Executive chef Francis Oge in the kitchen at the French ambassador's residence in Washington.
Ted Muldoon
The private chefs of ambassadors in Washington mostly do not appear on official embassy staffing lists, where you can find the names of first secretaries and defense attachés. But ambassadors often consider these chefs even more valuable to their mission.
In a city that turns on dinner parties, an exceptional chef is a necessity to foster conviviality and strengthen friendships, which diplomats hope will transform into political capital when it counts. Day after day across Washington, these exclusive chefs serve up some of the best meals in the city. No reservation, however, will get you a seat at the table.
The Washington Post interviewed three of these bringing you behind the scenes of this engine of diplomacy.
