New York City finally has a food museum!
After years of planning and fundraising, The Museum of Food and Drink, known as MOFAD, opened its doors at 62 Bayard St. in Williamsburg on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
“We envisioned a museum that would be able to show people what the links are between food and our cultural identities, the science of food, the history and economics of food,” said Peter Kim, a former attorney who took on the full-time project of creating MOFAD.
“We envisioned a museum that would be for everyone, not just for foodies — everybody eats,” he said before a ribbon-cutting ceremony at MOFAD. “We wanted to create a museum that sits squarely at the intersection of important and awesome.”
MOFAD may be the very first NYC museum that encourages visitors to taste the exhibits. The opening exhibition, “Flavor: Making It and Faking It,” features food artifacts, interactive scent and taste exhibits and will host food-centric programming in the coming weeks.
Why a food museum?
“There really isn’t anything that explains in straight-ahead terms what is going on in the food world today,” said co-founder Dave Arnold, who likened the tactile food museum to the difference between watching a TV show about food versus actually tasting the food or reading a recipe without making it. “Flavor impacts every single one of us,” he said.
With whitewashed walls, an open plan complete with industrial ceilings and all research presented on pallet-like wooden boards, MOFAD certainly has some Williamsburg flavor.
Chefs Bill Telepan and Elizabeth Falkner, Eater co-founder Lockhart Steele, food historian Jessica Harris and New York City Council Member Stephen Levin (a self-proclaimed food lover) all attended MOFAD’s opening ceremonies and voiced their active support for the new museum.
“Flavor” will be open until Feb. 28, 2016, followed by a new, undisclosed exhibition, perhaps about local foods or focused on a specific caffeinated beverage.
Take a look inside!
