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Dispatch: Moosewood Restaurant
I first heard of Moosewood during my college days, when a roommate and his girlfriend started cooking frequently from one of the Moosewood Collective cookbooks. It was the first time I'd really seen a cookbook devoted to serious vegetarian cuisine, and it seemed authoritative—and the way the roommate and his gf talked about it, I gathered that Moosewood was the end-all be-all of vegetarian eats.
So when the girlfriend and I were in Ithaca this weekend (thanks, Serious Eaters, for your recommendations) to visit her sister at Cornell University, I took them all out to Moosewood on Sunday night, eager to try the food at such a nationally famous restaurant.
Very underwhelming. I think Moosewood is resting on its laurels. I'm sure that when it started, it was making some unique and innovative vegetarian dishes and that it did its part to elevate meatless cooking beyond rice, beans, and lentils. But our fare on Sunday night was fairly boring and uninspired. I felt like I had eaten these dishes many times before.
Perhaps that's a testament to Moosewood's success—the fact that these dishes seemed like old hat may indicate how influential its recipes have been in the world of meatless meals. Still, I couldn't help feeling that the emperor had no clothes.
Did I go on a bad night or has Moosewood sort of fallen off? I would have much rather eaten again at the Hot Truck up on the Cornell campus.
