Café manager makes Black History Month a daily special
NORWALK, CONN., March 8, 2022—Christina Feitais, café manager for CulinArt at Merritt 7, a multi-tenant office complex, made celebrating Black History Month a daily occurrence in showcasing “the absolutely amazing history and accolades of African American chefs in the culinary industry.”
Feitais created a framed showcase, displayed in the unit’s Starbucks Café, featuring a different African American chef for every operating day in February (18 in all). From Abby Fisher, author of an early African American cookbook, to Zephyr Wright, the personal chef of President Lyndon Johnson, Feitais pulled snippets from newspapers and web sites to honor these and other pioneers such as George Washington Carver (who revolutionized agriculture in the South), “Queen of Creole Cuisine” Leah Chase, and B. Smith, a model and TV host who ran restaurants in New York and Washington and wrote books on cooking and entertaining.
Feitais titled the project “African American Culinary Excellence” in an effort to educate tenants on the intertwining of African-American history and culinary history. “The tenants [of Merritt 7] were really interested in the project,” she explains, “and many thanked me for making space to showcase a piece of their history. I feel like this is something we, as culinary professionals, should make time to showcase.”
Feitais says she will stage similar tributes this month for Women’s History and for Irish Heritage in April, adding, “I am really excited to provide this little bit of historical knowledge in our place of business.”
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