PrintDispatch: 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.
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7 Comments:
It's not surprising that your meal at Moosewood was dull. Molly Katzen, the original force behind the Moosewood kitchen, left years ago. I didn't even know it was still open. Have you eaten at Greens in SF? Much better, I think
Ed Levine at 4:30PM on 02/20/07
Megnut recommended Greens, but I haven't eaten there. My first (and so far only) visit to San Francisco was filled with burrito expeditions and my maiden voyage to In-N-Out, not to mention pizza-eating.
Adam Kuban at 4:35PM on 02/20/07
Oh yeah. That's right. The gf mentioned something about Molly Katzen having left. We looked for a Katzen-written version of the cookbook in the "gift shop" part of the restaurant but couldn't find one. I'm glad we held off on buying a book before we ate.
Adam Kuban at 4:38PM on 02/20/07
What did you order?
Alaina Browne at 5:06PM on 02/20/07
Appetizers
Basket of Bread with Butter
Nutty Butter with Fruit (off the kids' menu, but sounded better than the actual appetizers/sides, which sounded more like condiments)
House Salad (included with the entrée order)
Entrées
Potato-Cheese Burek (me and the gf's sister's boyfriend)
Some kind of veggie stew over couscous (the gf's sister, who had to second-choice this after that night's dolmas ran out)
Some kind of roasted squash thing (the gf, who also had to second-choice this after the fish and the dolmas had run out)
Dessert
Apple Pie à la Mode (me; it had too much lemon in it :( )
Vegan Chocolate Cake (gf's sister and her bf)
Lemon Spice Cake (the gf)
Adam Kuban at 5:28PM on 02/20/07
You know, Adam, I had the same experience when I visited Moosewood in October. I was so excited to visit the place that had produced some of my favorite cookbooks (Simple Suppers and Vegetable Heaven are both spectacular--although I think Vegetable Heaven is just Mollie Katzen w/o the Collective), but my friends and I were pretty disappointed in our meals, although we all tried to hide it at first. I remember the parsnip soup being tasty, but the vegetable tagine and the stuffed pepper rated decent at best. While I was disenchanted with the food I was served, I still have tender, respectful feelings towards the place, and what they've done. They were among the first to tout healthful, inventive vegetarian cuisine, and for that, I'm grateful. And I'm not even vegetarian!
jbeach at 11:25PM on 02/21/07
@jbeach: Yeah. I'm not trying to make a hit on the place with the observation above, just puzzled about whether I might have hit it on an off night or what not. A friend who did time at Cornell told me via IM that he had never had a good meal there, so I wanted to open the discussion publicly on Serious Eats. Thanks for the info.
And, yeah, I'm grateful to them for the cookbooks and what they've done to heighten the role of vegetarian cooking over the years.
Adam Kuban at 1:17AM on 02/22/07