A Glimpse Into The Kitchen Of A Presidential Repast

Patrick Wilson, an executive chef who lives in Newtown, was invited to be one of the chefs at the inaugural events in Washington, D.C., preparing dinners for as many as 1,400 guests. Following is his account.

By Patrick Wilson

During one of the preparatory courses for certification at the Culinary Institute of America, I met Ralf Hofmann, executive chef at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. Ralf and I were taking a class together in preparation for the Pro-Chef Level II Exam at the Culinary Institute. We quickly became friends and Ralf asked if I would assist him in the preparation for the multiple inaugural balls at the Capital Hilton for the week of January 18–22.

Chef Hofmann had recently transferred to the Capital Hilton from Chicago and was going on vacation for December 20–January 17 and returning just a few days before the main inaugural events. My hotel experience as a young chef included opening hotels in Stamford; Denver, Colo.; St Louis, Mo., the Vista International at the World Trade Center and the Westbury Hotel, both in Manhattan.

While at the Capital Hilton, some of the events Chef Hofmann and I were involved in included the US Conference of Mayors dinner for 400 of the country’s mayors; the American Legion’s Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball for 1,400 people, including about 50 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients and the President; The Alfalfa Club’s 92nd Anniversary Dinner attended by both the President and the Vice President at the same time, one of only two times of the year they are both in the same space at the same time.

It was a week of waking up at 4:30 am at the home of my aunt, Maryellen Artnek, a retired FBI agent residing in Arlington, Va., and driving ten minutes to the metro station, taking the train to the North Farragut Avenue Station and a walk to the hotel. The day ended with the same return trip at midnight for five nights.

Some of the highlights included seeing the President. I knew I was in the presence of greatness [because] fighter jets roared overhead, the interstate traffic was closed, and dog teams walked through the kitchen. Brian Kelleher, general manager at the Capital Hilton, has invited me to come back and work at the “Grid Iron” in March, another Presidential event at the Hilton.

The majority of work was done in advance during the day of each banquet, allowing us to plate 1,400 hot, five-star meals in 40 minutes on Thursday night at the Heroes Ball of the Inauguration using people from every department in the hotel in a production mode. Chef Hofmann assembled a show plate, as he wanted the dish to look, for the three service lines. Chef Hofmann was in charge of one line, I was in charge of another line, and Sous-Chef Kevin Duffy was in charge of the third line. Each of the three lines, in three separate areas of the hotel’s kitchen, produced a set amount of dinners using precounted plates and under the watchful eyes of Secret Service agents.

On Inaugural night, the President spent about 20 minutes at each of ten events and spoke at the Heroes ball for 20 minutes, then whisked away for the next event. Timing was choreographed to the minute. An elaborate party in the reception area with 4,000 passed butler-style hors d’oeuvre started the dinner with waiters in tuxedoes with white gloves and silver trays. This event honors all the awardees of the Congressional Medal of Honor; many were present wearing their medals.

But on Saturday night, The Alfalfa Club Dinner was the event of the whole week with 650 guests that included all of the highest government people: the President and Mrs Bush, Vice President and Mrs Cheney, former President and Mrs Bush, governors, ambassadors, the Bush administration’s cabinet, the Supreme Court, the joint chiefs, etc. Access to the hotel was restricted for many blocks in every direction. The Alfalfa Club is “missile-proof.” It has walls 11 feet thick.

The President stayed all night for a leisurely dinner and brought the White House wait staff to serve the head table. I had the opportunity to serve the White House staff after the guests were served and received presidential red, white, and blue M&Ms specifically made for and only available at the White House and signed by the President as a thank you. My son Jack took them to school for show and tell.

The Secret Service was watching over our shoulders for the entire week and escorted the food down the hallways and up the elevators to the many kitchens. We were frisked and scanned many times moving from kitchen to kitchen during the events. (I was required to send all my personal information about myself in advance for security purposes.) We served a buffet for the security people; we had to refill the buffet many times for all the different agencies, we had no idea how many people we would be required to serve.

[The Alfalfa Club dinner featured a menu that included a relish tray, Lobster Navarin under a puff pastry dome, followed by stuffed beef tenderloin and Chilean sea bass duo, smoked peppercorn sauce, potato and turnip au gratin, brie and fruit salad, pear tart with vanilla ice cream and cassis port wine sauce. The Hero’s event included butler-passed hors d’oeuvres followed by a salad with baby greens, honey roasted walnuts, blue cheese, and a blood orange vinaigrette, then “surf and turf” (filet mignon and lobster “macaroni and cheese”), rappini and wild mushrooms, a smoked peppercorn sauce, and a dessert called Double Chocolate Obsession.]

At the end of the last night, I realized I had my knife kit and I needed to depart the hotel. I told the agents my dilemma and received a Secret Service escort from the kitchen to the Metro station with instructions to continue on my one-way journey, as I would not be allowed back into the hotel.

Sunday morning, having rarely visited with my aunt, we went to Fort Belvoir for brunch overlooking the Potomac River at the Officer’s Club. The buffet was very elaborate and had every type of food imaginable, followed by the long drive home to Newtown.

As I continue on my quest for the certified master chef credential, it has taken me on a journey of many challenges. In December, I completed the Pro-Chef Level 1 exam at the Culinary Institute of American in Hyde Park, N.Y. The first week of January, I passed the Pro-Chef Level II Evaluation and the Level II exam is the week of March 7–11. Level III is not written yet; after Level III, then the Master Chef Exam. Eight out of ten chefs fail the Master Chef Exam and there are only 53 in the world at this time.

The journey continues to be exciting and the learning curve very steep. I experiment cooking cuisines from many different nations and am working on Morocco at this time cooking in Tagines, clay pots, making couscous from scratch, pita bread, and many other foods during the winter months as my job as executive chef and club manager at Saint Andrew’s Golf Club [in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.] is closed for the winter season.