Chefs to kings, queens and presidents to explain culinary diplomacy, U.S. tour at NPC Newsmaker, 2 p.m. Aug. 1

In a unique appearance at the National Press Club, 20 chefs to world leaders, including kings, queens and presidents, will participate in a Newsmaker news conference at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1, in the Holeman Lounge to discuss their week-long visit to the United States.

They will come to the NPC from an expected call on President Obama at the White House on Thursday morning and will then take part in a meeting in the afternoon with the State Department Chef Corps to discuss the confluence of culinary diplomacy, a mixture of cuisine and diplomacy. They also are due to meet U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York City.

The chefs are members of the Club des Chefs des Chefs (CCC), which describes itself as the world’s most exclusive gastronomic society. It was founded in 1977 by Gilles Bragard, who will be at the Newsmaker.

The host for the visit is Cristeta Comerford, the White House executive chef, who will help her international counterparts discover American culture through its best products and representative chefs.

The chefs expected to attend the Newsmaker news conference are:
Ulrich Kerz, chef to the federal chancellor of Germany;
Rupert Schnait, chef in charge of the official receptions of the president of Austria;
Timothy Wasylko, chef to the prime minister of Canada;
JianZhong Men and Qiang Liu, chefs to the “Great Hall of the People” in Beijing, China;
Jesper Vollmer, chef to the Queen of Denmark;
Cristeta Comerford, White House chef;
Isto Tahvanainen, chef to the president of Finland;
Bernard Vaussion, chef to the president of France;
Ferrier Richardson, chef to the president of Gabon;
Machindra Kasture, chef to the president of India;
Shalom Kadosh, chef in charge of the official receptions for the president of Israel; Pietro Catzola, chef to the president of Italy;
Christian Garcia, president of the C.C.C. and chef to Prince Albert II of Monaco;
Grzegorz Rzeszotarski, chef to the president of Poland;
Mark Flanagan, chef to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain;
Rohan Fernandopulle, chef in charge of official receptions for the president of Sri Lanka;
Magnus Ke Rehbck, chef to the king of Sweden;
Gregor Zimmermann, chef in charge of the official receptions of Switzerland, and
Norbert Kostner, chef in charge of official receptions for the king of Thailand.

For more information, contact Myron Belkind, NPC Newsmaker event host and vice president, NPC, 202-412-9257, [email protected], Susan Delbert, executive chef, National Press Club, 202-662-7514, [email protected] or Sam Chapple-Sokol, 802-578-0465, [email protected]