Chambrin was appointed under the presidency of
George H. W. Bush to succeed
Hans Raffert. Under the
Clinton administration, a group of prominent American chefs, led by
Alice Waters, sent a letter to the White House urging an appointment of a chef who would "promote American cooking," although Chambrin stated that he was already using American ingredients and that his first concern was food quality.
Ruth Reichl defended the chef in an article in the
Los Angeles Times, calling him "enthusiastic about just about everything organic, and so excited by the idea of seasonality," and pointing out that it was not the norm for new administrations to appoint a new chef. In March 1994, however, Chambrin resigned after a push from the administration to impose newer health standards, specifically using food with less fat, a standard that Chambrin was unwilling to conform to. Chambrin's staff of three chefs left the White House with him. He was succeeded by
Walter Scheib. ==Later career==