Happy 35th Anniversary, Bloodroot!

I've posted many times about our favorite restaurant, the legendary vegetarian-feminist Bloodroot (that's a flower here in New England and on the Eastern seaboard).  We knew of Bloodroot even before moving to Connecticut, having found their original cookbooks The Political Palate in Women and Children First bookstore in Chicago.  When we moved to Connecticut, we realized Bloodroot was near enough to visit and so we made our first pilgrimage.

You arrive at the low, eclectic building on the back waters of Bridgeport through the winding residential streets led forward only be clear directions or awareness of the tiny little signs at critical turns.  Outside there is often one of Bloodroot's resident Maine Coon cats lounging on the patio.  Inside, the space is divided into a few different areas:  the entry where you place your order, the small bookstore with lesbian/feminist/green/liberal/food texts as well as weaving supplies and a few looms out (they offer weaving classes, which I've taken twice--search "warp speed' posts), and the dining room, with its wonderful wall of old photos of women (some are relatives and relatives of friends; others are just there), mix-and-match old tables and chairs, and weavings hung from the exposed wooden rafters.  All along the wall to the restroom and around the serving window are opinionated posters, both theirs and others.  I love the one about being kind to our sisters of size by not discussing calories while you eat!  The one about children--unruly ones won't be tolerated--kept us from bringing the kids there for years.

Bloodroot grew out of the lesbian-feminist movement of the 1970s and sought to eliminate inequality in its restaurant:  there is no serving (and no tips).  We had heard, even back in Chicago, that Bloodroot was severe in their rules and beliefs and were a bit nervous during our first visit.  Now, co-founders and owners Selma Miriam and Noel Furie are nothing if not committed to their ideals (which are outlined in the introductions to their new cookbooks), but they are welcoming to all and will walk newcomers through Bloodroot's unusual ordering structure, in addition to answering questions about the menu and chatting tableside midway through your meal (it's usually Selma and we've talked about homemade Chinese food in Mama's family, labor and childbirth, books to read, lesbian theorists, places to eat in Washington DC, and so much more).  Once inside, you place your order with the person, usually Selma, at the desk after consulting the day's seasonal, local, international vegan/vegetarian menu on the chalkboard.  There are always soups, salads, entrees, bread, and desserts, plus some fruity sodas, herbal teas, and now wine.  Then you pay, give your ticket to the person at the window (often Noel), choose your table, pick your silverware, even pour your own water and scoop your own butter as you wait for your name to be called.  You fetch your food in courses and bus your items when you're done into waiting receptacles.  It was this that caused us the most anxiety because rumor had it that they'd get snippy if you did it "incorrectly," for instance mixing forks and spoons.  That, of course, is hogwash.  You toss the trash and extra food, put silverware down below but not segregated by type (I've asked!) and plates and glasses in the big tubs.  Done.

Besides, it's all well worth the food.  We almost always each get one of everything so that we can try two soups, two salads, two entrees, and two desserts.  I couldn't even begin to list favorites having had some many different things over the almost ten years we've been going.  Well, I do have a few that appear regularly enough:  the open-faced grilled cheese sandwich available at lunch with the simple side salad dressed in fruity oil and  . . . something else, maybe lemon, that is so refreshing; the rich and smooth cream of mushroom soup with Sherry; the hearty oatmeal-sunflower bread always available and best with the soft butter; the off-menu brandied fruit over ice cream that they "feed" each week and have for years so that it is a strong alcoholic treat; the blueberry tofu mousse (or pumpkin) that is substantial in its creaminess and not too sweet (similar is the cranberry kissl).  There are numerous other dishes that I annotate in my complete set of their cookbooks--yep, almost every dish they serve has an available recipe (and those that don't will be in the upcoming calendars!).  They want you to love their food and make it yourself.  Food is community.  And the best food isn't trendy--not raw, not foam, not low-fat or low-carb or what have you--but the kind of foods that people all over the world have been making at home for centuries.

Which is exactly what Selma said last night in her annual speech to the gathered, adoring friends of Bloodroot in celebration of their 35 years, after thanking patrons, staff, and Noel.  She talked about their trip to Istanbul (they go away for two weeks at the end of February every year) and the amazing food they found (you can read her post here).  Noel talked about how travelling expands our understanding of others and thus ourselves.  We all clapped for them and their achievement of creating such a wonderful place that, as one long-time friend said, was sacred for us and them.  I am so grateful to have found them, not even mainly for the food, though it is through their inspiration that I became a vegetarian and am now mostly vegan (not that you have to be; they love omnivores, too!), but for the space, the community, the home, they've cultivated and created.  It's like nowhere else I've ever been.

Then they had their usual anniversary raffle--famous Chocolate Devastation Cake, pan of lasagna, cookbook set--and I actually won my own anniversary t-shirt.  I'm so excited.  And will wear it proudly!

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Bloodroot's 35th Anniversary Menu

March 21, 2012
[dates are keyed to cookbooks]

Soups
Fassoulada 1980
Mulligatawny 1984
Lemon Lima Bean 1993
Escarole and Garlic 1997

Salads
Shredded Root Vegetable 1980
Caesar’s Wife 1993
Marinated Tofu 1984
Spinach Salad 1993

Entrées
Noodle Souffle 1980
Eggplant Spinach Lasagne 1993
Tempeh Stuffed Baked Potato 1984
American South
creole/curry spiced “chicken” casserole
created for our 35th Anniversary

Desserts
Queen of Sheba Cake 1980
Chocolate Devastation Cake 1993
Brown Rice Pudding 1980
Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream 2007


Most of these recipes appeared in print in one of our cookbooks:
The Political Palate, 1980
The Second Seasonal Political Palate, 1984
The Perenial Political Palate, 1993
The Addendum to the Series, 1997
The Best of Bloodroot, Volumes One and Two, 2007/2012 which gathers all
our favorite, now corrected recipes.