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Moosewood Collective Biography & Facts

Moosewood Restaurant (January 3, 1973–present) 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 cookbooks (by the Moosewood Collective), The Moosewood Restaurant won the America's Classics award from the James Beard Foundation in 2000, which recognized it as "one of the most popular regional destinations." 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 (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." History 1970s Moosewood was established in "the ground level of the Dewitt Building at 215 N. Cayuga St," and sits "[in the] 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: "run collectively, with the aim of supporting a lot of people and sharing the responsibilities of presenting good food to the community. Everyone gets paid the same hourly wage, the 15% service charge is divided among all who work during each day, and while a certain amount of specialization seems inevitable, everyone is encouraged to become skilled at all the different jobs...People often ask us about our philosophy on food - we have no set response, nor do we collectively subscribe to a particular school of thought. From the onset, we decided not to mount a crusade against so-called 'bad' or 'plastic food.'...very simply, we try to offer a lot possibilities without any dogma, reckoning that someone who comes in for the brownies will eventually try a fresh vegetable salad and a meat and potatoes person might try a vegetarian casserole...the basic supposition is that if healthy foods are prepared in delicious ways, people will be inclined to want to eat them."(p.5) 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 (who joined Moosewood in 1976) 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 (the daughter of Kip Wilcox, an original member of Moosewood who specialized in desserts) 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" 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 (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. 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 Restaurant (1974). The Moosewood Cookbook Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant In the Dewitt Mall Ithaca, New York. Moosewood Restaurant. Moosewood Cookbook In 1977, Ten Speed Press in California published a revised version of the 1974 self-published original, with "The Moosewood Cookbook Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant Ithaca, New York Compiled, Ed.... Discover the Moosewood Collective popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Moosewood Collective books.