Moosewood Restaurant

Moosewood Restaurant is an American natural foods restaurant in Ithaca, New York, founded in 1973. In 1978, the founders sold the restaurant to the staff, who became "The Moosewood Collective". In addition to producing a number of James Beard Award winning and nominated cookbooks (by the Moosewood Collective), The Moosewood Restaurant also won the James Beard America's Classics award from the James Beard Foundation in 2000.

Overview

Moosewood Restaurant was originally founded as a worker collective According to the self-published 1974 Moosewood Cookbook (created by staff members), "a group of seven people started building [Moosewood Restaurant] in the fall of 1972", and the name was inspired by Patrick, one of the original founders, "who once read a book and in it was a character-a dog in fact' named Moosewood; it is also the name of a lovely striped maple tree." Its original goal was to provide dishes made of "local, sustainable" food. Although meat was served when the restaurant first opened, it was dropped from the menu. The focus turned to natural foods that primarily featured vegetarian (and later vegan) dishes, but has also included pescetarian options on its menu and in its cookbooks.

It was popular with countercultural icons: "Crosby and Nash once shared drinks at the bar, and Allen Ginsberg ended his dinner with a Moosewood brownie and black coffee. Even the Grateful Dead stopped by during their trip for Cornell's Barton Hall show, only to go unrecognized by the members of the collective." The founders originally developed the restaurant as “a place to feed their community. The vision was to put forward ideas about sustainable farming and environmentally friendly food systems but to do so in a delicious way."

Wynnie Stein, an original Moosewood member, states she became involved due to the emphasis on local ingredients: "it's important for people to know where their food was produced. I saw Moosewood's Collective involvement in this locally sourced foods movement and I am so glad to be a part of it. It's refreshing to be part of a group of individuals who support the use of locally produced fruits, vegetables, and grains." Stein also notes that the "first people who were involved were very idealistic, none of them had any restaurant experience. They were just great cooks and they loved to cook... we were really interested in food being not just helpful or good for you, but super creative and delicious, and I think that's what set us apart from the rest of the natural foods movement."

Wilcox took over as of January 1, 2022, Page three contains a list of its creators: "Design, Editing, Hand-writing, Pen-and-ink illustrations Mollie Katzen Feedback digestion, Critical Analysis, Introduction & History Nancy McCauley Cover Drawing Judith M. Barringer Onion Photogram Kathy Morris Frontispiece: charcoal drawing Meredith (Mimi) Barchat Photographs Phyllis Boudreau Photographic Montage Phyllis Boudreau Susan B. Lent." In addition, page 79 contains a list of cookbooks titled "Postward". The list includes titles such as Diet for a Small Planet, Great Meatless Meals, Recipes for a Small Planet, The Yogi Cookbook (Yogi Vithaldas and Susan Roberts), Ten Talents, The Vegetarian Epicure, Sunset Mexican Cookbook, and The Joy of Cooking.

The Moosewood Cookbook became a highly influential vegetarian cookbook, with four editions (1977, 1992, 2000, 2014).

Moosewood Collective

Beginning in the late 1980s, The Moosewood Collective began a cookbook series. The first, published in 1987, is titled New Recipes From Moosewood Restaurant. Mollie Katzen states in a quote on the back cover: "It's been nearly ten years since I cooked at Moosewood Restaurant, and I had no hand making this book, yet these recipes evoke memories so fresh, it feels like I worked there yesterday." New Recipes From Moosewood Restaurant has been followed by thirteen more books of vegetarian, vegan, and Pescetarian recipes to date. A share of cookbook royalties have gone to various charities: "Ithaca Community Harvest, Planned Parenthood, AIDS Work of Tompkins County, Eritrean Relief Fund, Tibetan Resettlement Project, Greater Ithaca Activities Center, Loaves & Fishes, and Healthy Food for All."

Includes lists of vegan dishes

James Beard awards and nominations