Food for Thought—Extended Version
Or, a round up of museum food projects worth thinking about
The Centre Refreshment Room (later named The Gamble Room), late 1860s. Museum no. E.655-2009. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Used in accordance with fair dealing rules for non-commercial research.
This week is essentially an extended version of Food for Thought as I round up some food-related projects that have inspired me over the years and also present some results of my trawl for innovative food projects in museums. One thing that I’ve really been struck by, is the prevalence of the idea that a ‘good’ museum café is a pretty space (decor sometimes, but not necessarily, related to the collection; more often, but not necessarily, related to the architecture) with pleasant food. And … that’s it.
There’s a sub-section of fine-dining experiences (mostly at art museums) and there seems to be a half-hearted argument that these somehow reflect the overall experience but truly, and without detracting from their individual offers, they could be … maybe not anywhere, but certainly the museum location has very little impact on who they are except that the two establishments lend each other some cachet.
Interestingly, I found more examples in North America than anywhere else of museums using food as a hook for their content (I should be clear, I found more examples by searching online, but I’m aware this isn’t exhaustive research). I’ve also found a lot of examples of museums dedicated to specific food products (often, but not always, run by a manufacturer) where you can sample the wares, but today I’m mostly focusing on the projects where food is part of a bigger story.
Starters … three projects that are not IN museums, but are about telling stories through food
I think I first read about this on Nina Simon’s blog (although I can’t find a link now) and have used it as a reference ever since. As the website says, “Conflict Kitchen (2010-2017) was a restaurant that served cuisine from countries with which the United States was in conflict. Each Conflict Kitchen iteration was augmented by events, performances, publications, and discussions that sought to expand the engagement the public had with the culture, politics, and issues at stake within the focus region. The restaurant rotated identities roughly twice a year, or in relation to current geopolitical events.” To me it was a brilliant example of what I talked about last week with regard to my Silk Road Café experience: food is a gateway to cultures other than our own and our shared appetites can bring us to closer understanding.
The Centre for Genomic Gastronomy
TCGG is an art collective that digs into ‘the biotechnology and biodynamics of food systems’. I came across their work as part of the development of Biotopia, and again at FOOD: Bigger than the Plate at the V&A. I’ve also encountered two of their projects, the LOCI Food Lab and To Flavour Our Tears, in other places. They’re fun and provocative and lots of the issues they deal with are going to be part of our everyday lives in the future.
It began with fantastical jellies and now extends to all sorts of experiences (mostly but not all food-and-drink based)…still fantastical. There’s more than a hint of the 18th century in the playful approach to food-as-spectacle and there’s a consistent willingness to experiment by applying technology in creative ways. During Covid they ran a ‘Fountain of Hygiene’ competition looking for innovative takes on hand sanitisers. Always a good place to find inspiration.
Main Courses … three exceptional museum food offerings
Mitsitam Native Foods Café at NMAI
The café at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC was the only thing I really liked about this Museum. Amid a slew of confusing displays, the food offer was an exciting and immediate connection with Native culture and a reminder of how much of what we think of as ‘American’ cuisine comes from this culture (in fact, these many cultures). I haven’t been to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in DC but I’m told that the Sweet Home café there follows a similar model of showcasing food as part of the exploration of culture. So three cheers for the Smithsonian, for leading the way. Makes me wonder what the food offer at the in-planning American Women’s History Museum might be …
Not surprisingly, perhaps, two of the three in this group are museums dedicated to food and the role it plays in our lives. The Swiss Museum of Agriculture in Burgrain is the kind of museum you’d love to see in every community. It looks at food production from multiple perspectives, at every stage in the cycle and includes a shop and café to showcase local products. The food in the café is good, but what makes it impactful is how embedded it is in the overall narrative.
The former Museum of East Anglian Life in Suffolk was reimagined as the Food Museum in 2022. It traces the journey of food from farm to table, fork to fork. My favourite part is how food is woven throughout the site, and the test kitchen is properly brilliant. I’m very excited about their forthcoming School Dinners exhibition, which exemplifies the idea of food as a subject in its own right, but also as a link—through nostalgia, memory, emotion—to other topics.
Dessert … my pick of the pretty museum cafes that show you can be pretty and something more
Top of the list is this café at the Neue Galerie in New York. It gets a special mention because it shows that the museum café can be aesthetically pleasing and still make reference to the collection on an experiential level. In this case it’s an evocation of a Viennese coffee house in a museum dedicated to early 20th century German and Austrian art.
The Wes Anderson-designed café at the Fondazione Prada has nothing to do with the exhibitions on display. On the other hand, it has been created as a platonic ideal (verging on pastiche) of a typical Milanese café. Milan, but in a movie. A good reference for the cafe-as-experience.
I debated including this but in the end I decided that the organisation that pioneered the idea of the museum café deserved a mention. The Gamble, Poynter and Morris Rooms opened in 1868 and still function as part of the Museum’s F&B offer. They are museum pieces in their own right and worth seeking out for their extraordinary decorations.
Savouries
Two good round ups of museums dedicated to (mostly) specific foods (the second one is from 2015 so some of the projects may no longer exist):
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-top-food-museums/index.html
https://www.oxfordsymposium.org.uk/favourite-food-museums/
A brilliant list of the best museum cafes in the US, courtesy of the American Association of Museums.
An interview with the head chef of the Garden Museum on what makes a good museum café and advice from Kids in Museums on making it family friendly.
I would genuinely love to hear from you about good and bad food experiences in or adjacent to museums. There have to be more examples out there!