Washington (AP) -- Roland Mesnier, who created often-magical desserts
for five presidents and their guests as White House executive pastry
chef, has died at age 78.
His death was confirmed Saturday by the White House Historical Association, which said he died Friday following a short illness.
One of the longest-serving White House chefs, Mesnier
was hired in 1979 by first lady Rosalynn Carter and retired during the
George W. Bush administration.
Answering questions in an online “Ask the White
House” forum in 2004, he explained that in preparing desserts not just
for the first family but for parties, receptions and dinners, he was
often called on to prepare thousands of pastries. He said he planned the
number of pastries according to who would be in attendance.
“Over the 25 years I’ve been here, I’ve noticed that Democrats usually
eat more than Republicans,” Mesnier said. “I’ve also observed that if
the guests are mostly ladies, they will usually eat more pastries than
men.”
At Christmas time, he was known for the elaborate gingerbread houses he
made to help decorate the White House. He said he also needed to make
more pastries than usual for holiday parties because some tended to
“disappear into pocketbooks or pockets” and often ended up as Christmas
tree ornaments in people’s homes.
Mesnier grew up in Bonnay, a village in eastern
France, in a family of nine children and began his career as an
apprentice at age 14. White House archives describe him leaving home
with a cardboard suitcase and five francs to begin his apprenticeship at
the Patisserie Maurivard in Besançon, France. He later worked in Paris
and the German cities of Hanover and Hamburg before landing a job at the
Savoy hotel in London.
In 1967, he became a pastry chef at a hotel in
Bermuda and while living on the island met his future wife, a
vacationing schoolteacher from West Virginia. A decade later, he was
working at The Homestead resort in Virginia when he heard that the White
House was looking for a new pastry chef.
When asked in 2004 about working at the White
House, he said: “You don’t think about free time, spare time, etc.
Because your time is at the White House. Any time you are needed you
have to be there.”
“It could be Christmas day, Easter, your birthday,
your mother’s birthday, your child’s birthday — you are going to be at
the White House if you are needed,” he said.
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