Obama pays tribute to chef who tragically drowned at vacation compound with new honor

Former President Barack Obama’s new presidential center will honor late chef Tafari Campbell — a longtime family friend and trusted member of the Obama household — with the launch of a comfort-food restaurant.

"It honors the award-winning former White House culinary team member and beloved personal chef to the Obama family who tragically passed away in 2023," the Obama Foundation announced in a press release Monday.

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 during the tragic accident, police reported. 

The Obamas have called Campbell a "beloved part of our family."

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"Tafari Campbell was known as a warm, fun-loving, and humble soul who used his immense gifts and passion for food to spread joy and bring people together, and a painting of him by Kate Capshaw will hang in the restaurant," the release added.

Tafari’s Kitchen will feature food inspired by the Obama’s personal stories, such as "Mrs. Robinson’s Red Rice," which is the family recipe of Michelle Obama’s late mother Marian Robinson.

Chicago-based chef Cliff Rome and Bon Appétit Management will spearhead the menu.

Campbell was first hired by the George W. Bush administration to work at the White House and continued on during the Obama presidency, before building a friendship with the 44th president. 

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He became Obama’s personal chef, leaving the White House at the end of the administration in 2017.

At the time of the accident, a paddleboarder with Campbell told investigators they had seen him standing on his paddleboard and lose his balance before falling into the water.

"When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House - creative and passionate about food, and its ability to bring people together. In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter," the Obamas said in a statement at the time of his death. 

"That's why, when we were getting ready to leave the White House, we asked Tafari to stay with us, and he generously agreed. He's been part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he's gone," the statement continued. 

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The Obama Presidential Center will have a grand opening on June 19 after being in development for over a decade and facing scrutiny for its design, price and costs to taxpayers.

Taxpayers footed hundreds of millions of dollars in public infrastructure costs that constructed roads, transit, and utility updates around the campus, Fox News Digital previously reported.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Obama Foundation for comment.