Inside MOFAD / Photo by Francis Dzikowski Otto, Museum of Food and Drink
Museum of Food & Drink (MOFAD)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Food is culture.” That’s the motto at MOFAD. It’s not a new idea, but up until 2013, there wasn’t an institution dedicated to exploring this concept. The museum seeks to educate, inspire, and preserve the history and anthropology of food with exhibits you can eat. Their featured exhibit through March is Chow: Making the Chinese American Restaurant, which traces the 170-year history of Chinese American cuisine through vintage menus, chef-designed tastings, and Project Fortune, a series of positive messages MOFAD collected from people around the world and stuffed into fortune cookies.
Randolph Beer / Photo by Miguel Rivas @thebeertrekker
Randolph Beer
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Only one mile from MOFAD is Randolph Beer, home to the popular Beer ATM. This is the hipsterest of hipster bars, outfitted with retro televisions, graffiti art, all in an industrial garage-door concept space. At the bar, swap out your credit card for a beer card, which allows you to pull your own brews. Pours are charged by the ounce, so you get to decide how much and how many of the 24 rotating draughts on tap you want to try.
Choco Story New York
SoHo, New York
At this 5,000 sq ft outpost of Jacques Torres Chocolate, you can follow the chocolate-making process “from tree to bar.” Tours are self-guided but feature eight tastings, a bonbon-making demonstration, and a kids’ corner, with activities and puzzles. For an added fee, you can participate in a chocolate molding class or create traditional French Mendiants. If you’re still craving the sweet stuff afterwards, you can always stop at the chocolate bar on the way out.
PEZ / Photo by PEZ Candy, Inc.
PEZ Visitor Center
Orange, CT
Just outside New Haven is the North American headquarters of one of the most iconic candies of all time. This museum is 4,000 sq ft of everything PEZ. Follow the evolution of the candy and dispensers throughout the decades, get a behind-the-scenes look at the production process, and see the World’s Largest PEZ Dispenser. An emporium of vintage dispensers also lets you explore the clever contraptions by theme: presidents, Hollywood, sports figures, and more.
Photo by PEZ Candy, Inc.
