Obama Presidential Center to Open Tafari’s Kitchen Honoring Late Personal Chef Who Drowned Without Life Vest

The Obama Foundation announced Monday that the Obama Presidential Center will open a comfort-food restaurant named Tafari’s Kitchen to honor the family’s late personal chef. Tafari Campbell, 45, drowned while paddle boarding on the Edgartown Great Pond near the former president’s Martha’s Vineyard home in July 2023. He was not wearing a life vest, police said.

A paddleboarder with Campbell told investigators he had been standing on the board and lost his balance before falling into the water. The restaurant will feature dishes inspired by the Obamas’ personal stories, including “Mrs. Robinson’s Red Rice,” the family recipe of Michelle Obama’s late mother Marian Robinson.

Chicago-based chef Cliff Rome and Bon Appétit Management will develop the menu. A painting of Campbell by Kate Capshaw will hang inside the restaurant. ” Campbell began his White House service under the George W. Bush administration and continued through the Obama presidency.

He later became Barack Obama’s personal chef and left the White House at the end of the administration in 2017. ” They added that they asked him to stay with the family after leaving office and that he had remained part of their lives.

The Obama Presidential Center is scheduled to hold its grand opening on June 19 after more than a decade in development. Taxpayers covered hundreds of millions of dollars in public infrastructure costs for roads, transit, and utility updates around the campus, Fox News Digital previously reported.