Elizabeth Williams, founder of the National Food and Beverage Foundation, will discuss her latest book, Unique Eats and Eateries of New Orleans, at 7 p.m., Tuesday, July 30, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public. There is no registration.

According to Williams, “There is no city in America that bases its identity on its unique cuisine more than New Orleans. The geography that gives the city access to sea and land, a history that emphasizes food and drink, and laissez faire attitude that allows visitors and citizens alike to give way to the pleasures of the table, all culminate in an experience that can be had nowhere else on earth.”

The book contains information about some of the oldest restaurant in America, the newest avant garde restaurant experimenting with science, places for a great drink and delicious nibbles, Cajun and Creole delicacies locals have only read about, and the traditional reasons that the city’s food has been heralded for almost three centuries. 

Liz Williams is a founder and former president and CEO of the National Food and Beverage Foundation, which includes the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, the Museum of the American Cocktail, and the Boyd Hospitality & Culinary Library. She co-authored with Stephanie Jane Carter, The Encyclopedia of Law and Food.

In 2013, AltaMira published New Orleans: A Food Biography, which was selected as the One Book, One New Orleans book for 2018. In 2016, her book, co-authored with Chris McMillian, Lift Your Spirits, was published by LSU Press. A graduate of Louisiana State University (BA, English) and Louisiana State University Law Center (JD) she has served in the U.S. Army as a Judge Advocate General (JAG). She has practiced law in Washington, DC and Louisiana.

Williams has written many articles for a variety of magazines and journals, has served as judge in many cooking competitions, and has consulted internationally on the food of the New Orleans area.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.