Public Programs And Events

Edna Lewis, (1916-2006), a great chef, teacher, and cookbook writer, was born in Freeport, Virginia, where she learned to cook. She moved to New York and used her skills in restaurants, most notably Café Nicholson in Manhattan and Gage and Tollner in Brooklyn. Her advocacy of genuine Southern cooking inspired a generation of chefs and helped ensure the survival of traditional Southern folkways. 

Her cookbooks include The Edna Lewis Cookbook (1972), The Taste of Country Cooking (1976), In Pursuit of Flavor (1988) and The Gift of Southern Cooking (2003), which she co-authored with Scott Peacock.

Speakers include:

 - Judith Jones, former Senior Editor at Knopf
 - Michael Twitty, culinary historian of African American Foodways
 - Chef Joe Randall, chairman of the Board, Edna Lewis Foundation
 - Tracyann Williams, Lecturer of Literature and Director of Academic Advising, The New School for Public Engagement
 - Tonya Hopkins, an American food storyteller, historian and audiophile.

Moderated by Andrew F. Smith, faculty member of the Food Studies Program.

Sponsored by the Food Studies Program at The New School for Public Engagement.