The New Foodseum & More at the Culinary Institute of the South

We’ve had the pleasure of visiting the campus of the Culinary Institute of the South several times, but our most recent visit for the ribbon cutting of their new Foodseum was most definitely a cherry on the top of this flavorful Bluffton foodie destination.

Some Tasty Background

The Culinary Institute of the South at Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL) was founded in 2021 and has quickly become a recipe for success for the Lowcountry’s travel and tourism industry, which is the area’s top economic driver. We have already seen the school’s positive (and tasty) impact on the Lowcountry dining scene, thanks to students and graduates heading to area restaurants, resorts, hotels, and beyond.

The school became the fourth campus in TCL’s network of Lowcountry-based campuses and marked the culmination of many years of planning and cooperation. The $15.3 million 30,000+ square-foot facility in Bluffton’s Buckwalter Place was funded with $11.2 million from Beaufort County, the Beaufort County School District, and the Town of Bluffton, $3.5 million from the state of South Carolina, and about $625,000 raised from private sources and donors.

The Culinary Institute of the South features six academic classrooms, two gleaming teaching kitchens, and a theater-style show kitchen that we think Food Network execs would love. There are also two dining options at the bustling campus, which are open to the public: Clist Café and The Bistro (see below for dining details).

The Culinary Institute of the South offers hands-on, practical training in culinary arts, baking and pastry, and

hospitality. Highly trained, credentialed instructors teach both theory and practical application in and out of the kitchen, with full- and part-time options and day and evening classes available in seven different curriculum tracks, from Culinary Arts to Baking and Pastry, and Hospitality/Tourism Management. Students can also expand their menu of skills by completing internships in the Lowcountry’s own world-renowned restaurants and resorts.

TCL is a public two-year multi-campus community college and is the region’s primary provider of higher education and workforce training, serving about 5,000 students annually. And, before we dish it out on the new Foodseum, here’s an historic background tidbit about Technical College of the Lowcountry: TCL traces its origin to the Mather School, a school created by Rachel Crane Mather in 1868 to educate the daughters of liberated slaves.

Tasty Personal Enrichment

Even more exciting to our loyal Lowcountry DISH readers is that the Culinary Institute of the South offers a Personal Enrichment program, which is targeted to food enthusiasts who are looking to expand their knowledge. Where better to learn how to cook than at a culinary institute, right?

Featuring three-hour immersive and entertaining hands-on classes from chefs, culinary experts, and guest instructors in state-of-the-art kitchens, participants learn kitchen basics, knife tips, and cooking terminology, all while whipping up a tasty meal to enjoy at the end of class.

Upcoming classes that have us salivating include topics like: Vegan Recipes (“Because Broccoli has Feelings Too”); Get Your Jam on with Jambalaya; Around the World (“How Ingredients Influence Different Cultures”); A Spanish Banquette (“Roast Suckling Pig Holiday Feast”); and Tweens Can Cook (“For Ages 8-12”).

The classes are held from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., cost $150 per student/class, and aprons are provided.

The New Foodseum
As the latest TCL offering, the new Foodseum (including the great name) was the brainchild of our most wonderful Beaufort neighbor, Leigh Copeland, who is assistant vice president of Marketing & Public Relations for the Technical College of the Lowcountry. She’s rightfully (almost) as proud of this new offspring as she is of her two great sons, Lukas and Reames, and hubby extraordinaire, Ryan.

“We are really excited about the Foodseum, not only as a stand-alone museum for residents and visitors to the area, but also for the program potential and other opportunities it adds to the Culinary Institute of the South,” says Jacqueline Orak, Dean of the Culinary & Hospitality Division.

Located to the right on the Culinary Institute of the South’s entrance and lobby, the Foodseum opens with a

“Welcome Wall” that answers the question, “What is a Foodseum?” Here’s what it says: “Southern food has a story to tell. It’s as much about geography and genealogy as it is about ingredients. Join us on this journey through the past, present and future to discover the diverse ingredients, cultures and cooking styles that put Southern cuisine on the map. Our hope is that your Foodseum experience encourages cooking and conversations beyond these walls so that the story never ends.” Now, that’s a mouthful.

The “Intro to Southern Cuisine” is just that, providing the history and journey of the ingredients that put Southern food on the map. On the backside of this display, we loved “taking a spin” through a display on Southern ingredients.

Next comes a rotating exhibit called “Tastes of the South” that showcases Southern food topics. And, they’ve opened with a topic we know and love: Barbecue!

Then, there’s a “Food Growth Map,” which shows what is grown across the South. We also learned how what grows where has evolved over the years and from state to state.

The “History of Southern Dishes” display highlights iconic Southern dishes and we have to say that we learned a lot of new factoids to dish out at dinner parties. Nearby, a well-situated reading bench provides a place to grab a book from their cookbook and food narrative collection and sit a spell to relax, read, and watch students in the sprawling and sparkling SERG Show Kitchen.

“Lowcountry Spotlight” is another rotating exhibit and this one features food and more found right in our backyard. The first installment for this exhibit highlights SERG Restaurant Group and provides an ode to the Lowcountry’s own cookbook authors, including Daufuskie Island’s own Sallie Ann Robinson. Sallie Ann’s a long-time friend by way of Pat Conroy (who was her teacher on Daufuskie) and she spoke about “What Southern Food Means to Me” after the ribbon cutting.

Liz Williams, author and founder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans, also flew up from the Big Easy for a very interesting “Food Has a Story to Tell” presentation. After touring the Foodseum, we enjoyed a lively lunch with Leigh and Liz at SERG Group’s Frankie Bones Bluffton, and it’s highly recommended.

On the backside of this exhibit, there’s a “Share Your Story” display that allows visitors to share their favorite food stories. Reading them made us hungry.

“So You Think You Know?” tests your southern food knowledge with multiple choice questions that seemed to start off relatively easy before stumping (and humbling) us several times in a row. We look forward to revisiting these quizzes.

Nearby, artifact cases and shelves display everything from milk jugs to pie tins, plus several items where we had to ask what the heck they were. Many of these culinary artifacts were donated from the personal collection of the Culinary Institute of the South’s founding Dean, Miles Huff.

“The Future of Southern Cuisine” is next. It highlights the Culinary Institute of the South and its students and alumni, including recipe cards to take home and try. We grabbed graduate Christina Ranck’s delectable recipe for loaded chocolate chip cookies and give it an A-plus!

Situated in the middle of the Foodseum is a large table they’re calling “The Dining Table.” Just like a dinner table anywhere in the South, it’s going to provide a place to have a seat at the table and talk about southern food and history. Yeap, it made us hungry.

Dean Orak, who also teaches at the Culinary Institute of the South, told us that the Foodseum will also host events held in conjunction with the revolving exhibits, cookbook signings and other appropriate author events, additional seminars and classes, and guest lectures. Sign us up!

A Duet of Dining Options
As mentioned and if you’re like us, a visit to the Foodseum is sure to make you hungry. Thankfully, there are two delectable dining options at the bustling campus.

The Clist Café serves as a multi-purpose role as both a grab-and-go café for the general public, students, and staff, as well as a “classroom” for culinary and hospitality students. There’s a great courtyard area, where it’s easy to chat with students about all things culinary. They serve a variety of fresh student-made breads and pastries, along with coffees, teas, and more, plus lunch specials featuring sandwiches and salads.

There’s also The Bistro, which features multi-course lunches prepared by the school’s culinary, baking, and pastry arts students as part of their curriculum. Open only for lunch, The Bistro menu changes each semester with the classes and seasons, and we’re looking forward to scoring a hard-to-get reservation soon.

Culinary Institute of the South

1 Venture Dr.

Bluffton, SC 29910

(843) 305-8575

tcl.edu/culinary-institute
The Foodseum (tcl.edu/foodseum) and Clist Café (tcl.edu/culinary-institute/clist-cafe) are both open Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., while The Bistro (tcl.edu/culinary-institute/the-bistro) is only open for seated lunches by reservation on certain days each semester.