Claire Criscuolo - Welcome to Claires: 35 Years of Recipes and Reflections from the Landmark Vegetarian Restaurant

I can never say thank you enough to everyone who has helped to make this book possible. There have been so many people who over the years have led me on this path that I love, the path that now has led to this very book.

First and foremost, I always give thanks and praise to God!

My beloved mother, Anna, passed away before this book was published, but I am grateful to know that she is forever proud of me for my workreally, an extension of her work. Her recipes, her love, her smile, memories of all the delicious smells from her kitchen, even the inflection in her voice when she would ask Did you wash those greens thoroughly? will be what helps to sustain me without her.

My mother raised my brothers and me to know the difference between good and notso-good food. She spoiled us with really good, homemade food. We started our day with freshly squeezed orange juice and a cooked breakfast of either hot cereal like oatmeal or farina, or poached or olive oilfried eggs with toasted slices of Italian breadcrostini, often topped with apricot preserves or ricotta, sliced banana, and honey. Lunches, whether at home during days off from school or packed for school days, always meant cooked foods. Even sandwiches were made with braised broccoli rabe, peppers, and eggs, or maybe sauted escarole. they were soggy by lunchtime but so delicious that other classmates, usually those who brought in cold-cut sandwiches, offered to trade. No, thank you! Suppers included so many vegetables alongside a pasta dish or perhaps a little meat that during the editing of my first cookbook, my editor called several times to ask, Exactly how many vegetables did your mother make at supper? And, if my mother couldnt pronounce any ingredi- ent, we didnt eat it, which meant there was little opportunity for any preservatives to get to us. That philosophy also extended to her backyard garden. I am forever grateful for this, too. The bar for good food was set high from early on.

I am forever grateful also to my staff, who allow Claires to succeed each and every day whether Im there or not, and I love them dearly. Past notables who contributed to our early success include Rose (Naclerio) Albin, Sara (Sylvester) Hernandez (namesake of the ever-present menu item Saras Dream), Don Jackson, Javier Lopez, Anita Lawrence, Sally Tessler, Mary-Ellen Eises, Chrissy and Lori Savastano, Wendy Read, and Kathleen Whipple, among others. Its been thirty-five years, so please forgive me if Ive forgotten to mention you, and accept my deepest gratitude. More recent special staff at Claires include Juana Lopez, who is an amazing cook and for more than ten years has looked out for me like a best friend, and I love her for her loyal devotion! Gerardo Meneses has worked with us since 1997 and never has anyone made more beautiful piecrusts for us, and hes amazing in so many other areas, too. Erin Guild has worked at Claires since 2003 and in addition to being a really good cook, she knows how to vacation well (I tease that I live my vacation life vicariously through her). And Brenna Harvey has since 2005 loved our Lithuanian Coffee Cake more than anyone I knowno easy feat. I recently asked her, Do you still love our Lithuanian Coffee Cake as much? and she answered, Lithuanian Coffee Cake is a love whose flame cannot die. While that alone is enough to endear her to me forever, Brenna also adds her creative genius to drink signs and our website. Margie Cancel has been a manager at Claires since 2005, and she is a fantastic cook, a wonderful person, and an old friend (my husband has known her since she was a kid), and she is so much fun to work with, too. Her daughter, Alana, joined our staff in 2006 and added to our cupcake decorating and so much more. Rose Hernandez, our most joyful manager, beams as soon as she walks in the door and there is no doubt how much she loves being at Claires, and for this and her fine cooking I am forever grateful. And, Frank adores her, too. Eduardo Saldana-Pena makes our beau- tiful breads and many of our cakes, makes sure we always have the finest organic fruits and vegetables, and watches our bottom line tooThis is too much money for a half case of... and we can do without it for a while. Chayna Williams makes sure that we are always ready to open and that our dessert section remains amazing! And no one writes a more ambitious projects list and gets it done! Celestino Romano, Adriana Garcia, and Eufemia Lima help keep everything clean and restocked for us. Adrianas son Angel and Eufemias daughter Jessica even volunteer each summer for our Alexs Lemonade Stand, and watching them grow up has been a joy, too. Lindsey Eagles helps keep us focused by always asking How do we make money doing this? every time I want to host an event or to donate a bit too much, something easy to do given the opportunities we have to help in our city. Hyacynth Pearson, Carl Akins, Jose Alonso, Alyse Guild, Kiley Harvey, Carolyn LaPia (my niece) Felix Lara, and Terrance Paige, newer members of our staff, are a joy to have on our team and in our family at Claires, and I am grateful to them for their help in our continued success.

Bobbi Dunne has been our office manager since 2005 and I cannot imagine what our books and many of our ads and marketing projects would be like without her.

I want to thank each and every one of my beloved customers, because it is you who support this crazy, fun place, the place I find to be a most happy place because of you.

I thank our organic farmers both near and far, who work hard every single day, protecting the land that will grow their crops to feed us well. We could not cook without them!

My brothers, Jim and Paul, and Billy LaPia and my sister-in-law Kathy are all great cooks, and they continue to share their passion for good food during our times together. Right now, Jim and Paul are really into their backyard pizza ovens, and I couldnt be happier. And Kathy is always trying out a new cake on usalways a delicious experience! And I thank my nieces Lisa, Carley, and Carolynand my nephew Brandon for reminding me each year that our traditional Christmas Eve dinner must be at my house! And I love that you always ask for my Pasta e Fagioli.

Our vendors, our landlord Yale Properties, our city of New Haven Police and Fire Departments, the Town Green Special Services District, and our hard-working mayor, John DeStefano, keep our city the only place we want to be. Thank you.

Rabbi David Avigdor supervises our restaurant, allowing us to serve an Orthodox Jewish community along with everyone else who comes to Claires. I love that I can look in my dining room at Claires and see people from all backgrounds sharing a meal, because I hope that one day, this will lead to peace. Our food connects us to our history and to our culture, and I love that we can share this through the foods we serve at Claires.

Larry Dorfman, sales manager at Globe Pequot Press, created the conversation that started this project, and he was also involved in my very first writing project, Claires Corner Copia Cookbook. Mary Norris, Katie Benoit, and Gregory Hyman have been the support from GPP that encouraged this entire project. I believe that good editors take a bunch of words and make them better. they do that and so much more, like encourage the best from me, and I am grateful to them.

Rick Sandella, my editor from the New Haven Register, has been a generous, wonderful friend. He always gives me good advice and encouragement, along with really good jokes, something I often need because I do tend to get too intense, and I thank him so much for his constant support.

And, speaking of getting too intense, my beloved husband, Frank, the love of my life, keeps me focused and centered, and reminds me to take time for myself whenever I get too intenseIm working on that. No one could ever love me more than he does.