National Museum of American History Celebrates 10th Annual Smithsonian Food History Weekend and Gala Oct. 17–19

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will host its 10th annual Food History Weekend Oct. 17–19, billed as “Ten Years of the Julia Child Award: Education, Advocacy, and Community.” The multifaceted festival offers three days of events and programming, including cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, activities and objects-out-of-storage displays.

The weekend kicks off Thursday, Oct. 17, with the Smithsonian Food History Gala, one of Washington D.C.’s premier culinary events and the museum’s primary fundraiser. During the gala, cookbook author Joan Nathan will present chef, author, food activist and restaurateur Alice Waters with the Julia Child Award from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. The Julia Child Award recognizes an individual, or team, who has made a profound and significant difference in the way America cooks, eats and drinks.

Waters, the 10th recipient of the award, has been a champion of local, organic agriculture for over six decades. In 1971, she founded the groundbreaking Chez Panisse, a neighborhood restaurant in Berkeley, California, that offered a single daily menu featuring local produce and fresh ingredients. She founded the “Edible Schoolyard Project” in 1995, a program that has been replicated in more than 6,500 schools around the world.

“As we gather to mark a decade of our annual Food History Weekend, we not only celebrate almost 30 years of the museum’s Food History Project, but we also reflect on the legacy of Julia Child through the themes of culinary education, advocacy and community empowerment through food,” said Anthea Hartig, Elizabeth MacMillan Director of the National Museum of American History. “This weekend, at our gala, we will also celebrate Alice Waters, the latest recipient of the Julia Child Award, whose work continues to inspire us all nationally and globally.”

Smithsonian Food History Gala

The Oct. 17 gala is a fundraising dinner benefiting the museum’s food history research, programming and exhibition. The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the Julia Child Award by the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. Previous recipients of the award—Jacques Pépin (2015), Rick Bayless (2016), Danny Meyer (2017), Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger (2018), José Andrés (2019), Danielle Nierenberg (2020), Toni Tipton-Martin (2021), Grace Young (2022) and Sean Sherman (2023)—will be the evening’s honored guests.

Sally Swift, co-creator and managing producer of “The Splendid Table,” will serve as the master of ceremonies. The featured speakers include Andrés, chef, humanitarian and executive chairman of José Andrés Group, and Fanny Singer, founder of Permanent Collection, a housewares and apparel company.

Inspired by Waters, the menu will feature seasonal ingredients that have been sourced locally from organic farmers and producers. The menu also reflects Waters’ deep affection for French cuisine. Guests will have the choice of wine or beer pairings that have been selected and created by vintners and brewers from the mid-Atlantic and California. The award’s first recipient, Pepin, has hand-painted the menu card.  

The Smithsonian Food History Gala is made possible by The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts; Clark Construction; Al and Angela Diaz; Julie and Greg Flynn; Johanna Mendelson Forman, Ph.D.; Grossman Young & Hammond; Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Hanley, The Hanley Foundation; Anthea M. Hartig, Ph.D. and Christopher Wasney; Don H. Kollmorgen and Louise Woerner; Nordic Ware; Potomac Construction; William Prentice, Signati Medical Inc.; Enrique and Alejandra Segura; Tom Sietsema; Wegmans; and Daniel and Abby Weiss.

Public Programming

Since 2015, the annual Smithsonian Food History Weekends have brought together culinary professionals, practitioners, educators and scholars to engage with the public through dynamic food experiences and demonstrations. Following the gala, the museum will host two days of free daytime programs featuring Julia Child Award recipients from the past and present. Through cooking demonstrations and moderated conversations, followed by book signings, the chefs will share their experiences with food education and advocacy for communities. The programs are free, but registration is encouraged. A complete schedule of the weekend’s events, participants and registration links can be found online.

Friday, Oct. 18

On Friday, Oct. 18, award-winning author and food journalist Tipton-Martin will engage in a conversation with host Jessica Carbone, food historian and contributing editor to Saveur, and Joanne Hyppolite, supervisory curator of the African diaspora at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Tipton-Martin will prepare sorrel (hibiscus) tea as featured in her book Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking and describe the history of the drink in Jamaica and its cultural meaning as the unofficial beverage of Juneteenth, the celebration of emancipation from slavery in Texas.

Bayless, chef, television host, cookbook author and humanitarian, will speak with Steven Velasquez, the museum’s curator of Latino history and culture, and prepare the dish that Bayless made with Child in her home kitchen in 1995: chile-glazed country ribs.

Nierenberg, president and co-founder of Food Tank, will moderate the conversation circle, “Cultivating Community, Honoring Traditions, and Nourishing the Future,” with Waters and Sherman (Oglala Lakota), chef, founder and executive director NATIFS (North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems) and co-founder of the award-winning Minneapolis restaurant Owamni by The Sioux Chef. Both are owners of restaurants that reflect their deeply held values regarding food production, activism and health and have founded distinctive educational organizations that bring people together to share knowledge of traditional foodways and community empowerment through food.

Museum Director Hartig will moderate the Conversation Circle: “The Future for Women in Food” with Milliken and Feniger, co-chefs and owners of Border Grill, to discuss their history as among the first women to conceptualize, own and operate their own restaurant, beginning with City Café in Los Angeles in 1981. Their innovative ideas helped grow their business and expand their influence into food television and community advocacy for women chefs, LGBTQ rights and global gastrodiplomacy.

Saturday, Oct. 19

On Saturday, Oct. 19, the museum will host an “Objects Out of Storage” event inviting visitors to take a closer look at objects and documents that have been donated by the recipients of the Julia Child Award. In a separate presentation, “Julia Child’s Kitchen: A New Book and Fresh Look at a Beloved Artifact,” curator Paula Johnson and photographer Jaclyn Nash will discuss their new book Julia Child’s Kitchen: The Design, Tools, Stories and Legacy of an Iconic Space.

Young, award-winning cookbook author and Chinatown activist, will be joined by hosts Jessica Carbone, food historian and contributing editor to Saveur, and Yao-Fen You, acting director of the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Center, in a final cooking demonstration and conversation. Young is the James Beard award-winning author of three cookbooks and videos that have introduced scores of Americans to traditional Chinese cuisine, demystifying ingredients, recipes and culinary techniques. She will prepare chicken lo mein and discuss updates from her advocacy work on behalf of Chinatowns across the country.

The Smithsonian Food History Weekend is made possible in part by Wegmans Food Markets.

The museum’s foundational exhibition, “FOOD: Transforming the American Table,” is a long-term display that explores the various technological, social and cultural forces behind the major changes in food production, distribution and consumption since 1950.

Through incomparable collections, rigorous research and dynamic public outreach, the National Museum of American History seeks to empower people to create a more just and compassionate future by examining, preserving and sharing the complexity of our past. The museum, located on Constitution Avenue N.W., between 12th and 14th streets, is open daily except Dec. 25 between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Admission is free. The doors of the museum are always open online and the virtual museum continues to expand its offerings, including online exhibitions, K–12 educational materials and programs. The public can follow the museum on social media on Instagram and Facebook. For more information, go to https://americanhistory.si.edu. For Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000.

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