Poppy Tooker has spent her life devoted to the cultural essence that food brings to Louisiana, a topic she explores weekly on her NPR-affiliated radio show, Louisiana Eats! From farmers markets to the homes and restaurants where our culinary traditions are revered and renewed, Poppy lends the voice of an insider to interested readers everywhere.
On a busy Central City corner, a culinary economic incubator is quietly making a mark on New Orleans’ gastronomic scene.
The Southern Food and Beverage Museum, (dubbed SoFab for short) was founded in 2004 by Elizabeth Williams with a mission to advance the study of food and culture in the region. Located on the corner of Oretha Castle Haley and Martin Luther King boulevards, the 17,000-square-foot facility is housed in the former Dryades Market, one of the last city market sites still standing.
Inside the museum, 15 Southern states and the District of Columbia are represented in displays that include rare and unusual artifacts and signage illustrating each state’s edible contributions. In a dramatic departure from most museums, visitors are encouraged to imbibe a cocktail from the historic Brunswick bar or enjoy a nibble during their self-guided tour.
In SoFab’s two, fully outfitted kitchen spaces — perfect for classes, catering and food production — budding entrepreneurs also strive to create their own history. Thanks to funding from the Gustaf W. McIlhenny Family Foundation, SoFab offers commissary space for food production startups like Jamboree Jams, a small-batch preserve company Sarah Levasseur launched from SoFab’s kitchen.
“In my first four years, SoFab provided much more than just functional production space at a reasonable price,” said Levasseur. “My products were promoted in their newsletter and featured in the museum’s shop. They helped connect me with important buyers, opening doors like the airport’s gift shop.” Today, Jamboree Jams has successfully graduated to its own brick-and-mortar location on St. Claude Avenue.
When SoFab’s program expanded in 2017, it added an annual scholarship for culinary entrepreneurs. Benefits included free use of the kitchen along with formal business mentorship. The first recipient was Chef Dwyneha “Dee” Lavigne of Dee’s Deelightful Cupcakes. When the scholarship ended, Lavigne continued to use the museum’s kitchens as her home base. Her association with the museum also yielded a regular weekly TV spot. On Feb. 1, Deelightful Cupcakes officially morphed into the Deelightful Roux School of Cooking, a joint venture with SoFab that offers weekly Creole-cooking classes.
The scholarship program also allowed Chef Serigne Mbaye to introduce his Senegalese food to new audiences through classes at SoFab. Those classes then evolved into Dakar NOLA, a pop-up restaurant that explores the ties between Senegal and New Orleans.
“SoFab gave me a voice and allowed me to showcase West African food and tell my story,” Mbaye said. “They will always be family to me.”
SoFab’s latest family members are Camille Staub and Colleen Allerton-Hollier of catering pop-up Luncheon, and Bronwyn Wyatt of Bayou Saint Cake. Both pandemic-born businesses worked from the same commissary and were desperate to find a home. After Luncheon successfully catered an event at the museum, SoFab President Brent Rosen reached out to offer its owners a culinary residency; they then brought Bayou Saint Cake into the mix. As Rosen sees it, “Our goal is to always enhance and elevate the visitor’s experience. We aren’t a dry, dusty museum. We’re an active food community. Having our chefs in residence creates another way to connect with guests.”
The museum’s new outdoor “Gumbo Garden” — opened in fall 2021 — features a full working kitchen with a large, covered area for hosting groups. Staub and Allerton-Hollier are excited about using that space for crawfish boils and sausage-making demonstrations.
“I’m dreaming of cake slices to be enjoyed in the garden,” said Wyatt.
For Rosen, supporting the next generation of area chefs is about preservation.
“If we don’t support and train new talent, we are in danger of losing our food culture,” he said. “We will always be rooted in history, but our eyes are firmly focused on the future.”
Catch Poppy Tooker on her radio show, “Louisiana Eats!” Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Mondays at 8 p.m. on WWNO 89.9 FM.