A few weeks ago, we ventured into Williamsburg, Brooklyn – a place so hot that they even know about it in France. (But we are very late to the party, and, frankly, I don’t think we were ever actually invited.)
Our excuse was a visit to the Museum of Food and Drink Lab. A group of enterprising and creative folks have decided that New York needs MOFAD, and are working hard to bring their concept to life: http://gothamist.com/2015/10/29/mofad_lab_williamsburg.php#photo-1
While we were very interested to see what was going on there, on a cold and snowy Sunday afternoon, we had the hubris to think we would have the place to ourselves. Not so! We had to wait in line to buy tickets! The only thing special about our visit was that we were the oldest people crowding this very interesting exhibit. So much for us being patronizing about patronizing culture.
Given its location and some inside dope we had, we had also erred in expecting a somewhat politicized view of the food we consume today. Wrong again! We found a very even-handed and well-presented explanation of what is created for our table. No judgments, no lectures, no finger-wagging. It was all just interesting and beautifully displayed.
That doesn’t mean you won’t leave thinking about the difference between a real strawberry and the replica in smell and taste that can be created in a laboratory. But for those times that you can’t have the real thing, what are you going to do?
Good luck, MOFAD, and keep those exhibits coming. And we will come back again as Williamsburg tourists, though Don will not be sporting the obligatory hipster haircut and beard. He just refuses.
A little late picking this up…but ‘congratulations’! You got Mr C to cross the water AND set foot in Williamsburg.
That’s reward enough so we don’t need to see the hipster haircut/ beard combo. We most definitely do not!
Where next? Hoboken?
Don’t get your hopes up! For now, we’ll just concentrate on Italy – and pre-Hoboken Italians!