The Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University

A few weeks ago I visited the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University with my food writing class. We were given a wonderful private tour by the director and curator, Richard Gutman. Here are some photos. Hope you enjoy!

Upon entering, I was greeted by this Mr. Potato Head chef statue. Hasbro toy company is headquartered in Rhode Island and about 11 years ago they placed about 47 various themed Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head statues around the state to promote tourism. Most have since been removed but the museum has two.


Foods unique to Rhode Island:
Munroe Dairy's popular cow truck. Milk still gets delivered to your door today in glass containers if you want. This mini version was made for the owner's children which they could actually drive.


Autocrat coffee syrup has been made by a family owned business since 1895. Coffee Milk, like chocolate milk but made with coffee syrup, is typically made with Autocrat's coffee syrup and is so popular that it became Rhode Island's official State Drink in 1993.


Ahhh, Rhode Island's Coffee Cabinet. No, it's not a cabinet painted in a mocha shade of brown. It's a coffee flavored milkshake made with ice cream and, in Rhode Island, many prefer to make it with Autocrat coffee syrup. I'm not sure where the name originated from because I found two different stories: 1) Coffee Cabinet is a name made popular by creative diner and drugstore operators, and 2) it's called a cabinet because the originator kept the blender in a cabinet.


Kenyon's Grist Mill, in Usquepaugh, Rhode Island, still grinds the finest corn meal, meals and flours from an 1886 building and from the same location where they started back in 1696.



Rhode Island Johnnycakes have a long history in Rhode Island, dating back to the pilgrims. The recipe is basic, but when eaten with butter and maple syrup, it's oh so good. If you're looking for a recipe, check out Kenyon's Grist Mill or my Rhode Island Johnnycake post.


Aunt Carrie's, www.auntcarriesri, is still in Narragansett todayA thing of the past. Large shore dinner halls were popular family style
seafood restaurants at Crescent Park and Rocky Point amusement parks.George's Of Galilee, www.georgesofgalilee.com,
overlooks Block Island Sound and
serves fresh seafood right from the docks.I remember The Castle Luncheonette and their famous fries. It's still there today, but was updated after a fire. We used to sneak around to the back to get a peek at the employees hand peeling potatoes by the baskets full.


"I'll have mine all the way" is what I'd say when I ordered a New York System Weiner. The dogs are boiled and the buns are steamed. Dressing these weiners starts with a generous amount of a spicy meat sauce, laying a long squirt of mustard over the top, loading on chopped onions and several shakes of celery salt. Ordering "all the way" means add all these toppings. If you're hungry for a weiner, check out Fork In The Rhode's NY System Weiner restaurant review for a place to eat.


More!
After the Rhode Island section, we viewed many interesting culinary items. There's a vast assortment of culinary tools, photos, biographies and much more that I didn't photograph.

Here are installations of actual bars. The first one is the Tap Room, c. 1833, from Stoddard, New Hampshire, and the second is a beautiful art deco bar. Both are used by Johnston & Wales University students for events.






Here are photos of some of the museum's collections.












This exhibit is called Food On The Move. It's about the development of food as the travel industry grew in the United States. And, again, the collection is much larger than what I'm showing.

Food service on a trainFood delivered to your carA ship's stove