Please note that the following is a digitized version of a selected article from White House History Quarterly, Issue 72, originally released in print form in 2024. Single print copies of the full issue can be purchased online at Shop.WhiteHouseHistory.org No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All photographs contained in this journal unless otherwise noted are copyrighted by the White House Historical Association and may not be reproduced without permission. Requests for reprint permissions should be directed to rights@whha.org. Contact books@whha.org for more information. © 2024 White House Historical Association. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions.
A White House PASTRY CHEF Makes a Move O P P O S I T E A N D A B O V E : W H I T E H O U S E H I S T O R I C A L A S S O C I AT I O N
The Creation of the Mezzanine Pantry EMMA O’KANE
Despite its long unchanged exterior appearance, change is constant at the White House. Behind-the-scenes, operations regularly evolve to ensure the most efficient functioning of the Residence. In the late fall of 1992, a crane pulled into the North Drive, scaffolding was erected near the west corner of the North Facade, and heavy ovens, countertops, and refrigeration units were hoisted through a large opening made by the removal of a window. White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier surveyed the scene from below, camera in hand. Famous for his ambitious and legendary one-of-a-kind desserts, Mesnier was witnessing his dream fulfilled as the first dedicated White House Pastry Shop became a reality.
95
left
First Lady Nancy Reagan visits the White House Kitchen to review dishes made ahead of a White House State Dinner in 1984. At the time, Mesnier (left) was creating his extravagant desserts in a small space in this kitchen where Executive Chef Henry Haller (third from left) and his staff prepared meals for the first family and for special events. previous spread and opposite
96
the passageway outside the kitchen. Eventually Mesnier’s request for a dedicated pastry kitchen became an ultimatum, and, with Mrs. Reagan’s support, White House Chief Usher Gary Walters agreed to create the space.2 A suitable new location for a fully equipped pastry shop within the White House was not simply found but made. Aptly referred to as the “Mezzanine Pantry,” the new shop was created from a portion of the ceiling space between the State Floor and the Second Floor above a butler’s pantry adjacent to the State Dining Room.3 The construction process, completed in 1993, is documented by snapshots found in the collection of personal photographs and ephemera donated by Chef Mesnier in the last months of his life to the White House Historical Association.4 Chef Mark Ramsdell, who often assisted Mesnier at the White House on contract assignments, recalled that after water and electricity were installed, moving in large appliances and state-of-the-art ovens was possible only by removing an enormous window from the front facade of the historic exterior.5 Mesnier’s snapshots reveal the process. Once completed, the Pastry Shop was connected to the White House Kitchen through a network of
white house history quarterly
GETTY IMAGES
Born in Bonnay, France, in 1944, Chef Mesnier discovered his vocation at a young age. He trained in Europe and worked at the Savoy Hotel in London, the George V Hotel in Paris, and the Princess Hotel in Bermuda before moving to the United States with his American wife Martha and their son George. In 1976 he was so happily settled in a position at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, that he really did not expect to move again. But in late 1979 Mesnier accepted an invitation to interview for an opening at the White House and was soon hired by First Lady Rosalynn Carter as a White House pastry chef. When Chef Mesnier began at the White House in 1980, the “pastry kitchen” was only a corner of the small main White House Kitchen where meals were prepared. With only two worktables and limited storage space, Mesnier still managed to create extravagant desserts for State Dinners, official events, and private occasions.1 Over the years, his celebrated desserts became more and more elaborate, but he struggled as constraints on his working space threatened his ability to meet First Lady Nancy Reagan’s growing expectation that each dessert should be more spectacular than the last. Oftentimes, Chef Mesnier resorted to working in
A series of photographs taken by Chef Mesnier and his assistants capture the scene at the White House as a crane is used to move a heavy marble-topped refrigeration unit into the newly created Pastry Shop through a space made by removing a window from the front facade.
white house history quarterly
97
WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASS OCIATION
left
TO P: M AG GI E KNAUS F O R TH E W H IT E H OUSE H I S TO R I CA L A SS OC IAT I ON BOTTOM: WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPH
Surrounded by pastry equipment and tools, Chef Mesnier is seen at work in his dedicated Pastry Shop (top), 2001. In 1995, Benazir Bhutto, prime minister of Pakistan, visited Chef Mesnier’s new Pastry Shop following a luncheon in her honor. Mesnier is seen (below) showing her examples of his sugar work displayed in glass fronted cabinets. They are standing in front of the marble-topped refrigeration unit seen being moved on page 94 and 97.
98
white house history quarterly
B R U C E W H I T E F O R T H E W H I T E H O U S E H I S T O R I C A L A S S O C I AT I O N
above White House desserts continue to be made in the mezzanine space today with work overseen by Executive Pastry Chef Susan Morrison. She is seen here in 2017 making cookies, while standing at the marble-topped refrigeration unit that was moved in through a White House window when the Pastry Shop was created.
dumbwaiters, spiral staircases, and elevators. Glassfronted cabinets displayed some of Mesnier’s delicate pulled-sugar creations. The space was small and so narrow that two people could barely pass each other, but it allowed Chef Mesnier to use his talents to the fullest. He came into his own not only as the White House Executive Pastry Chef but also as an artist.6 The new Pastry Shop was in fact an artist’s studio. Catering to the distinct diets of five presidents, their families and guests, and leaders from around the world, Mesnier was considerate of culture and country. He worked to honor the world leaders who visited the Executive Mansion by making desserts reminiscent of their home.7 The special desserts planned and executed by Mesnier were both a pleasant greeting and fitting tribute to guests from around the world. During his nearly twenty-five years at the White House, Chef Roland Mesnier created approximately five hundred and sixty desserts for a myriad of family meals, working lunches, foreign dignitary dinners, and more.8 In his memoirs, Mesnier wrote that daily life at the White House was “highly
theatrical, with its public face and all the goings-on backstage.”9 Today Chef Mesnier’s White House Pastry Shop is part of his legacy of dedication to the President’s House.
notes The author wishes to thank Chef Mark Ramsdell and former Chief Usher Gary Walters. 1. Roland Mesnier and Christian Malard, All the President’s Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House, trans. Louise Rogers Lelaurie (Paris: Flammarion, 2007), 101. See also Roland Mesnier with Mark Ramsdell, Creating the Sweet World of White House Desserts (Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 2019). 2. Mesnier and Malard, All the President’s Pastries, 153; Mark Ramsdell, phone interview by author, October 26, 2023. 3. Ramsdell interview. 4. The Mesnier Collection will be available online in the White House Historical Association’s Digital Library in late 2024. 5. Ramsdell interview. 6. Judith Weinraub, “25 Years in the White House: Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier Says Goodbye to First-Family Suppers, State Dinners, and Barbecues for 1,200,” Washington Post, June 2, 2004. 7. Mesnier and Malard, All the President’s Pastries, 144. 8. Weinraub, “25 Years in the White House.” 9. Quoted in Mesnier and Malard, All the President’s Pastries, 101.
white house history quarterly
99