Walter Scheib

Scheib was born on May 3, 1954, in Oakland, California, to Walter S. Scheib Jr. and his wife, Jean Scheib.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/us/walter-scheib-innovative-former-white-house-chef-is-dead-at-61.html|last=Grimes|first=William|title=Walter Scheib, Innovative Former White House Chef, Is Dead at 61|work=The New York Times|date=June 22, 2015|access-date=June 22, 2015}}{{sfn|Scheib|Friedman|2007|page=3}} His father worked for the Atomic Energy Commission, and his mother was an accountant.{{cite news|url=http://articles.philly.com/1994-05-18/food/25829175_1_pierre-chambrin-kitchen-staff-pastry-chefs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624075123/http://articles.philly.com/1994-05-18/food/25829175_1_pierre-chambrin-kitchen-staff-pastry-chefs|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 24, 2015|last=Olney|first=Judith|title=Serving America's Cuisine to the Clintons|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=May 18, 1994|access-date=June 22, 2015}} The Scheibs moved to Bethesda, Maryland, 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 and bouillabaisse. She also cooked Spanish cuisine, and taught Walter to appreciate unusual flavor combinations.{{cite news|url=http://triblive.com/lifestyles/fooddrink/7811053-74/washington-chef-county#axzz3dvntqvSL|last=Donovan|first=Sandra Fischione|title=Washington County Restaurant Week Features Former White House Chef|work=Pittsburgh Tribune|date=February 24, 2015|access-date=June 22, 2015}} Scheib's favorite television programs were The Galloping Gourmet with Graham Kerr and The French Chef with Julia Child. 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 in Bethesda in 1972. He enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park, but quit and enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where he graduated in 1979.

After a period where he worked in France, Scheib moved to Washington, D.C., where he found work as a line chef in the kitchen at the Capital Hilton. Within three years, he had risen to the position of chef de cuisine (executive chef).

He moved to the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton, Florida, 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.{{cite news|url=http://m.spokesman.com/stories/1995/aug/09/presidential-cuisine-white-house-chef-walter/|last=Willan|first=Anne|title=Presidential Cuisine: White House Chef Walter Scheib Rises to a National Challenge of Altering a Decades-Old Dining Tradition|work=The Spokesman-Review|date=August 9, 1995|access-date=June 22, 2015|archive-date=June 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624074213/http://m.spokesman.com/stories/1995/aug/09/presidential-cuisine-white-house-chef-walter/|url-status=dead}}

In 1990, he took a position as the executive chef at The Greenbrier, a luxury resort near White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. At The Greenbrier, Scheib directed a staff of 200, and often prepared as many as 1,000 meals a night.

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 Hans Raffert, but Raffert retired in October 1992,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gtdlAAAAIBAJ&pg=2099%2C4880578|last=Latvala|first=Charlotte|title=From the White House to You|work=Beaver County Times|date=December 21, 1994|page=Weekly 1|access-date=June 22, 2015}} 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 favored by President Bill and First Lady Hillary Clinton.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/us/high-calories-and-chef-out-at-white-house.html|last=Burros|first=Marian|title=High Calories (and Chef!) Out at White House|work=The New York Times|date=March 5, 1994|access-date=June 22, 2015}} 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.{{sfn|Scheib|Friedman|2007|page=3}} Scheib's wife submitted his résumé without his knowledge. He was among 4,000 applicants for the position, and one of just five asked to audition for the First Lady.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/22/how-to-become-white-house-executive-chef-walter-scheib/29121971/|last=Madhani|first=Aamer|title=How Ex-White House Chef Scheib Made the Cut|work=USA Today|date=June 22, 2015|access-date=June 24, 2015}} 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- and fat-heavy dishes of French cooking. Scheib was competing against some of the best chefs in the United States, including Nora Pouillon and Patrick Clark (then at the Hay–Adams Hotel).{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/13/nyregion/patrick-clark-42-is-dead-innovator-in-american-cuisine.html|last=Asimov|first=Eric|title=Patrick Clark, 42, Is Dead|work=The New York Times|date=February 13, 1998|access-date=June 23, 2015}} Scheib auditioned before the First Lady and several other women by presenting pecan-encrusted lamb, red-curried sweet potatoes, and morel 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.

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.{{sfn|Tederick|2007|page=17}} 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 cheeseburgers{{cite news|url=http://articles.philly.com/2008-02-28/food/24989064_1_president-clinton-hillary-clinton-walter-scheib|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624075409/http://articles.philly.com/2008-02-28/food/24989064_1_president-clinton-hillary-clinton-walter-scheib|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 24, 2015|last=Huff|first=Jeanne|title=A Chef's Tale of Pots, Pans and POTUS|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=February 28, 2008|access-date=June 23, 2015}} and a 24-ounce porterhouse steak with béarnaise sauce and onion rings whenever the First Lady was absent. Chelsea Clinton's decision to become a vegetarian in 1999{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/10902554/Chelsea-Clinton-interview-I-will-always-work-harder-than-anyone.html|last=Sacks|first=Danielle|title=Chelsea Clinton Interview: 'I will always work harder than anyone'|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=June 22, 2014|access-date=June 23, 2015}} created major problems for the kitchen staff, who could no longer use the same utensils and pans for cooking meat and vegetables.

White House Executive Chefs do not normally change when a new administration arrives, and, as usual, President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush 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.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=2059729|last=Tapper|first=Jake|title=Former White House Chef Dishes on Presidential Families|work=ABC News|date=June 9, 2006|access-date=June 22, 2015}} After the September 11 attacks 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 scallops, 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.{{cite news|last=Gebhart|first=Ann|title=White House Chef Is Out In East Wing Social Shuffle|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 4, 2005|page=C1}} He was succeeded in August 2005 by Cristeta Comerford, a White House sous-chef whom Scheib had hired in 1995.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/14/AR2005081400625.html|last=Sagon|first=Candy|title=Toque of the Town: White House Names 1st Female Executive Chef|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 15, 2005|access-date=June 22, 2015}}

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 enchiladas, fresh fruit, salads, and sorbets, and both presidents asked for junk food 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, including Akihito, Emperor of Japan; Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Diana, Princess of Wales; Jacques Chirac, President of France; Nelson Mandela, the President of South Africa; and Boris Yeltsin, the first President of Russia.

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 and to 154 countries.

Scheib appeared on the television series Iron Chef America, which aired on the Food Network, in 2006.{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ex-white-house-chef-died-accidental-drowning-article-1.2268700|title=Ex-White House Chef Found Dead in New Mexico Died of Accidental Drowning|agency=Associated Press|date=June 23, 2015|access-date=June 24, 2015}}

Scheib went hiking in Taos, New Mexico, and went missing on June 13, 2015.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/politics/white-house-chef-missing-found-dead/index.html|last1=Sutton|first1=Joe|last2=Malloy|first2=Allie|title=Missing Ex-White House Chef's Body Found in New Mexico|website=CNN|date=June 22, 2015|access-date=June 22, 2015}} He was found dead on June 21, 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/authorities-say-ex-white-house-chefs-death-was-accidental-drowning|title=Authorities say ex-White House chef's death was accidental drowning|website=Fox News |agency=Associated Press|date=November 30, 2015|access-date=September 27, 2021}}

An autopsy revealed that Scheib died from drowning on or about June 13.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/white-house-chef-walter-scheibs-body-found-mexico/story?id=31935168|last=Siegel|first=Benjamin|title=Former White House Chef Died From Drowning, Autopsy Shows|work=ABC News|date=June 23, 2015|access-date=June 23, 2015}} A precise date of death was not determined, as the cold water temperature of the ravine preserved his body in a manner that made it impossible to determine when exactly he had died. The area where he was hiking is prone to flash floods, and thunderstorms had struck the area the day he went missing.{{cite news|url=https://www.abqjournal.com/603077/omi-former-white-house-chef-drowned-to-death.html|last=Carrillo|first=Edmundo|title=Former White House chef drowned, OMI reports|work=Albuquerque Journal|date=June 23, 2015|access-date=September 16, 2021}}{{Efn|Scheib's body was found partially submerged in water in an inescapable ravine through which thunderstorm run-off was draining. The site was {{convert|25|yd|m}} off the trail, and about {{convert|1.7|mi|km}} from the head of the Yerba Canyon trail.}}

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.

;Notes

{{notelist}}

;Citations

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book|last1=Scheib|first1=Walter|last2=Friedman|first2=Andrew|title=White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen|url=https://archive.org/details/whitehousechefel00sche|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|date=2007|isbn=9780471798422}}
• {{cite journal|last=Tederick|first=Lydia Barker|title=A Look at the White House Kitchens|journal=White House History Journal|date=Spring 2007|pages=10–29|url=http://www.whitehousehistory.org/history/documents/White-House-History-20-Tederick-Kitchens.pdf|access-date=2015-06-24|archive-date=2015-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623110823/http://www.whitehousehistory.org/history/documents/White-House-History-20-Tederick-Kitchens.pdf|url-status=dead}}

• [http://www.theamericanchef.com TheAmericanChef.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908165034/http://www.theamericanchef.com/ |date=2006-09-08 }}
• {{C-SPAN|48122}}

{{S-start}}

{{succession box

| before= Pierre Chambrin

| title=White House Executive Chef

| years=1994–2005

| after= Cristeta Comerford }}

{{S-end}}

{{White House Executive Chef}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheib, Walter}}

Category:1954 births

Category:2015 deaths

Category:21st-century American memoirists

Category:American chefs

Category:American male chefs

Category:White House executive chefs

Category:Writers from Oakland, California

Category:Writers from Bethesda, Maryland

Category:Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni

Category:Deaths by drowning in the United States

Category:The Greenbrier people