Founded by Dale DeGroff, and several of the world’s most passionate cocktail authorities and historians, the Museum of the American Cocktail seeks to advance the profession and increase consumer knowledge of mixology while stressing the importance of responsible drinking. Our mission is to create a self-sustaining museum and tourist attraction that celebrates and preserves a rich aspect of American culture, while providing educational resources for professionals and the public in the fine art of crafting the cocktail through a series of mixology seminars conducted by the world’s foremost authorities on cocktail history and American cocktails. We also aim to broaden career opportunities in the spirits industry and encourage more participation from women and members of under-represented groups in the field.

Due to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum’s move to a new facility, the Museum of the American Cocktail has packed up its exhibits.  MOTAC will be closed until both museums reopen in their new location later this year. We are very sorry for any inconvenience, and hope that you will explore SoFAB as well as the various cocktail events that we will be holding while the museum is closed. Please check the MoTAC website here for more information. Interested in supporting the museum and getting a discoutn on many of our ticketed events? Become a MOTAC Member!

Annual membership will be offered at the following levels:

Standard: Bartenders and Students: $35 per year
$25 tax-deductible: 20% discount on mixology seminars and some other ticketed events, 15% discount on museum journal and book purchases.

Gold: Cocktailians; Professional and Non-professional: $75 per year
$65 tax-deductible: 20% discount on mixology seminars, 20% discount on museum journal and book purchases.

Industry: Small Business – Bar and Restaurant: $150 per year
$140 tax-deductible: 20% discount on mixology seminars, members only web access, 20% discount on museum journal and book purchases

Membership Level

Standard : $35.00 USD – yearly Gold : $75.00 USD – yearly Industry : $150.00 USD – yearly

Monday, July 15 from 5:30pm-7:30pm

at the Windsor Court, 300 Gravier St.

$35 per person (20% discount for SoFAB and MOTAC Members)

Ticket Options

Non-Member $35.00 USD SoFAB or MOTAC Member $28.00 USD

Join New Orleans finest for an evening of the best the city has to offer in contemporary cocktails. Long known for its love of tradition and its celebration of classic drinks, New Orleans leaps into the 21st century with an amazing group of young bartenders who are showcasing their skills at many venues throughout the city! Find out who makes the best drinks and where to find them. Hear from those who are leading the way in New Orleans cocktail renaissance. One of the greatest forces in reviving New Orleans has been the re-invigoration of its bar industry by celebrating the city’s unique contribution to cocktail lore and bringing state of the art mixology to its finest establishments. Meet the bartenders who are restoring the Crescent City’s to its place of honor as as the cradle of civilized drinking!

Photo from Sunny's Bar

June 25, 2013 from 6-9 PM

New York Distilling Company in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

$50 per person

Join us for Sunny’s Rescue Party at New York Distilling Company in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with more than a dozen top bartenders creating delicious cocktails including Allen Katz and Dale DeGroff. Tickets are $50 per person, with all proceeds going to Sunny’s Bar. If you cannot make it to the party, please consider donating to the cause below.

Please help support the effort to save Sunny’s legendary Bar and music venue in Red Hook, Brooklyn. After Hurricane Sandy swept through the area last fall, Sunny’s was flooded and severely damaged. They must raise at least $30,000 to save their damaged foundation and to restore the historic building.

Announcing the Los Angeles edition of CULINARIA Query:  Is Food Art?

Saturday, August 10, 2013 at 10:30am

Mark Taper Auditorium

Los Angeles Central Library

Of late, there has been a flurry of debate, in the press and across the Internet, over the question:  Is Food Art?, and the SoFAB Institute has entered the fray.  The SoFAB Center for Food Law, Policy & Culture, a division of the SoFAB Institute, is staging a series of public discussions around the country in 2013, all under the banner “CULINARIA Query:  Is Food Art?”

SoFAB Vice President Philip M. Dobard, whose research has been sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Charitable Trusts, will moderate the L.A. panel, to be held in the Mark Taper Auditorium at the Los Angeles Central Library, Saturday, August 10 at 10:30am.  Among the featured participants are Betty Fussell, scholar, celebrated food writer, and James Beard Foundation award-winning journalist; Andy Smith, Professor of Food Studies at the New School for Public Engagement and Editor of The Edible Series, an expansive collection of single-subject food history volumes published by Reaktion Books; Mat Gleason, publisher of Coagula Art Journal and owner of Coagula Curatorial, a Chinatown art gallery; and Richard Foss, food historian, restaurant critic, and author of Rum:  A Global History.

The first CULINARIA Query on the subject was held April 11 at Duke University in North Carolina in partnership with the Triangle University Food Studies Group. Itwas moderated by SoFAB President Elizabeth M. Williams, author of New Orleans:  A Food Biography and The A-Z Encyclopedia of Food Controversies and the Law. Panelists included Kevin Callaghan (Chef of Acme Food and Beverage Co.), Bernie Hermand (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), Sharon Holland (Duke University), and Laura Lieber (Duke University). Read about their discussion here. Additional panels are scheduled for New York (September 5) and New Orleans (October 10).

The New York panel, sponsored by The New School, in cooperation with New York University, will be led by Fabio Parasecoli, Professor and Coordinator of the Food Studies Program at The New School, and will feature a panel of distinguished academics and practitioners working in the food and beverage field, among them visual artist and craft brewer Lauren Carter, co-owner of Brooklyn’s Grimm Ales.  The New Orleans edition will feature Ken Albala, Professor of History at University of the Pacific and Editor of Big City Food Biographies, a series published by AltaMira Press.

The series is produced under the aegis of Culinaria, a scholarly monograph series published by the SoFAB Center for Food Law, Policy & Culture, in partnership with the Tulane University Law School.  Culinaria e-publishes peer-reviewed articles on law, policy, and cultural issues involving food and drink in a timely manner, absent the delays common to traditional academic journals.  Some presentations may be published as monographs in Culinaria. Critical responses to the query, “Is Food Art?”, and panelists’ contributions will form the basis of a book-length collection of essays to be edited by Liz Williams and Philip Dobard.

]]> http://southernfood.org/sofab/?feed=rss2&p=7601 0 http://southernfood.org/sofab/?p=7745 http://southernfood.org/sofab/?p=7745#comments Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:20:54 +0000 admin http://southernfood.org/sofab/?p=7745 Summary of the first Culinaria Queries Discussion at Duke University on April 11, 2013

Opening Night of Film Feast 2013 features a collection of SoFAB Media projects, including the world premiere of WHAT IF… and sneak previews of MARMITE: TASTE OF A NATION? and KAFFIR BOY: THERE LIES HOPE.

A feature of F2Ti’s weekend-long events menu, SoFAB’s second annual food and drink film festival showcases works—feature and short-subject, documentary and narrative—depicting the breadth, depth, and range of food and drink in film.

Film Feast presents a curated slate of filmed entertainment, selected from feature films, documentaries, television series episodes, both scripted and unscripted, and digital content. Selections treat food and/or drink in one or more respects, including, but not limited to, preparation and consumption (BABETTE’S FEAST); law and policy (FOOD, INC.); sci-fi treatments (SOYLENT GREEN); traditional feature docs (JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI); competition-elimination reality (CHOPPED); and follow doc (NO RESERVATIONS); and can include other works, among them silent films, not generally available to the public via streaming or traditional rental means.

Blowing off steam is important.  Recycling it is ideal. Chef Timothy Swepston has used art as his primary exercise in catharsis, completing hundreds of powerful pieces by channeling his anxiety through canvas to create bright, mischief-riddled landscapes of bold lines and curious concepts. “I create for my life when I feel frustrated. I share my art mostly with my home, family friends. When opportunities to share present themselves, I of course take them, but that isn’t the point. The point is that we all need an outlet for the restlessness that comes from feeling the weight of our own lives. I tease-out my restlessness by doing something creative. Then, I’m able to sleep.”
While Swepston’s art may be his vehicle for escape, he doesn’t run from himself in what he creates. His work reflects the many contrasting roles and transitions of his life, where lines stutter stubbornly until they find their stride inside an electric wonderland complete with vivid ideas and dark artifacts. While the scenarios are never a sure thing, he embraces a dynamic color signature, where pastels of a punk-rock genre shout with vibrancy to lighten up the many hard lines formed through hard lessons. His work feels like a whimsical playground on the brink of destruction, which in many ways mirrors his attitude through turmoil in his every day life.

Swepston has held the position of Executive Chef at a handful of top-rated New Orleans restaurants where he has peaked the curiosities of thousands with his inventive spin on soul food. His harmonious marriage of feel-good flavor and technical elegance makes an inspired case for heartfelt food, and has helped make a home for soul food in fine dining. “I started as a dish washer, and I learned my way up. My taste preferences were shaped by my grandparents, who made some of the most loving food I’ve ever experienced. ”
This imprint stayed with Swepston when he moved to New Orleans to pursue art in the late 1990’s.  “Making food put food for my refrigerator, and fine dining provided the most room for inspiration. Inspiration creates movement and action, and I have always channeled my work in the kitchen into my work as an artist.”
The sculpture for the Southern Food Museum is the first large-scale sculpting project for Swepston, and marks his first creative endeavor to take priority over his work as a chef. While this is a unique project for Swepston, his developed sense of both gratitude and discipline are extended towards this new process. “I was flattered to be considered, ecstatic to be selected, and I feel confident to I’ll be able to learn as I go with this project like I do with everything else I’ve made a part of my life. Growing through your work until the point of completion is ultimately satisfying. I am grateful to create so many things that bring me happiness.”

Summer Kids Camp

Kids Culinary Camp is a FREE half-day summer camp that gets kids in the kitchen to learn to cook in a way that’s hands-on and fun. Each day there’s a new recipe and campers work together measuring, chopping, and stirring to create a delicious and healthy lunch to enjoy with each other. They’ll also be staying active and improving their nutritional literacy through games and arts and crafts projects.

Registration is now closed, all weeks of camp are full. Please fill out this form to join our wait list.

• Who: Rising 2nd-5th graders (no exceptions)
• When: June 10- July 19, no camp the week of 4th of July
  • Monday-Friday 9:00am – noon, with a free lunch included!
• Because of the popularity of camp in past years, each child may only attend ONE WEEK of camp to ensure that as many youth as possible have the opportunity to participate.
• Where: This year camp will be held at First Grace Church (3401 Canal Street at Jefferson Davis Parkway) because the Southern Food & Beverage Museum’s new building is under construction.

• Registration: Opened Wednesday May 15th at 10:00 AM. All weeks are now full, but we will accept your information to join our wait list here. We keep a very strict attendance policy, and if a child does not attend the first day of camp (without prior notification), their spot will be given to someone on the wait list.

For more information: contact Lucy at 504-569-0405 or camp@southernfood.org

To see all the delicious things we’re cooking up this summer, follow our Kids Camp Blog here, put together by Alexandra Giedd from Duke University.

Recipes and memories from the 2012 Summer Camp can be found here.

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Thanks to our sponsors for allowing us to keep the kids camp healthy and free.

]]> http://southernfood.org/sofab/?feed=rss2&p=840 0 http://southernfood.org/sofab/?p=7775 http://southernfood.org/sofab/?p=7775#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:48:35 +0000 admin http://southernfood.org/sofab/?p=7775

SOUTHERN FOOD & BEVERAGE MUSEUM TO BE HONORED BY THE STATE

FOR PRESERVING LOUISIANA’S CULINARY HISTORY AND CULTURE

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum, a division of the SoFAB Institute, is pleased to announce that the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism has selected SoFAB to receive the Louisiana Historic Preservation Heritage Award for 2013.

The Heritage Award is awarded to geographically-oriented programs, initiatives or sites that have successfully leveraged assets to provide greater cultural value to its region within the state

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum was recognized for its work in preserving the culinary history and culture of the state of Louisiana.  It brings its message about the entire South to the world through exhibits, collection of oral histories and videos, and research.  No other organization in the U.S.  is doing this work:  SoFAB is the only non-corporate general food  museum in the United States.

Through its collections of physical artifacts, including kitchen tools, tableware, ephemera, and cookbooks, Southern Food and Beverage Museum preserves and documents objects that speak of our daily lives.  Through the Museum’s exhibits, it has visually portrayed our area’s culture as it relates to our unique culinary heritage:  from absinthe to sugar, from coffee to Gulf Coast seafood.  And through its programs, like Kids’ Culinary Camp and talks/demonstrations at the French Market, it reaches an even wider audience.  In addition, the SoFAB Institute’s national presence, in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, addresses provocative legal and social issues revolving around food such as our nation’s childhood obesity epidemic.

The Office of Cultural Development, Division of the Arts is responsible for the development and promotion of the arts for the benefit of all people of Louisiana. This is accomplished through several grants programs that award funds to Louisiana artists and arts organizations to help provide arts activities statewide. www.crt.state.la.us/culture/.