Everson’s new café serves tasty treats on works of art

SYRACUSE — Visitors to the Everson Museum of Art in downtown Syracuse have long wished for a place on site where they could grab a quick bite to eat during their visit. With the opening of Louise, a new café at the museum, visitors can now enjoy a meal while also appreciating art. Named after Everson trustee and café visionary Louise Rosenfield, the café makes use of more than 4,000 pieces of functional ceramics, serving dishes right on the pottery and giving diners an up-close art experience. “This has been a five-year project,” Everson Director and CEO Elizabeth Dunbar says. People have been asking for years when there would be a café at the museum again, she notes. For a long time, it just wasn’t the right time for the museum to be able to support such a venture. Fast forward to today, Dunbar says, “downtown is much more thriving and vibrant, as is the museum.”

The time was right, and the museum wanted to make sure the concept was right as well. Rosenfield, who is a potter herself, had a vision of a place at the museum where the ceramics collection could be genuinely enjoyed and the pieces used for their intended purposes. “Her goal was to see that this work fulfills its destiny and is used,” Dunbar notes. Artists don’t want to create a plate or a bowl that just sits on display behind protective glass, she adds. They create the piece to be used. And that’s what Louise does, serving up food dreamed up by Danielle Mercuri Campolito of Dremer Restaurant Group. The Everson approached Campolito about two years ago about running the café. “It was clear to use that we were looking for someone pretty special,” Dunbar says. “The food needed to rise to the level of the artwork.” Known for her LaLaLu Ristorante and Rise N Shine Diner in Syracuse, Campolito was the top choice. “The fact that this was art really intrigued me,” Campolito says of the concept at Louise. As someone who once considered a career in art, she relished the idea of running the café and creating a menu that would show off the works of art. “Obviously, I try to bring that creativity I love to do into the food.” The café is open to the public without museum entry and seats about 30 to 35 people. It serves up a menu of sandwiches and other small bites. With a plethora of teapots and tiny dishes, the café even serves pots of tea and tea sandwiches. Each piece in the collection has not only been meticulously catalogued, but each also features an RFID chip that diners can scan with a smartphone for a link to the artist that created that piece. “Some are by very famous artists,” Dunbar notes. “You could be drinking out of a mug that costs $500.” She acknowledges there is the risk that a diner may break a piece of the collection, and that’s a risk the museum is willing to take. “We recognize these objects are meant to be used,” she says. Louise is the perfect fit for a museum known worldwide for its ceramic collection, Dunbar says. The hope is that the café will help draw in new visitors just to be able to visit the café and experience the collection. “In a way, Louise provides the whole 360 experience,” she says. People can visit the museum and see some ceramic pieces. Then they can dine at Louise and experience other pieces. Finally, they can even take a class at the museum and learn how to create their own ceramic piece. “We’re the only museum in the world that has a café like this,” Dunbar notes. Louise, which officially launched July 24, is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Museum entry is not required to visit the café.