Culinary historian keynotes public launch of kitchen

MICHAEL TWITTY

Culinary historian Michael Twitty will highlight the reopening of the restored kitchen in the Hezekiah Alexander 1774 Rock House at the Charlotte Museum of History.

Charlotte’s oldest house is showing off its kitchen upgrades.

The Charlotte Museum of History is opening the restored kitchen at the Hezekiah Alexander 1774 Rock House on Sept. 14 with “Carolinas Home Cooking,” featuring James Beard Award-winning author and culinary historian Michael Twitty, local chefs from Johnson & Wales University and Bobbee O’s Barbeque.  Doors open to the public at 10:30 a.m., followed by Twitty’s keynote at 11 a.m. and cooking demonstrations at 12 p.m.

The museum campus is located at 3500 Shamrock Drive and admission and parking are free. Organizers expect the lecture space to fill up fast, so early arrival is suggested.

The kitchen’s stone hearth is believed to be originally built in the late 18th or early 19th century. In 1983, the log kitchen was built around the hearth by a Central Piedmont Community College class using original tools and materials. Since then, the building has been used for cooking demonstrations and interpretation of the history of enslavement at the homesite.

In 2023, the Mecklenburg Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution raised $60,000 for the restoration as part of their 125th anniversary. The project replaced rotted beams to restore the hearth’s functionality and built a drainage system to prevent similar issues in the future.

The restoration was completed last month, and the kitchen opened for self-guided and guided tours.

The “Carolinas Home Cooking” event is the official public opening for the kitchen and hearth. Twitty, author of “The Cooking Gene,” and winner of the 2018 James Beard Award for Best Food Writing and Book of the Year and “Koshersoul,” will talk on African culinary traditions in the American South, followed by a demonstration in the kitchen.

Johnson & Wales University will provide historically inspired catered foods, and visitors can buy barbeque plates from Bobbee O’s.

In addition, the reopening will include a Ring Shout performance by UNC Charlotte students highlighting the role of enslaved people on the historic homesite.

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