It’s been a state secret forever, but the former Clinton White House chef has revealed that there really is a “presidential food taster.” And it’s the executive chef.
The late White House chef Walter Scheib revealed the secret to Adrian Miller, author of the new book In The President’s Kitchen Cabinet, shortly before he died in a freak hiking accident in 2015.
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“He said, ‘Yeah, the chef is the taster. We are the last ones to taste it before it goes out,'” Miller said of his talk with Scheib.
What’s more, he said, the White House has an elaborate system to keep food for the first family and even state dinners safe. Primarily, the kitchen works with companies that have undergone background checks.
“Discretion is valued,” he said. “If you find somebody bragging about that, you shouldn’t trust them,” said Miller.
Then there’s the Obama-era White House garden, used to supply fresh veggies and berries.
And, he added, “Sometimes the most secure thing for them to do is to just go to the store and shop at the last moment.” Don’t tell anyone, but one local fave for White House chefs is Whole Foods on P Street.
Miller made the reveal during a talk last week at the National Archives, seen here.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
