PORT ANGELES — In his 13 years cooking for two Bush families and one set of Clintons, John Moeller learned how to move fast.
He cooked steel-cut oats for Laura Bush, who liked to finish breakfast between 6 a.m. and 6:05 a.m.
Every Good Friday, he and his crew boiled and colored 10,000 eggs for the Easter race on the White House lawn.
Moeller made artichoke and leek soup for Russian President Vladimir Putin and pan-seared bison loin for Canadian Prime Minster Jean Chretien.
He looked up one day to see Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder in the house.
And he cooked for President George W. Bush and his family as they navigated the long days following Sept. 11, 2001.
This weekend, the former White House chef will whip up something for Port Angeles at the Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival.
Grilled shiitake mushrooms with crabmeat and herbs will be demonstrated free at 3:30 Saturday afternoon.
Then he’ll be back at 2 p.m. Sunday to talk about and sign copies of his cookbook and memoir, Dining at the White House: From the President’s Table to Yours.
As with the rest of the chefs’ demonstrations at The Gateway pavilion at Front and Lincoln streets, there’s no charge to attend.
Moeller comes to Crab Fest thanks to Lisa Martin of Olympic Cellars, whom he met last November at the International Wine Competition in Denver.
Olympic’s 2009 Cabernet Franc won a double gold medal and a Best Red in Show award, and Moeller was the chef tapped to create menu items to pair with it. He and Martin worked side by side, and then she put him in touch with Crab Fest Executive Director Scott Nagel.
Next thing he knew, he’d been invited to Port Angeles.
In his book, Moeller sets out to show home cooks how simple it can be to create très soigné — top notch — cuisine.
His 135 pages of recipes, from squash and fennel soup to grilled salmon to warm flourless chocolate torte, recall the meals he put together using fresh ingredients and a touch of French style.
He also writes of the time he unknowingly cooked a luncheon for a legendary chef: Julia Child had come to the White House on Oct. 21, 1999, and later sent Hillary Clinton a letter praising the food.
“Not knowing can be an advantage; you just do your best without overthinking the whole process,” Moeller writes.
The chef, who now runs a catering company, State of Affairs in Lancaster, Pa., spoke to the Peninsula Daily News recently about his former bosses.
First, “there wasn’t a grandiose difference between the Bushes and the Clintons,” he said.
“When they were on the road, they didn’t have much control over the caloric content of their food. So they wanted healthy foods back home.
“I did creamless soups and vegetables that were not glistening in butter.
“One example was a chicken pot pie recipe from Lancaster County. It’s basically a stew, with no crust,” and it was a hit with both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
One after the other, Moeller saw them leaning over a steaming bowl; both men gave him thumbs up as he walked past.
Raised in the Pennsylvania Dutch country, Moeller went to culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. But it was his move to France in 1984 at age 22 that shaped him into a White House-worthy chef.
On a trip to Baltimore to see his brother, Moeller visited Washington, D.C., and stopped by the Four Ways, a restaurant he’d heard of.
He was hired on there, and then, thanks to his ability to converse in French, became friendly with some of the other French chefs around the city. Pierre Chambrin, a White House sous chef, was the one who urged him to apply for work in the First Kitchen.
The chefs, butlers and maids are among the staffers closest to the first family, Moeller said.
He does not tell inside stories about them, nor does he say much about his reasons for leaving.
Moeller resigned in 2005 “to pursue other interests,” according to his book.
And when asked which political party he belongs to, Moeller shows his diplomatic skill”:
“The party of food for all,” he said.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
