Julia Child's kitchen re-opens at Smithsonian

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History says it is once again displaying the iconic kitchen of the late chef Julia Child through Sept. 3.

The exhibition of the kitchen from her home in Cambridge, Mass., is timed to what would have been Child's 100th birthday, Aug. 15.

This limited engagement offers a sneak peek of the museum's upcoming exhibition, "FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000," which opens Nov. 20.

"Julia Child referred to her kitchen as the beating heart of her household," Paula Johnson, museum curator and project director for the exhibition, said in a statement. "In the 10 years since we first displayed it, the kitchen has become a perennial favorite of our visitors. We look forward to joining Child devotees and novices alike in honoring her legacy here at the kitchen for her birthday."

Child donated the kitchen to the museum in 2001 along with its hundreds of tools, appliances and furnishings.

Credited with making French cooking widely accessible to non-professional cooks, Child died Aug. 13, 2004, two days before her 92nd birthday. She was the longtime host of "The French Chef" on PBS and co-author of the culinary bible "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."