Moosewood Restaurant


Moosewood Restaurant is an American natural foods restaurant in Ithaca, New York. In 1978, the original 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, The Moosewood Restaurant also won the James Beard America's Classics award from the James Beard Foundation in 2000.
WWW moosewoodrestaurant.com

Overview

Moosewood Restaurant was originally founded as a worker collective on January 3, 1973 during the natural foods and Farm-to-table movements within the American counterculture. According to the self-published 1974 Moosewood Cookbook, "a group of seven people started building 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 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."

History

1970s

Moosewood was established in "the ground level of the Dewitt Building at 215 N. Cayuga St," and sits " southeast corner of the building its décor included barn board wainscoting, fifteen wooden tables, mix-matched chairs, and tie-dyed curtains." 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." It was also set up to:
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."
In 1978, the original founders sold Moosewood to the restaurant staff, now called "The Moosewood Collective." David Hirsch recalls that there "were seven original owners, and by the time I started there were only two left who were still working there. Within a couple of years we bought out the original seven owners and formed it as more of a philosophical collective, because it wasn't a true cooperative economically. We would have meetings and try for consensus on different decisions that were important. We didn't have a hierarchical leadership; it was more horizontal."

New ownership (2022-present)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the members of the collective began to explore selling Moosewood. Danica Wilcox eventually bought it, and original Moosewood member Wynnie Stein worked with her to make the transition.
Wilcox took over as of January 1, 2022, and has launched a new menu that will be "more vegan, more local and sustainable." She also notes that while Moosewood's "menu has often included fish throughout the years – which we may reintroduce –...our focus right now is to highlight the beautiful produce, grains, dairy and wine available in our region...the first new menu celebrates authentically vegetarian cuisine.”

Cookbooks

Moosewood Restaurant

In 1974, members of the original Moosewood staff self- published a spiral bound paper-covered vegetarian cookbook, with "The Moosewood Cookbook Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant in the Dewitt Mall, Ithaca, New York, Copyright 1974 Moosewood," on the title page. 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 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, Ten Talents, The Vegetarian Epicure, Sunset Mexican Cookbook, and The Joy of Cooking. It is preceded by the following statement:"Because we have only presented our original recipes in this book, you may not have found a recipe for something you ate at Moosewood and liked. For this reason, and because we want to share our sources of inspiration with you, it is our pleasure to acknowledge our favorite cookbooks."

Moosewood Cookbook

In 1977, Ten Speed Press in California published a revised version of the 1974 self-published original, titled "The Moosewood Cookbook" and subtitled Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant Ithaca, New York, Compiled, Edited, Illustrated and Hand-Lettered by Mollie Katzen.
The Moosewood Cookbook became a highly influential vegetarian cookbook, with four editions.

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. ''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. In 2014, the Collective donated "a copy of Moosewood Cooks for a Crowd cookbook to youth and adult secure facility/prisons, plus local schools, community centers and organizations, and spiritual centers throughout New York State."
In 2010, the Moosewood Collective donated its archive of original cookbook manuscripts and memorabilia to Cornell University. The papers are housed in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections in the Carl A. Kroch Library.
'Includes lists of vegan dishes'''

James Beard awards and nominations

Moosewood Restaurant

Winner:
  • 2000 : Moosewood Restaurant. This award recognized Moosewood Restaurant as "one of the most popular regional destinations."

The Moosewood Collective

Six of The Moosewood Collective cookbooks were nominated for James Beard Foundation Awards, and two of the six won awards.
Winners:
  • 1995: Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home -
  • 1997: Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
Nominations
  • 1991: Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant
  • 1997: Moosewood Cooks for a Crowd
  • 2002: Moosewood Restaurant New Classics
  • 2004: ''Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates''

Moosewood Cookbook

Winner: