NEW ORLEANS – EAT! DRINK! SoFAB! will be a three-day celebration beginning tonight, Friday, April 17, 2015, at 6:00 p.m., with a Gala celebrating the grand re-opening of the now fully complete Southern Food and Beverage Museum and the Museum of the American Cocktail’s New Orleans collection.
Patron tickets are priced at $200 per person and include a private reception from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m., as well as the Gala. Patron guests can enjoy a cocktail demonstration and creative libations by Dale DeGroff in the Rouses Culinary Innovation Center.
General Gala tickets (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.), are $125 per person for members and $145 for nonmembers. Attendees will enjoy live music, delightful cocktails from Lillet – Exclusive Spirits Sponsor of the Gala – and pan-Southern cuisine from Purloo’s Chef Ryan Hughes.
Poppy Tooker, host of Louisiana Eats, and Justin Devillier, chef /owner of La Petite Grocery and Balise, will be in the Rouses Culinary Innovation Center by Jenn-Air demonstrating a few of their favorite dishes.
The honorees of this year’s event are John and Bonnie Boyd, Domino Foods, Inc., and Don Richmond. Lillet, the evening’s Exclusive Spirits Sponsor, will be presenting an important artifact during the event – the last bottle of KINA Lillet in existence!
The temporary exhibit celebrating the 175th anniversary of Antoine’s Restaurant in New Orleans will be on display during the grand re-opening. Antoine’s is America’s oldest continuously operating restaurant run by its founding family.
Dr. Bob, noted New Orleans outlier artist, executed signage in the Museum.
What’s New:
• The Museum of the American Cocktail’s New Orleans collection is now open, with a re-imagining by Prescott Trudeau of the original Ted Haigh collection.
• La Galerie d’Absinthe is now open, showcasing the collection of Ray and E. J. Bordelon of artifacts relating to absinthe.
• Trail of Smoke and Fire, leading visitors throughout the barbecue traditions of the Southern states, is now open.
• Makin’ Groceries, an exhibit about the old Dryades Market and the history of groceries in New Orleans.
• The Rouses Culinary Innovation Center by Jenn-Air is now open, available to rent by the hour for culinary entrepreneurs for a variety of uses, for demonstrations, and for event bookings.
• Purloo is now open and serving lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday.
On Saturday, April 18, 2015, SoFab will host a free day sponsored by the children of Suzanne Ormond.
• 2:00 p.m. – Tenney Flynn of G.W. Finn’s will present a fish demonstration, "Making the Most of Your Fish," in the Rouses Culinary Innovation Center by Jenn-Air.
• 5:00 p.m. – Steven Raichlen, Barbecue Curator, will present a lecture on the history of barbecue in America to celebrate the Grand Re-opening.
On Sunday, April 19, 2015, SoFab will host a free day sponsored by Domino Foods, Inc.
• 2:00 p.m. – Tariq Hanna of Sucré will present a pastry demonstration in the Rouses Culinary Innovation Center by Jenn-Air.
SoFab is located at 1504 Oretha C. Haley Blvd., at the award-winning renovation of the former Dryades Street Market. It originally was part of the city market system of New Orleans.
Museum hours are Thursday through Monday from 11:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.. Adult admission is $10.00, and $5.00 for students and seniors.
“We could not be more excited about the upcoming opening,” says Liz Williams, president of the SoFAB Institute. “We are honored to have the support of Jenn-Air, the Julia Child Foundation, McIlhenny Foundation, Al Copeland Foundation, Rouses Markets, and Domino Foods, as well as many private and foundation donors. We look forward to many years of partnership.”
“The Museum of the American Cocktail tells the exciting story of the cocktail, explains its important place in history, and looks forward to its future,” says Dale DeGroff, MOTAC founder and SoFAB Institute Board member. “We can’t wait to share the cocktail story.”
“The Southern Food & Beverage Museum is a unique museum celebrating and documenting the food and foodways of the American South,” explains SoFAB Board Chairman, Edward Johnston. “It has been growing since it first opened in 2008.”
The SoFAB Institute, a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural enterprise, documents and celebrates the food and drink of all cultures through exhibits, programming, and a range of media. Because everyone eats, all aspects of food and drink—culture and geography, anthropology and history, economics and politics, law and policy, media and the arts, science and technology—reveal the state of the world.
SoFAB, home to the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, The Museum of the American Cocktail (MOTAC), Pacific Food & Beverage, SoFAB Communities, Culinaria Policy Center, John & Bonnie Boyd Hospitality & Culinary Library, SoFAB Media, SoFAB Magazine, SoFAB Culinary Heritage Register, and Nitty Grits: The International Culinary Dictionary, is among the nation's most comprehensive cultural institutions studying food and drink.
SoFAB’s new location is the renovated Dryades Market, first opened in New Orleans in 1847. One of the largest markets in the city, it operated in various buildings on the same site and directly across the street until 1946, and included butchers, seafood vendors, fruit vendors, and poultry and vegetable providers. The current building, built in 1911 and renovated in 1933, was used for the sale of fresh meat, fish, and fruit. Today, the building celebrates its honor and heritage with SoFab’s adaptive re-use of the building as a food and beverage museum in historic Central City.
SoFAB recently received the Louisiana Landmarks Society 2015 Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation.
