5 things to know about Tafari Campbell — Obama’s chef who died paddleboarding on Martha’s Vineyard
A Virginia man who worked as a chef for former president Barack Obama for over a decade died in a tragic accident while paddleboarding on Martha’s Vineyard Sunday.
In a statement, the Obamas called 45-year-old Tafari Campbell a “part of our family” and a talented chef who was creative and passionate about food.
“We got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter,” they said.
Here are five things to know about Campbell:
1. Campbell helped create Obama’s honey ale beer
In 2011, inspired by home brewers across the country, Obama bought a home brewing kit for the White House kitchens, according to the White House Archives. No one in the kitchens had brewed beer before, but with some tips from other home brewers, they invented the White House Honey Brown Ale.
According to the White House Archives, the honey ale was the first beer ever brewed on White House property, though George Washington was known to have brewed beer and distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson made wine at the White House.
The beer used honey from Michelle Obama’s South Lawn beehive. That same honey was later used by the chefs to create a White House Honey Porter and a White House Honey Blonde.
The recipe for the honey ale received a favorable review from The New York Times and Brooklyn Brewery.
“The aromas were floral with a touch of orange and a metallic note that I sometimes find in honey. On the palate, it was breezy, fresh, tangy and lightly bitter, not bone dry but not at all sweet. I could sense the honey in the round, rich texture of the beer: thickness without weight, like a chenin blanc wine,” the Times wrote.
Northern Brewer now sells a home brewing kit you can use to brew the honey ale.
2. Campbell owned a restaurant and worked for President Bush before working for the Obamas
According to a 2009 article in The Sun Sentinel, Campbell went to culinary school in Virginia and owned his own restaurant before applying for a job at the White House. READ MORE
