Roland
Mesnier, the pastry chef to five United States’ Presidents, died aged 78, the
White House Historical Association confirmed Saturday. He died after a short
illness. Mesnier was hired to the White House in 1979 by President Jim Carter’s
wife First Lady Rosalynn Carter. He retired during the George W Bush
administration.

Who was
Roland Mesnier?

Roland
Mesnier was born on July 8, 1944 in France’s Bonnay. One of nine children,
Mesnier became interested in becoming a chef when he visited his brother’s
pastry shop in a nearby city. At age 14, his mother secured for Mesnier an
apprenticeship at a pastry shop in Besancon. His apprenticeship started with grocery
shopping and he went on to make cakes, croissants and brioche. Mesnier passed
his apprenticeship at 17.

He soon
found his way into a job working as a chef in Paris. On his employer’s advice,
Mesnier went to then-West Germany to master his craft. In 1967, he secured a
job as pastry chef in Bermuda. It was here that he would meet his to-be wife, a
vacationing schoolteacher from West Virginia.

Also Read | Roland Mesnier, pastry chef who served 5 US presidents, dies at 78

He was
working at The Homestead resort in Virginia when he heard that the White House
was on the lookout for a new pastry chef, applied and got the job.

During a “Ask
the White House” forum in 2004, Mesnier said he not only made pastries for the
President and their family but also for parties, receptions and dinners. “Over
the 25 years I’ve been here, I’ve noticed Democrats usually eat more than
Republicans,” Mesnier had said, adding, “I’ve also observed that if guests are
mostly ladies, they will usually eat more pastries than men.”

Mesnier was
popular for his Christmas-time elaborate gingerbread houses. He said he needed
to make extra pastries for holiday parties because some tended to “disappear
into pocketbooks or pockets” and often ended up as Christmas tree ornaments in
people’s homes.