Walter Stanley Scheib III (May 3, 1954 – June 13, 2015) was an American chef who was
White House Executive Chef
The White House executive chef is the individual responsible for managing the kitchens, and for planning and preparing of all menus and meals for the president of the United States and the first family, which includes their private meals, their p ...
from 1994 until 2005.
Early life and work
Early life
Scheib was born on May 3, 1954, in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, to Walter S. Scheib Jr. and his wife, Jean Scheib. His father worked for the Atomic Energy Commission, and his mother was an
accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy.
Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certi ...
. The Scheibs moved to
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...
, when Walter was a young boy.
Scheib's mother was a devotee of French cooking long before it became popular in the United States, often making
paella
Paella (, , , , , ) is a rice dish originally from Valencia. While non-Spaniards commonly view it as Spain's national dish, Spaniards almost unanimously consider it to be a dish from the Valencian region. Valencians, in turn, regard ''paella'' ...
and
bouillabaisse
Bouillabaisse (; oc, bolhabaissa, bullabessa ) is a traditional Provençal fish stew originating in the port city of Marseille. The French and English form ''bouillabaisse'' comes from the Provençal Occitan word ''bolhabaissa'', a compound th ...
. She also cooked
Spanish cuisine
Spanish cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices from Spain. Olive oil (of which Spain is the world's largest producer) is heavily used in Spanish cuisine. It forms the base of many vegetable sauces (known in Spanish as ''sofrit ...
, and taught Walter to appreciate unusual flavor combinations. Scheib's favorite television programs were ''The Galloping Gourmet'' with
Graham Kerr
Graham Kerr (born 22 January 1934) is an English cooking personality who is best known for his television cooking show ''The Galloping Gourmet'' from December 30, 1968 to September 14, 1973.
Early life
Kerr was born in Brondesbury, London. H ...
and ''
The French Chef
''The French Chef'' is an American television cooking show created and hosted by Julia Child, produced and broadcast by WGBH, the public television station in Boston, Massachusetts, from February 11, 1963 to January 14, 1973. It was one of ...
'' with
Julia Child
Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, ...
. He asked his mother to allow him to chop vegetables or prepare food so often, that in time he became extremely proficient at cooking and was allowed to prepare all the family's meals. In his teens, he worked in local restaurants as a pot washer, busboy, and prep cook.
Scheib graduated from
Walter Johnson High School
Walter Johnson High School (also known as Walter Johnson or WJ) is a public upper secondary school located in the census-designated place of North Bethesda, Maryland ( Bethesda postal address). He enrolled at the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...
, but quit and enrolled at
The Culinary Institute of America
The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its primary campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first ...
in
Hyde Park, New York
Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park (CDP), New York, Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland, New York, Haviland. ...
, where he graduated in 1979.
Early work
After a period where he worked in France, Scheib moved to
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, where he found work as a line chef in the kitchen at the
Capital Hilton
The Capital Hilton, originally named the Hotel Statler, is a historic hotel located just north of the White House on 16th Street in Washington, D.C.
History
The hotel was built by Statler Hotels and began construction in 1940. It opened on Januar ...
. Within three years, he had risen to the position of ''
chef de cuisine
A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are genera ...
Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...
, in 1986, where he served four years as the executive chef. Scheib then returned to D.C., where he served briefly as executive chef at the
Mayflower Hotel
The Mayflower Hotel is a historic hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., located on Connecticut Avenue NW. It is two blocks north of Farragut Square (one block north of the Farragut North Metro station). The hotel is managed by the Autograph Colle ...
.
In 1990, he took a position as the executive chef at
The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier is a luxury resort located in the Allegheny Mountains near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in the United States.
Since 1778, visitors have traveled to this part of the state to "take the waters" of ...
, a
luxury resort
Luxury may refer to:
*Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises
*Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars
**Luxury tax (sports), surcharge put ...
near
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County in southeastern West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,231 at the 2020 census. The city emblem consists of five dandelion flowers and the citizens celebrate spring with an annual Da ...
. At The Greenbrier, Scheib directed a staff of 200, and often prepared as many as 1,000 meals a night.
White House
Auditioning
The White House kitchen had been dominated from 1966 to 1987 by Henry Haller, a Swiss-trained chef who emphasized French cooking. His successor, Jon Hill, lasted just five months before being replaced by long-time
sous-chef
A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef, usually the more hands on manager with regards to training staff and organising the kitchen.
Duties and functions
The sous-chef has many re ...
Hans Raffert
Hans F. Raffert (March 11, 1927 – March 3, 2005) was a German American chef who was White House Executive Chef from 1988 to 1992. He was the first White House chef to annually build a gingerbread house for the Executive Residence's Christmas holi ...
, but Raffert retired in October 1992, and French-born and trained chef Pierre Chambrin, who succeeded Raffert, was asked to resign in March 1994 after refusing to cook the low-fat
American cuisine
American cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes prepared in the United States. It has been significantly influenced by Europeans, indigenous Native Americans, Africans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and many other cultures an ...
favored by President
Bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...
. Most of Chambrin's staff were also asked to leave.
Scheib's mother had just died, and Scheib did not want to take on a new job. Scheib's wife submitted his
résumé
A résumé, sometimes spelled resume (or alternatively resumé), also called a curriculum vitae (CV), is a document created and used by a person to present their background, skills, and accomplishments. Résumés can be used for a variety of rea ...
without his knowledge. He was among 4,000 applicants for the position, and one of just five asked to audition for the First Lady. Mrs. Clinton was impressed with Scheib's managerial skills and ability to prepare hundreds of first-class meals in a short period of time. She also wanted the White House to feature more distinctively American cooking techniques, dishes, and presentation, something she believed Scheib could bring to the White House. She also wanted to get away from the
cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
- and
fat
In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food.
The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple es ...
-heavy dishes of French cooking. Scheib was competing against some of the best chefs in the United States, including
Nora Pouillon
Nora Pouillon (born October 26, 1943) is an Austrian chef, restaurateur, and author. She was the owner of Restaurant Nora in Washington, D.C., famous for its status as America's first certified organic restaurant.
Biography
Early life
Pouillo ...
and Patrick Clark (then at the Hay–Adams Hotel). Scheib auditioned before the First Lady and several other women by presenting
pecan
The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...
-encrusted
lamb
Lamb or The Lamb may refer to:
* A young sheep
* Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep
Arts and media Film, television, and theatre
* ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut
* ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...
, red-curried
sweet potato
The sweet potato or sweetpotato ('' Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young ...
es, and
morel
''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales ( division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges ...
sauce. While other chefs primarily brought in dishes they normally serve in their restaurants, Scheib's lunch featured a wide variety of American cuisines: Cal-Italian, Mid-Atlantic, Southwestern, Floridian, and even a vegetarian serving. Hillary Clinton hired Scheib after Clark, her first choice, turned her down.
Clinton years
Among Scheib's immediate innovations as White House Executive Chef was the establishment of a vegetable garden on the roof of the White House and the modernization of the kitchen in 1993. He also taught Chelsea Clinton how to cook. Meeting the dining needs of the Clintons was demanding. Hillary Clinton enjoyed hot sauces, and Bill Clinton loved to gorge on
cheeseburger
A cheeseburger is a hamburger topped with cheese. Traditionally, the slice of cheese is placed on top of the meat patty. The cheese is usually added to the cooking hamburger patty shortly before serving, which allows the cheese to melt. Chee ...
s and a 24-ounce
porterhouse steak
The T-bone and porterhouse are steaks of beef cut from the short loin (called the sirloin in Commonwealth countries and Ireland). Both steaks include a "T"-shaped lumbar vertebra with sections of abdominal internal oblique muscle on each side ...
with
béarnaise sauce
Béarnaise sauce (; ) is a sauce made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks and white wine vinegar and flavored with herbs. It is widely regarded as the "child" of the Hollandaise sauce. The difference is only in the flavoring: Béarnai ...
and
onion ring
An onion ring, also called a French fried onion ring, is a form of appetizer or side dish in British and American cuisine. They generally consist of a cross-sectional "ring" of onion dipped in batter
Batter or batters may refer to:
Common ...
s whenever the First Lady was absent. Chelsea Clinton's decision to become a
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat ( red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetaria ...
in 1999 created major problems for the kitchen staff, who could no longer use the same utensils and pans for cooking meat and vegetables.
Bush years and dismissal
White House Executive Chefs do not normally change when a new administration arrives, and, as usual, President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
and First Lady
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...
retained Scheib when they entered the White House in 2000. However, the Bushes had different tastes and styles than the Clintons. Laura Bush wanted a more formal presentation at meals, and President Bush disliked soup, salad, and poached fish—staples of Scheib's cuisine. Instead, the president favored peanut butter and honey sandwiches, BLTs, and cheeseburgers. The twin Bush girls both required that the calories in each meal be given to them. After the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
in 2001, Scheib's cooking duties were largely restricted to the First Family, as all social engagements at the White House were curtailed for nearly a year. President Bush affectionately called Scheib "Cookie".
Tension between the Bushes and Scheib was soon apparent. An anonymous White House staffer later claimed that Scheib kept serving the Bushes
scallop
Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related familie ...
s, even though they disliked them. Scheib angrily denied the assertion. The differences became too great, and Scheib was fired by the Bushes in February 2005. He was succeeded in August 2005 by
Cristeta Comerford
Cristeta Pasia Comerford (born October 27, 1962) is a Filipino-American chef who has been the White House executive chef since 2005. She is the first woman and first person of Asian origin to hold the post.
Early life
Cristeta Comerford was born ...
, a White House sous-chef whom Scheib had hired in 1995.
During both the Clinton and Bush administrations, Scheib usually served three meals a day to the First Family. He often worked long hours each day, and as many as six days a week. The number of expected guests at both informal and formal dining occasions fluctuated greatly, and pleasing both First Families took a great deal of attention and care. Both the Bushes and Clintons loved
enchilada
An enchilada (, ) is a Mexican dish consisting of a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a savory sauce. Enchiladas can be filled with various ingredients, including meats, cheese, beans, potatoes, vegetables, or combinations. ...
s, fresh fruit,
salad
A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a v ...
s, and
sorbet
Sorbet (), also called "water ice", is a frozen dessert made using ice combined with fruit juice, fruit purée, wine, liqueur, honey, etc. Generally sorbets do not contain dairy ingredients, while sherbets do.
Etymology
The word "sorbet" ...
s, and both presidents asked for
junk food
"Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from sugar and/or fat, and possibly also sodium, but with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. It is also known ...
when their wives were not present. During his tenure at the White House, Scheib cooked for a large number of heads of state and
VIPs
A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots.
Examples in ...
, including
Akihito
is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide.
B ...
,
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...
;
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of the ...
,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as ...
,
President of France
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...
;
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...
, the
President of South Africa
The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nation ...
; and
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
, the first
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
.
Post-White House
In 2007, Scheib authored (with Andrew Friedman) a memoir, ''The White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen''. He subsequently formed a corporation, The American Chef, which provided his services as a consultant and lecturer, and assisted in planning, preparing, and presenting Scheib-cooked meals for large groups. Between 2007 and 2015, he traveled to nearly every
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
and to 154 countries.
Scheib appeared on the television series ''
Iron Chef America
''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, whi ...
'', which aired on the
Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
, in 2006.
Death
Scheib went hiking in
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando C ...
, and went missing on June 13, 2015. He was found dead on June 21, 2015.
An autopsy revealed that Scheib died from drowning on or about June 13. However, due to the cold water temperature of the ravine he was found in, his body was preserved in a manner that made it impossible to determine how long his body had been there. The area where he was hiking is prone to
flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ...
s, and thunderstorms had struck the area the day he went missing.
Personal life
Scheib met his first wife, Jean Prince, at the Capital Hilton, where she was working as a chef. The couple had two sons, Walter S. Scheib IV (born in 1988) and James Prince (born in 1991). Their marriage ended in divorce.
Scheib then married Yvonne Swartz; their marriage also ended in divorce.