Sam Kass Cooks in Washington for the Obamas

The Obamas are taking more than a mother-in-law with them to the White House. Chicago native chef Sam Kass will be cooking for the first family. Kass served as the Obamas' personal chef at their Hyde Park home and is familiar with what the family enjoys eating. He is known for his interest in healthy, local foods.

Kass graduated from the University of Chicago before studying in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Europe. He then went to work for Avec (according to the New York Times) or Blackbird (according to Time Out Chicago). He has been serving as executive chef for the Jane Addams Hull House in an effort to re-invent the soup kitchen by using quality produce and shunning empty calories. He founded Inevitable Table, a private chef service that prepares meals with the following in mind:

We aim to promote a healthy lifestyle that focuses on the quality and flavor of food to encourage good eating habits. This philosophy provides consistency and balance to ensure you thoroughly enjoy your food experience. We believe that people have a stake in each other’s health. This link is what binds us together as families, communities and a nation. Nowhere are we more powerfully bound together than in the daily cultivation and preparation of food.

We think his first winter meal could be this great cauliflower soup we found on Hull-House kitchen's blog. Mmmm!

Photo of Kass from the Inevitable Table website