Toque of the Town: White House Names 1st Female Executive Chef

Comerford, who is married with one child, lives in Columbia. She holds a degree in food technology from the University of the Philippines and specializes in ethnic and American cuisine.

Scheib called his former assistant "definitely the best candidate they could have chosen." As the chef search got underway, applicants said the first lady was looking for sophisticated restaurant food.

"They told me that barbecue and Tex-Mex would be very little of what they're looking for," said Richard Hamilton, former chef at the Spiced Pear in the Chanler Hotel in Newport, R.I., and a finalist for the job. "They talked about famous, high-end restaurants and showed me ideas from cookbooks. They said they wanted to be wowed."

Finding the wow factor proved difficult. The White House wanted a high-profile chef, but the job doesn't pay as much as today's ccelebrity chefs can earn with television, cookbook and endorsement deals -- none of which is allowed while working for the first family.

The White House chef has been paid $80,000 to $100,000 in recent years. But former chefs could boost their salary with overtime; new regulations no longer allow that.

Still, the job is considered an honor and certainly doesn't hurt a chef's reputation, said Scheib, who recently signed a book deal with John Wiley & Sons to write about cooking in the White House.

During the chef search, Hamilton was twice asked to cook for the Bushes, including a private dinner for 12 in June. He admits he had some problems working with the kitchen staff during his first visit "because, quite frankly, they wanted the job." His second visit, he said, "was great. We really clicked."

After news of his White House tryout leaked to his employer, Hamilton left his job and moved his family to New York. "It was hard for the owner of the restaurant because he didn't know if I was going to be staying or not. Relations got very strained," Hamilton said.

That was not the case in Dallas, however, where another candidate, Chris Ward, proudly framed and displayed an autographed menu from his dinner tryout at the White House near the entrance to his restaurant, the Mercury Grill.

Staff writer Jose Antonio Vargas contributed to this report.