The seasonal culinary staff at the President’s Cottage consists of one chef and one sous chef who are staff members of the Athenaeum Hotel/Chautauqua Hotel Company.

These staff members of the Chautauqua Hotel Company also help in other areas of the company. When the schedule at the President’s Cottage is lighter, they help wherever needed and they also assist with high-level training/mentoring of some of the younger staff. The two-person culinary team at the President’s Cottage creates the menus, shops for the food themselves, and does all dish and kitchen work. In 2024, there are more than 20 scheduled events at The President’s Cottage in association with the official business of Chautauqua Institution.

According to the Athenaeum Hotel Senior Director of Operations, Brittany Beckstrom, the culinary and special events staff for the President’s Cottage only provide service for events that are the official business of Chautauqua Institution. “They [Michael and Peter] have never asked for private service,” she said.

This is the same staffing structure used for decades at Chautauqua Institution’s President’s Cottage, which has always been leveraged as a resource for welcoming each week’s speakers, preachers and artists, stewarding partnerships and donors to the Institution, and hosting meetings including those related to our collaboration with regional leaders on the conservation of Chautauqua Lake and other Institution priorities.