Food Fit For Kings County: New Exhibit Explores Culinary History

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — It's a meal fit for Kings ... County. The Brooklyn Public Library is hosting a new exhibit exploring Brooklyn's rich culinary history.

The Central Library on Grand Army Plaza will be hosting a new food-focused collection from Sept. 17 until Jan. 3, and all of Brooklyn is invited to tuck in and dine out.

The Brooklyn Public Library exhibit, "Food Fit for Kings County: The Culinary History of Brooklyn," uses food to explore how industry, geography and politics have shaped a culture defined by its bagels and schmears, unicorn lattes and footlong Coney Islands.

"What Brooklyn consumes is defined by its plurality and variety," curators wrote. "Exploring foodways in Brooklyn, historic and contemporary, offers up a unique cross-section of considerations around why we eat what we eat, where it comes from, and what that means."

The exhibit captures moments from days of food past, such as a 1896 letterhead from the India Wharf Brewing Company in Red Hook, menus from iconic restaurants, photographs of Brooklyn enjoying its favorite foods through the decades and culinary moments that changed history.

"Together," curators wrote, "they form a narrative that illustrates the breadth and diversity of Brooklyn’s food history and cultural bounty."

Central Library, Brooklyn Collection

Address: 10 Grand Army Plaza

Brooklyn Collection Hours: The exhibit space is open from Tuesday through Saturday from Noon until 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, until 6 p.m. Wednesdays, until 3 p.m. Fridays and until 5 p.m. Saturdays.