cover image Welcome to Claire's: 35 Years of Recipes and Reflections from the Landmark Vegetarian Restaurant

Welcome to Claire's: 35 Years of Recipes and Reflections from the Landmark Vegetarian Restaurant

Claire Criscuolo. Globe Pequot/Lyons, $24.95 trade paper (374p) ISBN 978-0-7627-7446-3

Criscuolo, who owns and runs Claire's Corner Copia in New Haven, CT, with her husband, Frank, looks back at three-and-a-half decades of vegetarian cooking in this collection of more than 300 recipes. She talks of inspiration and their "commitment to using organic and local foods," and the joy with which they have served generations of students and professors. Their restaurant, at Chapel and College streets, is on "undeniably the most beautiful corner in the city," she writes. "It's the place where you can see the first daffodils of spring as they pop up from the land surrounding the Yale campus%E2%80%A6the place where you can feel like you're in the center of the city." Criscuolo (Claire's Classic American Vegetarian Cooking) divides the book into seven convenient sections, including "Breakfast;" "Soups, Stews & Sandwiches;" and "Desserts." The first contains recipes for "Apple-Maple Muffins," "Chocolate Chip and Walnut Scones," and healthy "Fresh Fruit Smoothies." By far the largest chapter, though, is the one on "Appetizers, Salads, Dressings, Dips & Salsas." It showcases everything from "Black Bean and Sweet Corn Quesadillas" to "Pan-Grilled Vegetable Fattoush," "a Lebanese bread salad." Criscuolo also notes dishes that are gluten-free or vegan, or can easily be made so. In this substantial volume, she rewards longtime customers with satisfying favorites and introduces the rest of us to a slew of delicious possibilities. Photos. (Jan.)