The Edna Lewis Media Event and Menu Trail

About the Program

Category: Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation

Year: 2023

The Edna Lewis Media Event and Menu Trail were an effort by the Orange County, Virginia Office of Economic Development and Tourism to tell Chef Edna Lewis’s remarkable story and highlight Orange County’s black history, its agriculture, and its current culinary industries.  The programs celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the release of Edna Lewis’s first cookbook – The Edna Lewis Cookbook and were designed to focus national media attention on Lewis’ life, drive visitation and build awareness of the Orange County community she called home. Mrs. Lewis is often referred to as the Grand Dame of Southern Cooking – her cookbooks are seminal works on farm-to-table dining, southern cuisine, and black history.  She was a trailblazer for black women as both a chef and an author.

The Media Event took place on October 20, 2022, featuring regional chefs recreating Lewis’s dishes for invited guests.  Additionally, Lewis’s family members shared remembrances of the small African American community Freetown, where Lewis grew up.  The Edna Lewis Menu Trail launched over Thanksgiving 2022 and is scheduled to run until Memorial Day 2023.  It features seven local restaurants and the Edna Lewis recipes they chose to celebrate and reimagine in her honor. The community and visitors have enthusiastically embraced the program.  Media coverage about Lewis, Orange County, and the Menu Trail has been substantial.