René Verdon

René Verdon, who died on February 2 aged 86, was a French chef hired by Jacqueline Kennedy to make an invitation to dine at the White House a gastronomic delight rather than a punishment for the taste buds; he remained there for two years after Kennedy's assassination, but in 1965 resigned in a Gallic huff, disgusted by the crude Texan appetites of Lyndon B and Lady Bird Johnson.

Rene Verdon in his kitchen Photo: SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

 

Until Verdon took over in the kitchens, the White House was notorious for serving bland institutional food, usually supplied by outside caterers. Verdon changed all that. On his arrival, he threw out the tins and frozen peas and set to work growing vegetables on the White House roof and herbs in the presidential flower beds.

Verdon's first commission, a small informal luncheon for Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco held in early 1961, set the new tone with a menu including crab amandine; Spring lamb, and strawberries Romanoff. His first official meal, a lunch given for the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and 16 guests on April 5 1961, featured trout in Chablis and sauce Vincent, beef filet au jus and artichoke bottoms Beaucaire, and a dessert he called désir d'avril – a meringue shell filled with raspberries and chocolate.

The meal made the front page of The New York Times, which reported the general verdict of those present that "there was nothing like French cooking to promote good Anglo-American relations".

Media coverage of the culinary revolution underway at "Camelot" inspired a growing interest in French cuisine across the United States and, before long, amateur and professional cooks across the country were turning out soufflés, patés and pork rillettes. But for Verdon the good times did not last.

Under Lyndon B and Lady Bird Johnson, Verdon found it increasingly difficult to make the compromises between what the First Family wanted to serve and what he thought was appropriate. Where the Kennedys served their guests quenelles de brochet and mousseline of sole with lobster, the Johnsons served hamburgers, spareribs and chili con queso. After a "food coordinator" from Texas was brought in to cut costs, Verdon was ordered to use cheaper frozen or canned vegetables (which the President in any case preferred). Nonetheless, Verdon struggled on.

In Right Ho, Jeeves, Bertie's Aunt Dahlia loses her temperamental French chef Anatole when dinner guests (advised by Bertie to feign loss of appetite for various reasons) leave their dinners untasted. For Verdon, the final straw came in 1965 when he was asked to prepare a cold purée of garbanzo beans – a dish he described as disgusting even when it was hot. He resigned in protest.
"Onlookers have speculated as to what marks the end of the Kennedy era," read a newspaper editorial of the time: "The resignation that truly signals the end of the Kennedy era is that of Chef René Verdon."
René Verdon was born on June 29 1924, in Pouzauges, a village in the Vendée region of western France. His family owned a bakery and patisserie, but René decided to seek his fortune as a chef.
After leaving school aged 13 he was apprenticed to a chef at a hotel in Nantes. From there, he went to Paris, where he worked in restaurants such as the Berkeley, then to Deauville, where he was chef at the seaside Hotel Normandy. In 1958 he worked his passage to the United States as chef aboard a luxury liner Liberté.
In New York, he worked at the Essex House and the Hotel Carlyle, where the Kennedys maintained a penthouse suite. He was recommended to Jacqueline Kennedy by Roger Fessaguet, the chef at La Caravelle in Manhattan. Mrs Kennedy initially hired Verdon on a temporary basis following her husband's inauguration in January 1961. Verdon was given a permanent appointment – at a salary of $10,000 a year plus room and board – a few months later.
After leaving the White House Verdon spent several years selling kitchen appliances. He then moved to San Francisco and opened Le Trianon which, during the 1970s and 80s, was considered one of the best restaurants in California. He had ambivalent feelings about his departure from Washington: "If I had been a 'yes' man, I might still be in the White House," he reflected in 1985.
René Verdon published several cookery books, including The White House Chef Cookbook (1968), René Verdon's French Cooking for the American Table (1974) and The Enlightened Cuisine (1985).
He is survived by his wife Yvette.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/8311932/Ren-Verdon.html