Celeb Chefs Invited To Give Cooking Demos At The 2012 White House Easter Egg Roll

#EasterEggRoll chefs: Marcus Samuelsson, The Neelys, Richard Blais, Andrew Zimmern...
Just announced: For next Monday's White House Easter Egg Roll, the President and Mrs. Obama have invited eight chefs to give cooking demonstrations in the Kids Kitchen. Five are vets of Bravo TV's Top Chef; both Mrs. Obama and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass have appeared on the show. The TC gang includes Marcus Samuelsson, owner of Harlem's Red Rooster restaurant, who was the guest chef for the Obamas' very first State Dinner, in honor of India's Prime Minster Manmohan Singh. Last year, he hosted a hi-dollar fundraiser for the President at his popular eatery. (Above: Samuelsson in the White House kitchen)

During the day-long event, the culinary masters will be wowing kids with healthy creations, from a fully equipped kitchen located in an outdoor pavilion at the bottom of the South Lawn, close to Mrs. Obama's Kitchen Garden. The other Top Chef vets include Frederick, MD's Bryan Voltaggio, chef/owner of Volt restaurant; Carla Hall, now of ABC's The Chew; Paul Qui, Executive Chef of Uchiko in Austin, TX; and Richard Blais, who has his own TV show, Reinventing the Meal, on the Cooking Channel. Qui and Blais joined Mrs. Obama and Kass in Dallas in February for a special Top Chef filming that celebrated the second anniversary of the Let's Move! campaign.

The other three chefs are The Neelys--Gina and Pat--who host Food Network's Down Home with the Neelys; and culinary personality Andrew Zimmern, the fellow best known for roaming the globe eating icky things on his show Bizarre Foods.

Also announced today as a Roll "entertainer" is Bob Harper, one of the hosts of NBC's The Biggest Loser. Mrs. Obama is appearing on the NBC show for two episodes, beginning this evening.

The chefs's names were unveiled on the Let's Move! Twitter account, with their Twitter handles.

"Announcing #EasterEggRoll chefs! @andrewzimmern @RichardBlais @marcuscooks @pqui @MyTrainerBob @carlahall @ginaandpatneely & @BryanVoltaggio" was posted on @LetsMove.

Also making cameos at the Roll will be A-list actors Julianne Moore and Forrest Whittaker, reading in the Storytime Garden; the Harlem Globetrotters, Jeff Kinney ("Wimpy Kid"), Sesame Street's Gordon, Elmo, and Abbey; Little Beat Music's DJ Willy WOW!, and the Washington Sport's Club's Zumba Team, among many others.

Entertainers and other celebs visiting the Egg Roll will be announced on the @LetMove Twitter account all this week; this year's event, with the theme “Let’s Go, Let’s Play, Let’s Move!” spotlights Mrs. Obama's child obesity campaign, and features the second-ever Let's Move! Tweetup. Follow the action on Twitter with the hashtag #EasterEggRoll.

CLICK HERE for all posts about the 2012 Easter Egg Roll.

*Photo by Gate Haile, courtesy of Marcus Samuelsson. The chef is holding greens newly plucked from the Kitchen Garden.