Former White House chef kicks off Washington County Restaurant Week
For more than a decade, Walter Scheib directed the cooking in the White House kitchen, carefully planning state dinners for the Clinton and Bush administrations for dignitaries from around the world.
He came to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in 1994 to take over the executive chef duties at the request of then-first lady Hillary Clinton, who asked Scheib to replace a four-decade tradition of Classic French and Continental cooking styles with a focus on American cuisine.
Scheib, who wrote about his experiences in his 2007 book “White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen,” earned the title of “The American Chef,” using and promoting America’s vast food possibilities from its meat, fish and produce and its various regional dishes.
Scheib will be at The Meadows Casino on March 3 as the celebrity chef to help kick off the first-ever Washington County Restaurant Week. The event, which will run from March 9-15, is sponsored by the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency, and was created to highlight Washington County as a premier dining destination, as well as to showcase the county’s food, restaurants and chefs. The event will feature more than 15 local restaurants.
The March 3 kickoff event will feature a “Best of Chef” competition, with an appearance by Scheib, who will share his stories about his days serving not one, but two first American families.
In a brief telephone interview, Scheib stressed that anyone can turn out good dishes with little or no formal training, as long as they don’t try to do too much.
For home cooks, Scheib recommends becoming proficient with a recipe before inviting others to taste it.
“Don’t experiment on your friends,” he said.
Regardless of what you prepare, Scheib said it is extremely important to find the freshest ingredients to bring up the flavors of the dish. And above all, he said, keep it simple.
You’re always ahead of the game “when you can get fresh tomatoes, mushrooms or fish” or other locally produced ingredients, he said.
He likens developing proficiency in the kitchen to learning to play a piece on the piano, with the adage of practice makes perfect applying to both endeavors.
And for entertaining, learning one piece or recipe well is far more sensible and rewarding than trying to compose a full-blown symphony of dishes for guests.
“You want to play the chords that work,” Scheib said.
While the advice about fresh, simply prepared food sounds basic, he acknowledged it doesn’t always translate to professional kitchens.
Scheib, 61, maintains a busy schedule, attending about 85 events a year while also acting as a consultant to a number of restaurants.
“I’ve been in restaurants that say they have fresh ingredients, but when you look in the pantry, everything’s from (across the country).”
In an era where many prominent chefs are given shows on cable television’s Food Network, Scheib isn’t fazed by the fact that he isn’t in the lineup.
“I’m an unbranded guy who doesn’t have a TV show,” he said.
But he has a decade running the kitchen at America’s most famous address and countless stories to tell as a result of the experience.
Whether he’s helping to promote a restaurant event like the one the tourism agency is introducing “or leading a tour of food finds in St. Petersburg, Russia,” Scheib said the discussion always comes back to his days as White House executive chef.
“It’s always what people want to hear about.”
For more information, including the purchase of tickets for the kickoff event, email Tara Gleason at tara@washcochamber.com or call 724-225-3010.