Lewis became chef-in-residence at Middleton Place Plantation, interpreting Lowcountry and Southern cuisines in a historic setting.
In April 1994, Edna Lewis was installed as chef-in-residence at Middleton Place, a historic plantation site in South Carolina renowned for its gardens and its complex history tied to slavery and Lowcountry agriculture. In this role, Lewis cooked and interpreted Lowcountry and broader Southern cuisines within a setting deeply resonant with the historical roots of the foodways she had spent her career documenting.
This residency was significant both culinarily and symbolically: it placed a celebrated Black woman chef, the granddaughter of formerly enslaved people, in a position of culinary authority at a site historically associated with plantation slavery. Lewis used the opportunity to educate visitors and diners about the deep, often uncredited contributions of enslaved and formerly enslaved Black cooks to what had become celebrated as 'Southern' and 'Lowcountry' cuisine.
Her work at Middleton Place contributed to a broader reckoning within the food world about attribution and historical memory, helping set precedent for later scholarship and public history efforts that more accurately credit Black culinary innovation. It stands as one of the clearer examples of Lewis using her career-long research and expertise to actively reshape historical narratives around Southern food.