profile people. It reads as a forthright account about Chef Scheib's personal interactions with the First Families and his kitchen family in both daily events and even the life-harrowing event of 911. The Chef's retelling of what it was like to be in the White House during September 11 is not to be missed. In addition to reading the book, I thought it was important to experience the Chef's cuisine. As a professional cook, I sought out to test the recipes in my kitchen and see if they actually work. Both the Cream of Celery Root Soup and the Thai-Spiced Sweet Potato Soup with Gingered Bok Choy were absolutely fabulous. The Cream of Celery Root Soup could easily be adapted for Vegans (by the omission of cream) and still taste great. The last dish I cooked was the Curried Chicken with Basmati. It is an incredibly aromatic dish that is both satisfying and flavorful. I did have to tweak the seasonings and the directions because I increased the proportion size quite a bit. In fact, I used the recipe for a catering. I simply replaced the whole chicken with chicken breasts. The dish was gone in no time and received some very positive reviews.

My mentor - I'm so proud of him!

As the Camp David Executive Chef for three years (standard military tour) I am thrilled to see my boss with such a wonderful book. He has done a beautiful job with it! The recipes are WOW and the story is REAL. I wish there had been dozens of pages of color food photographs but the photos enclosed of people and story is more than enough to get FIVE STARS! Walter is a wonderful and loving person always interested in doing right and well. A great leader and realistic manager of peace and productivity. The book as was written by Mr. Friedman is interesting and electryfing to read. It seems like everyone involved did a super good job of teamwork. Typical for normal people doing extra-ordinary results! As a cookbook with awesome recipes - enjoy! As a storybook with fascinating anecdotes - enjoy!

Deserves three "Michelin" stars for story and writing style!

A cookbook and a fascinating read all in one! I haven't taken the time to try any of the recipes yet because I simply couldn't put the book down. The anecdotes are lively, informative, touching, and never pompous in spite of the formal setting in which the events took place. The recipes are mouth-watering and several of the dishes seem easy to prepare. Highly recommended.