Obamas to retain Fil-Am as White House chef

WASHINGTON — One thing President-elect Barack Obama will not be changing: The White House's Filipino-American chef. Transition officials said Friday that Cristeta Comerford will stay on for the Obamas. Comerford is the first woman and first minority member to serve as White House executive chef. Michelle Obama, the US next first lady, said she and Comerford have a "shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families." Comerford is a naturalized US citizen from the Philippines who studied French cooking in Vienna, Austria, and specializes in ethnic and American cuisine. Born as Cristeta Pasia in 1962, she grew up in Sampaloc district of Manila, finished secondary education at the Manila Science High School and took up food technology at the University of the Philippines, Diliman in Quezon City. Before completing her studies, however, she immigrated to the United State at the age of 23. According to Wikipedia, Comerford's first worked = at the Sheraton Hotel near O'Hare International Airport, then at the Hyatt Regency hotel. After Chicago, she moved to Washington, D.C., and worked as a chef at two restaurants. She spent six months in Vienna as a rotating chef, and was was recruited by executive chef Walter Scheib III in 1995 to work in the Clinton White House. When Scheib resigned as executive chef in February 2005, First Lady Laura Bush promoted Comerford, appointing her as head chef on August 14, 2005. She became the first female executive chef and the first Filipina to hold this position. Comerford lives in Columbia, Maryland, with her husband, John, and their daughter, Danielle. - AP and GMANews.TV