White House pastry chef shares job secrets in book

Roland Mesnier made desserts for five presidents over 25 years, and now his tall chef’s hat has become his signature – literally.

Mesnier, former White House executive pastry chef, signed copies of his book “Dessert University” in Little Rock recently, each time crowning the “R” in his first name with his trade’s typical headgear. The letter also gets a smiley-face and ears.

The flourish prompts chuckles from unsuspecting buyers, that such a shot of silliness could have come from someone who had held such a prestigious post.

Self-described as a perfectionist who is both meticulous and fun-loving, Mesnier retired this summer after a quarter-century concocting confections for the families of presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

He has served sweets to countless dignitaries, made hundreds of thousands of Christmas fruitcakes and has been the artist behind the White House’s annual holiday gingerbread house for years. His creations are decorated so extravagantly they could be framed, but Mesnier seems more proud of his sense of humor than any of his desserts.

“The thing that must be affiliated with dessert should be good humor,” Mesnier said. “Dessert time is happy time.”

Mesnier said watching five presidents taught him that the amount of pressure put on the first family is astronomical.

“If I could take away that pressure for five minutes, then I did my job. That was my role in the White House – to put a smile on the face of the first family.”

Mesnier grew up in Bonnay, France, a town of 150 people southeast of Paris. He learned his trade as an apprentice and kneaded it into an art as an adult.

His White House work required attention to detail.

“It takes about six months after a new first family moves in to learn what they like,” he said.

Mesnier said he worked to figure out what desserts first families enjoyed the most – and sometimes more importantly the least – without asking directly, because he thought it would be rude to bother the busy family with trivial questions.

He started each family with simple desserts, he said, and carefully watched how much they ate to learn what types of desserts they enjoyed, whether heavy coffee and chocolate flavors, or lighter sorbets and fresh fruit.

After learning their preferences, Mesnier would incorporate them into his desserts. During Reagan’s presidency, for example, Mesnier would occasionally top an after-dinner dish with a few jelly beans to satisfy the commander-in-chief’s well-known fondness for the candy. Although Mesnier made his own ice cream for most dinners, when President George W. Bush requested Texas-made Blue Bell ice cream, he got it.

“If President Bush wants the Blue Bell, then of course we have it in stock.” Every president had their little thing like that, usually something they grew up with, he said.

Ever-proud of his art, Mesnier said he spent months planning elaborate desserts for state dinners, started preparing for Christmas each year in June, and boasts an almost immaculate record of serving the lowest-calorie dishes possible. His penchant for low-calorie desserts was what initially won him the White House job over the hundreds of other pastry chefs, he said.

“I always presumed I didn’t stand a chance (when he applied for the job during the Carter administration). I had no hope of getting the job … but my answer to the last question Mrs. Carter asked got me hired,” Mesnier said, laughing.

He said Rosalynn Carter asked him during his interview what he would do for the family if he was hired and Mesnier explained his interest in low-calorie and fresh fruit desserts. He said the first lady hired him “basically on the spot.”

He said presidents and dignitaries eat out a lot and are in the “lime light … and they are exercising every day and looking good and you don’t want to sabotage that. It’s not fair to put a 700- to 800-calorie dish in front of them.”

Mesnier said the Clintons were the family who kept him the busiest, since they hosted many dinners and celebrations.

Mesnier’s favorite compliment comes from the Clinton era. He said Hillary Clinton was having lunch with the prime minister of Pakistan and upon Mrs. Clinton’s offering of “anything in the White House,” the prime minister requested Washington’s prized pastry chef.

The first lady reportedly rephrased the offer to “anything in the White House, except Roland Mesnier.” Mesnier said Clinton told him the story after the lunch – and that it was that flattery that meant the most to him.