The Obama Presidential Center has soft-launched a comfort food restaurant and a casual cafe on the South Side of Chicago. Tafari’s Kitchen and the unnamed cafe will officially open to the public in the Jackson Park neighborhood on June 19. The restaurant will feature the Obama Family Chili, Mrs. Robinson’s Red Rice and The Obama Burger, while the cafe will include sweet and savory items alongside a full barista menu.
“Tafari‘s is an homage to President Obama’s chef,” said chef Cliff Rome, owner and CEO of Rome’s Joy Cos., perhaps best known for his popular breakfast restaurant Peach’s in Bronzeville.
Tafari Campbell, who worked on the White House kitchen team and later as personal chef to the Obama family, died at 45 in an accidental drowning in 2023.
Marian Robinson, late mother to former first lady Michelle Obama, created the Southern-inspired family rice recipe. And the OPC Obama burger should not be confused with the once-secret Billy Goat Tavern Obama burger that fueled former President Barack Obama’s winning election campaigns.
Rome is also a partner at BAMJoy, a collaboration with Bon Appétit Management Co. and RJC, overseeing dining at the center, with some very presidential parameters.
“President Obama said that the food’s got to be good,” said the chef. “Then he says it’s got to be affordable. And then he said it has to be approachable.”
The former president also said what he did not want: “I don’t want fancy.”
They could save all the fancy stuff for catering.
“It was amazing,” said Rome. “He was very hands-on.”
Obama tasted 20 or so potential menu items at the chef’s Parkway Social space.
“He got his pen,” said Rome, laughing. “Man, he took all the notes.”
It was a lot.
“But he was like, ‘No, no, I got it,’ and literally went through every single item,” said the chef. “And then afterwards he sat down and he told us what stuff not to touch.”
And the chili was No. 1.
“It’s just good chili,” said Rome. “There’s no truffle oil, there’s no imported beans.”
He credits executive chef Doran Payne, culinary director of BAMJoy, with the chili that so impressed the former president.
“He tasted it and said, ‘Man, yes, I like this,’ in his President Obama tone,” said Rome, laughing.
Thousands of people have already visited the center in a series of soft openings. What’s the fan favorite so far?
“Oh, the chili,” he said recently. “They sold out of chili last Saturday.”
The lasagna has been popular, he added, and the Moroccan chicken.
“Those are the things that I see flying out,” said Rome. “And the short ribs.”
Tafari’s Kitchen will be making desserts in-house, but is also partnering with Brown Sugar Bakery and Justice of the Pies, the award-winning Black women-owned businesses by chefs and owners Stephanie Hart and Maya-Camille Broussard, respectively.
A restaurant bar will offer craft cocktails and wine, including Champagne.
The cafe will feature local packaged products, plus hot paninis, cold sandwiches, salads and beverages, including coffee and espresso drinks.
They’re also intentionally working with some local purveyors, said Rome, including Closed Loop Farms in Back of the Yards and Four Star Mushrooms in West Town.
“Mrs. Obama wanted it to be a loving kitchen,” said the chef about the restaurant as a whole. “Where there’s a lot of different conversations happening.”
When you first walk up, you’re coming off the patio.
“It’s this great, beautiful, high-ceilinged space,” he said. “And that mid-century modern feel.”
It’s a space that feels rich, he added, because we’re in this cultural institution.
“It’s definitely a place where families are included,” said Rome. “It has a richness in that regard.”
An open kitchen with counter seating looks into a bright dining room with tables and banquettes.
“I like to say fine casual,” said the chef about the service with hosts and servers. “A white tablecloth kind of feel without the white tablecloths.”
An edible kitchen garden is in the works.
“Erika Allen and Ariel Joy Thomas Sansing of Urban Growers Collective are leading a lot of the farming that will happen,” said Rome. They plan to use what will be grown on campus for regular items on the menu, specials and activations.
Meanwhile, they’re preparing for the grand opening on Juneteenth.
Tafari’s Kitchen will be open Mondays from 1 until 8 p.m., and Tuesdays to Sunday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. The Café will be open Mondays from 1 until 5 p.m., and Tuesdays to Sunday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The restaurant will seat 125 indoors and 36 on the outdoor patio when weather permits. The cafe has 81 seats available indoors and 52 seats in the outdoor courtyard. Both dining spaces employ 50 people total, with approximately 15 on the culinary staff as cooks and bakers, according to a release by the Center.
“People will be coming from all over the globe,” said the chef. “It’s gonna be fun.”
6001 S. Stony Island Ave., obama.org
More notable new openings, in alphabetical order:
Bad Butter: Baker Dan Koester finally opened his own highly anticipated bakery storefront to hourslong lines that are worth the wait. Bad Butter began baking in Bucktown on April 25. The chef and owner promises that preorders will be back, but until then, it’s first-come, first-served for his ever-changing menu, including the bestselling double-stuffed cruffins among many other buttery and flaky pastries, and all takeout only for now.
1655 W. Cortland St., badbutterchicago.com
Han Cha and Yunomi: Artist Theaster Gates and entrepreneur Heiji Choy Black collaborated to create a tea salon and bar lounge at the Stony Island Arts Bank space. Han Cha and Yunomi began pouring in the South Shore neighborhood on June 5. Expect an artful Korean-meets-English-inspired tea experience, as well as cocktails and other drinks, all served with coveted vessels and plates made by Gates’ Dorchester Industries.
6760 S. Stony Island Ave. (Stony Island Arts Bank), 773-245-3936, stonyislandartsbank.com
NAIA: DineAmic Hospitality anchored a Mediterranean restaurant on the Chicago River. Naia set sail in River North on June 1. Greek celebrity chef and consultant Athinagoras Kostakos offers his take on a Levantine giardineira served with skewers of many meats and mushrooms, plus cocktails, of course, including the Smoke on the Water with Creyente mezcal and torched thyme.
300 N. LaSalle Drive, 312-219-5790, naiarestaurant.com
Shawn Michelle’s Homemade Ice Cream: Yahya Muhammad launched another location of the ice cream shop business with wife and co-owner Nataki Muhammad. Shawn Michelle’s Homemade Ice Cream started scooping in South Holland on May 9. Look for the black and white house with a front porch and fire pit, plus their signature Barack Supreme chocolate and pralines ice cream, among many new and nostalgic flavors.
16129 South Park Ave., South Holland; shawnmichelles.com
In restaurant closing news:
Maman Zari, the Persian tasting menu restaurant in Albany Park that was an elegant ode to an Iranian grandmother, closed permanently on June 6.
Do you have notable restaurant news in the Chicago area? Email restaurant critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu at lchu@chicagotribune.com.
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