The Global Food Heritage Project identifies the places connected with our food heritage and spotlights the people who continue to preserve these sites today.

Food Heritage Sites:

Where Foods Began

Agricultural Technology

Farms

Ranches

Meat Industry

Seafood Industry

Orchards, Groves
& Plantations

Wineries & Breweries

Markets

Kitchens, Dining Halls & Cafeterias

Restaurants

Taverns, Pubs, Cafes & Teahouses

Processing Sites

Baking

Famous Recipe Sites

Factories

Famous Foodies

Corporate Origins

Historic Food Events

Museums & Exhibits

Remembering Food Places Past

Food Heritage Sites:

Kitchens, Dining Halls, Cafeterias

" Last Supper" Refectory
One of the world's most famous dining halls
Milan, Italy

King Henry VIII’s kitchen at Hampton Court Palace

The largest surviving Tudor kitchen in the world has reopened (April 8, 2006) at Hampton Court Palace near London. It recreates the large-scale production required to feed King Henry VIII’s 1,200-strong Royal Court in the 16th century. Visitors to the palace, beside the River Thames, can see cooks hard at work (certain dates only) in one of the 55 kitchen rooms. The result of a five-year project by palace food archaeologists to understand the kitchen’s dynamics, visitors take a journey through the entire process of food preparation. The sounds of horse and carts delivering supplies; smells of barrels of fish and freshly baked bread, and the sight of huge roasting fires and the cooks at work make it a feast for the senses.

© Crown copyright, Reproduced by permission of Historic Royal Palaces under licence from the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office

Step outside into Fish Court - the main route for servants transporting food to and from the kitchens to the Great Hall. This quaint narrow passageway between smaller courts is surrounded by the various specialist kitchens and must have been a hive of activity during one of Henry's frequent banquets. It was considered unsafe to drink untreated water or milk and so people of the day generally consumed a watery brew of beer or wine to stay healthy! Even servants were given a daily allowance of beer or wine! Explore the Great Kitchen with its 3 great open fireplaces. Around the small service courts were the pastry house, confectionery, saucery, spicery, boiling- house, acatry (which supplied meat and fish), larders and sculleries. The Kitchens served the courts of all the Kings and Queens who resided here until George III.

Hampton Court Palace, south-west of London, has been home to Henry VIII, Oliver Cromwell and William III and encapsulates 500 years of royal history. Open daily, admission costs £12.30 (around $21.50). The live cookery presentations take place on selected weekends and public holidays throughout the year.

More historic kitchens to be listed here.
(This is a work in progress. We welcome input and support. Contact us.)

Dining Rooms

White House State Dining Room
Washington, DC

The State Dining Room is the larger of two dining rooms on the State Floor of the White House, the home of the president of the United States. It is used for receptions, luncheons, and larger formal dinners called State Dinners for visiting heads of state. The room seats 140 guests. The room measures approximately 48 feet by 36 feet. It has six doors leading to a butler's pantry, the Family Dining Room, Cross Hall, and Red Room, and the West Terrace. During the Andrew Jackson administration the room came to be formally called the "State Dining Room."

Photos above, top: White House Christmas dinner with the Eisenhower family; bottom: State Dinner, 1985. (both photos from White House Museum website)

More historic dining rooms to be listed here.

Cafeterias

Susan Vickers has been working at Queen Ann Cafeteria for 29 years.
Oklahoma City was once home to the most cafeterias per capita in the nation.
(photo: David McDaniel, The Oklahoman)

A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is no table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a canteen or dining hall. Cafeterias are different from coffeehouses, although that is the Spanish origin of the American word. Instead of table service, there are food-serving counters/stalls, either in a line or allowing arbitrary walking paths. Customers take the food they require as they walk along, placing it on a tray

The cafeteria as it is known in the United States originated in Los Angeles in the very late 19th century. It derives from earlier food service traditions brought to California from Mexico by immigrants. The name Cafeteria is in fact Spanish, and roughly means "coffee shop." In California the self-service style became more streamlined, with probable influence from the factory assembly lines coming into vogue at that time, and American-style foods were served, although in California cafeterias (restaurant and institutional iterations both) Mexican style dishes continued to be available alongside standard American fare. In the early 20th Century dozens of cafeterias stood in Los Angeles. Today, Clifton's Cafeteria is the only remaining cafeteria from that era. It opened in 1935 and is decorated to resemble a mountain wonderland in the manner of Yosemite National Park. (Read more about cafeterias here.)

Clifton's Brookdale Cafeteria
Los Angeles, USA

In 1935 Clifford Clinton purchased the lease of the former Boos Brothers Cafeteria and began to transform the dowdy interior into an imaginary wonderland rivaled only by his other cafeteria, the legendary Clifton's "Pacific Seas." As a youth, Clifford spent his summers in the Santa Cruz mountains among the coastal redwoods, not far from the famous Brookdale Lodge. This mountain feeling was the theme Clifford wanted for his new location. Working with rock sculptor Francois Scotti, Clifford created a 20ft. waterfall cascading into a quiet stream that meanders through the dining room. Redwood trees were used to conceal steel columns and a renowned L.A. muralist, Einar Petersen, created a life size forest on canvas covering one wall. A Little Chapel perched high amongst the crags fulfilled Clifford's desire to feed the soul as well as the body of depression weary Angelinos.

Clifton's Brookdale has served millions of customers over the past 66 years with only some minor changes. The live organist and organ have been replaced by a moose and live plants with artificial. The singing dinning room waiters and canaries have become Muzak, but the Art Deco sidewalk is still a prominent feature on Historic Broadway. Clifton's continues to practice Clifford Clinton's philosophy of treating customers as "guests" and employess as "associated" and still offers a guarantee of "Dine Free Unless Delighted."

Read more about the history of the five generations involved with feeding Californians.

Here's a review of Clifton's Cafeteria: "Nestled in the bustling setting of historic Broadway, Clifton's Cafeteria is truly a "jewel in the heart of the Jewelry District," or so says Huell Howser, the host of KCET's "California's Gold."

In 1935 Clifford Clinton opened his second cafeteria, Clifton's Brookdale, recreating the feel of a California redwood forest. Using natural and artificial materials he created a unique dining experience with life-size redwoods, waterfalls and streams illuminated by glowing neon. Seventy years later it has become an L.A. landmark, and still serves up heaping portions of hospitality.

The food at Clifton's is mostly prepared from scratch, using quality ingredients to produce some of the best "comfort food" in town. A large variety of healthy salads are made daily along with soups and freshly baked breads (the jalapeño cheese rolls are a must). Entrées include hand-carved roast turkey, ham, brisket, baked halibut, salmon, chicken, pasta and oxtails. The macaroni and cheese is "two thumbs up" according to Howser - and many of the regulars who come back for more - and the desserts were voted "Best Desserts" by L.A. Downtown News' readers in 2001.

Fast moving serving counters and large dining rooms mean no waiting in line, making Clifton's the perfect place for office parties, meetings or just fun retro dining.

Open 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Meeting rooms are available at no charge with purchase of meal, and free birthday cake is available for parties. At 648 S. Broadway (just north of Seventh Street)" (source)

Visit Clifton's Cafeteria website here.

More historic cafeterias to be listed here.
(This is a work in progress. We welcome input and support. Contact us.)