1504 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70113
Hours, tickets, social feeds
- The Southern Food and Beverage Museum features a state-by-state display of foodways across the American South.
- The facility also houses the Museum of the American Cocktail, a museum store, and a demonstration kitchen where cooking classes are offered.
History
The Southern Food and Beverage Museum, founded by Elizabeth Williams, began life as a pop-up around town, then briefly landed in a storefront in the Riverwalk Marketplace, then in 2012 settled in Central City in the historic Dryades Market building. Its role is as “a place where the intersection between culture and food could be studied,” says the website.
Overview
Exhibits explore the culinary legacies of all the southern states (with shoutouts to Whataburger in Texas, Tabasco in Louisiana, and bourbon in Kentucky, among many others). Multicultural influences are spotlighted and celebrated, including those from African American, Native American, Vietnamese, Cajun, Creole, French, Spanish, and Caribbean cuisines. “The Trail of Smoke and Fire” exhibit tracks the region’s diverse barbecue tastes and techniques. Changing exhibits rotate through, as well.
The Museum of the American Cocktail, once appropriately housed at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, nearly fills the full downriver wall of the space with tales of Sazeracs, juleps, and French 75 cocktails. The La Galerie d’Absinthe there features a large collection of artifacts and tells the colorful (mostly green) story of absinthe’s history in New Orleans. Its notable imbibers included Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Lafcadio Hearn.
Elsewhere, pioneering chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, and raconteurs are celebrated. An hour inside should satisfy your hunger/thirst – two if you’re a read-everything museumgoer.
Must-See Objects
- Women of Influence display – Lena Richard, Rosette Rochon, Rose Nicaud, the Native Women of Bulbancha and others are honored for their role in making the region a global culinary destination.
- Camellia Brand Beans history – Follow the timeline(!) to learn the story of the local Monday staple and the preferred purveyor.
- “Popeyes Then and Now” exhibit – Drop yourself into the colorful origin story and seasoning success of the legendary fast-food pioneer Al Copeland, who helped bring Louisiana zest to the world, one two-piece at a time, all controlled by the 1986 technology of the seasoning-regulating Scoville Unit.
- Harland Sanders portrait – Credit where credit’s due. He’s the guy who launched Kentucky Fried Chicken to global ubiquity.
Public Programs
The museum’s website hosts a calendar of regular cooking demos and classes, and news of rotating exhibits.
Museum store
Wearables and edibles are on the menu here, as are locally published cookbooks. There is an online outlet, too.
Parking
Free street parking is generally available, either right in front, across the street, or around the corner on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Lunch
If your visit to SoFAB happens on a Tuesday through Friday, consider timing your arrival or departure around lunch at Café Reconcile, a workforce-development nonprofit that also puts really good New Orleans food on the table. It’s just two blocks upriver from the museum and should be a destination for your dollars. It’s also one of the city’s true cultural success stories of this century.
Drinks
There’s a bar on-site.
Website
The museum website is regularly updated with event calendars, online exhibits, membership details, and blog posts about Southern food culture. Williams is an active blogger and podcast host (subscribe to SoFab’s newsletters here). The website has sections that expand on the in-gallery experience for later study, including object spotlights. Thirsty? Click here. For further further study, or to prep for your visit, SoFAB has its own space on the elegant Bloomberg Connects smartphone app.
Extra things
Oretha Castle Haley was a leader of the 20th-century Civil Rights Movement in New Orleans. The section of Dryades Street where SoFAB is located was renamed for her in 1989.