WACO, Texas - The search for a new White House chef took six months and then ended right where it began: in the executive kitchen.

Cristeta Comerford was chosen from hundreds of applicants to head the executive kitchen. A naturalized U.S. citizen from the Philippines, she will be the first woman and first minority to hold the post.

Comerford has been an assistant chef at the White House for 10 years. She worked under former executive chef Walter Scheib III, who resigned in February.

Scheib said Comerford was hands down the best assistant he has had in his 30-year career. She is a great cook with an artistic eye and a calm demeanor that can handle the pressure cooker that is the White House kitchen, he said.

As many as 2,000 guests are fed at the White House each month. First lady Laura Bush has signaled her intent to do more entertaining than in the first term, when festivities were taboo after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Mrs. Bush has been trying out finalists for the job, asking them to prepare test meals at special functions and private meals at the residence.

Comerford developed the menu for last month's honorary dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The 134 dinner guests dined on chilled asparagus soup and lemon creme; pan-roasted halibut, ginger-carrot butter, basmati rice with pistachio nuts and currants and herbed summer vegetables; and salad of Bibb lettuces and citrus vinaigrette.

Comerford will have ample opportunity to oversee more simple fare - the Bushes are known for staying in most nights rather than socializing like their predecessors. The president has a liking for cheeseburgers, peanut butter and honey sandwiches and, of course, Tex-Mex and barbecue.

Comerford has a bachelor's degree in food technology from the University of the Philippines. She has worked at Le Ciel in Vienna, Austria, and at restaurants in two Washington hotels - the Westin and the ANA, which has since changed ownership.

The head chef is responsible for designing and executing menus for state dinners, social events, holiday functions, receptions and official luncheons hosted by the president and first lady. The job pays from $80,000-$100,000 a year.

Hillary Clinton hired Scheib, a California native and graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, in April 1994 because she wanted to feature American cuisine after years of French cooking ushered in by Jacqueline Kennedy.

Scheib has started his own business planning private events and is writing a book that will include recipes and tales of working for the Clintons and Bushes.