Executive pastry chef provides tasty endings for high-profile diners
When First Lady Michelle Obama symbolically put America on a diet, the Rutgers graduate who presides over the White House pastry kitchen grappled with a culinary conundrum.
“Mrs. Obama’s healthy-eating initiatives and Let’s Move program have completely changed how we think about food here,” says William Yosses, executive pastry chef, veteran of the New York restaurant scene, and co-author of the 1997 best-seller, Desserts for Dummies .
His current project is engineering a granola bar – dried fruits with honey, maple syrup, oatmeal, and a variety of seeds – to serve as a snack at the South Lawn series Michelle Obama hosts monthly for youngsters as part of her effort to control childhood obesity.
It’s a far cry from the cream-saturated, butter-laden, sugar-charged desserts Yosses once crafted at such landmarks as the Tavern on the Green and the Bouley Restaurant and Bakery in New York, he readily acknowledges.
But for the classically trained Yosses, the bars represent one more step in a journey from Toledo, Ohio, to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, with a stop at Rutgers from 1974 to 1976 to pick up a master’s degree in French language and literature.
“Rutgers was a great, great period in my life – really the beginning of my career in food,” he says today. “In addition to focusing on rigorous academics, the French Department was a celebratory place – the students would get together and host one another for dinner. That gave me my first appreciation of French cuisine.”
Jacqueline Kennedy created the position of executive pastry chef during her husband’s administration, reportedly to bring the kitchen up to international standards. Laura Bush turned to Yosses in 2007 after witnessing his deftness as a holiday pastry chef during the 2006 Yule season.
“Chef Yosses has impressed us from the start with his original and delicious creations,” Laura Bush said when the choice was announced. “He has a light touch with desserts, and the enthusiasm with which he approaches his profession makes him a real asset for all of us in the White House.”
Turning out 20,000 Christmas cookies – including a rendering of Bo, the White House Portuguese water dog, in black and white icing – and creating desserts for such luminaries as the king of Jordan and Mexican President Felipe Calderon are all in a 12-hour day’s work for Yosses.
“One of the largest events I work on is the summertime congressional picnic, with anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500 people,” he says. “It’s fairly casual, and I’ll often do a strawberry shortcake or a pie representing a regional part of the country – say a chess pie from the south, or a huckleberry cobbler.”
Way before he settles on a particular event’s fare, Yosses has spent hours in research, particularly if it’s a dinner honoring a head of state.
“The embassies will sometimes give us an idea of personal preferences or allergies, and I’ll do some tracking down on the Internet,” he notes. “We don’t really try to imitate a particular dessert from a country, because the people from there will certainly have known the best version. It’s more a matter of learning the culinary tradition to show we are familiar with it and respectful of it.”
Yosses works closely with Executive Chef Christeta Comerford and meets regularly with the First Family to plan every-day meals and ceremonial menus. The post also entails interacting with White House butlers, florists, operations staffers, and others charged with the smooth running of the mansion known as The People’s House.
Although Yosses is circumspect about President Obama’s specific requests, he notes that the commander-in-chief is known for his penchant for pies, particularly fruit pies.
A profile published by New York City Technical College, where Yosses received an associate’s degree in hotel management, said the president has dubbed him “the Crust Master.” Currently, that mastery is on display in The Perfect Finish: Special Desserts for Every Occasion, co-written by Times food columnist Melissa Clark and published by W.W. Norton.
As for his own sweet tooth, Yosses professes no preference for a particular cuisine, but there is one thing he’s adamant about: The sweet that ends any meal of his has to be … authentic.
“I love all desserts – making them and learning about them,” says the man who has worked alongside superstars Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud. “But the ingredients have to come from a natural source, perhaps a local source if I can do it.”
He uses the White House garden as a natural resource, harvesting honey from beehives he tends himself. Fruits in season, healthy nut oils and lower-saturated fats are his staples.
Refined white sugar, highly processed foods and gigantic portions? Non, non and non.
Updated from May 2011