Bloodroot (restaurant)

Bloodroot is a vegetarian restaurant and feminist bookstore in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was established in 1977 by the Bloodroot Collective with radical and lesbian feminist principles.

Bloodroot
Restaurant information
Established1977
Owner(s)Noel Furie and Selma Miriam
Food typeVegetarian
Street address85 Bridge Street
CityBridgeport
StateConnecticut
Postal/ZIP Code06605
Websitehttp://www.bloodroot.com/

History

Bloodroot Collective

Selma Miriam (then Selma Bunks), Samn Stockwell, Betsey Beavan, Noel Furie (then Noel Giordano), and Pat Shea met through the Westport chapter of the National Organization for Women and consciousness raising groups in the 1970s.[1][2] In 1975, Miriam, Stockwell, Shea, and Beavan operated a cooperative exchange group out of Miriam's house, eventually forming the Bloodroot Collective in 1977. Stockwell left and Furie joined the collective soon after it was formed.[3]

In 2010, Furie and Miriam donated their personal papers and Bloodroot's organizational papers to the Yale University Library.[4]

Operations

Bloodroot is located in a residential area, which, according to Miriam, has helped the rent stay affordable.[5] This lack of foot traffic has caused the restaurant to rely heavily on word of mouth and other forms of advertising to sustain it.[6]

Bloodroot serves seasonal vegan and vegetarian food. Miriam states that their purpose is not to serve health food, but "really delicious ethnic food that tastes like comfort food."[5] Furie describes the food as a "wonderful ethnic exchange,"[7] because they serve dishes from all over the world.

The restaurant operates by self-service. Customers place their order and pay, find a place to sit, and are called to the counter to pick up their meal when it's ready. When finished, customers bus their own dishes.[8]
The restaurant had women-only nights to allow lesbians a safe place to meet.

Philosophy

Bloodroot was founded because the collective members wanted "a women's center and a way of living that would be self supporting and not dependent on grants and fundraising," and "honest, satisfying work."[9] Maria McGrath describes the business as "a lesbian hang-out; a center of feminist activism and culture; a training ground for female cooks and businesswomen; and an exemplar of re-conceived capitalism based on egalitarian producer and consumer interactions."[1]

Events

Bloodroot has sponsored readings by feminist authors such as Barbara Smith, Mary Daly, Susanna J. Sturgis, and Beth Brant.[10][11] In the1990s, the women of Bloodroot ran several workshops for the W.I.T.C.H. Feminist Lecture Series like "The Personal and the Political" and "Food for Body and Spirit."[12][13] Furie and Miriam participated in Slow Food Connecticut's Heirloom Tasting Feast in 2004, 2006, and 2008.[14][15][16]

Reception

Vegetarian Times writer Jim Mason described the restaurant as "a gourmet vegetarian restaurant for real"[9] with an "every-changing menu of dishes from its collective kitchen."[9] In 1985, Hartford Courant's Northeast Magazine restaurant reviewers, Jane and Michael Stern, rated Bloodroot as 2/3 stars, noting that the soups are "especially outstanding"[8] and that the atmosphere "reminds... [them] of a beatnik coffeehouse."[8] Frank Cohen describes the restaurant as "attractive, homey, upbeat, quirky, and full of interesting knickknacks and ideological postings."[17] In 1997, food critic Bill Daley reviewed Bloodroot in Northeast Magazine; he gave the restaurant 3/4 stars, saying it "offers sturdy, homey fare that transcends ideology. Foodies of all stripes can rejoice."[18] Daley also picked Bloodroot as the best vegetarian restaurant in his 2000 Special Restaurant Guide.[19]

Connecticut Magazine's yearly experts' picks for the top vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the state has featured Bloodroot from 2015 to 2019.[20]

Bloodroot, Furie, and Miriam were the subject of the Douglas Tirola's 2019 documentary Bloodroot.[21] It premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in April 2019.[22] Confectionery!, a vegan candy shop in New York, sells Furious Vulva bonbons and Selma's Peppermint Patties, named after Furie and Miriam.[23]

The Political Palate

In 1980, the Bloodroot Collective prepared to publish their first cookbook, The Political Palate: A Feminist Vegetarian Cookbook. Crossing Press offered to publish it if the title was changed, but the Collective refused and they self-published the cookbook under their press Sanguinaria Publishing.[1] It contains recipes along with excerpts of works by feminist poets, theorists, and authors.[24] Other cookbooks include The Second Seasonal Political Palate (1984), The Perennial Political Palate (1993), and The Best of Bloodroot (2007).

References
  1. McGrath, Maria (July 2, 2016). "Living feminist: the liberation and limits of countercultural business and radical lesbian ethics at Bloodroot Restaurant". The Sixties. 9 (2): 189–217. doi:10.1080/17541328.2016.1245910. ISSN 1754-1328. S2CID 151938101.
  2. Beaven, Betsey; Furie, Noel; Miriam, Selma; butterbaugh, laura (1997). "interview: One-Stop Shopping: Food and Feminism At Bloodroot". off our backs. 27 (11): 12–16. JSTOR 20835947.
  3. Caldera, Mary; Baxivanos, Kristin (2014). "Guide to the Bloodroot Collective Records". Yale University Library. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  4. Cuda, Amanda (April 5, 2010). "Bloodroot Collective donates records to Yale Library". StamfordAdvocate. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  5. Jebian, Wayne (January 10, 2013). "...And A Veggie New Year". The New Haven Advocate. pp. 7–8.
  6. Meyers, Joe (November 20, 2016). "Famed Bridgeport vegetarian restaurant approaches 40th anniversary". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  7. Nixon, Amy Ash (August 28, 2003). "Values A La Vegetarian". Hartford Courant. pp. G1, G5.
  8. Stern, Jane; Stern, Michael (April 7, 1985). "Bloodroot". A Matter of Taste. Northeast Magazine. Hartford Courant. p. 26.
  9. Mason, Jim (November 1983). "Bloodroot". Vegetarian Times. pp. 50–51.
  10. Pofeldt, Elaine (July 20, 1987). "The Business of Conviction". Hartford Courant. pp. B1–B2.
  11. Sturgis, Susanna J. (May–June 1991). "The Care and Feeding of a Writer on the Road". Feminist Bookstore News. 14 (1): 14.
  12. Staff (March 1995). "Events". Sojourner. 20 (7): 16.
  13. Staff (February 1992). "Education Workshops". Sojourner. 17 (6): 24.
  14. Giuca, Linda (August 5, 2004). "A Tasting Feast of Organically Grown Heirloom Tomatoes". Food Notes. Hartford Courant. p. G2.
  15. Morago, Greg (August 3, 2006). "Killer Tomatoes". Hartford Courant. p. G3.
  16. Giuca, Linda (August 7, 2008). "Heirlooms from the Farm". Food Notes. Hartford Courant. p. G2.
  17. Cohen, Frank (June 2014). "Bloodroot". Hartford Magazine. Hartford Courant. p. 105.
  18. Daley, Bill (October 26, 1997). "Bloodroot". A Matter of Taste. Northeast Magazine. Hartford Courant. p. 21.
  19. Daley, Bill (July 16, 2000). "Special Restaurant Guide". Northeast Magazine. p. 8.
  20. See Staff (January 6, 2016). "Best Restaurants in Connecticut 2016: Experts' Picks". Connecticut Magazine. Staff (December 27, 2017). "Best Restaurants 2018: Experts' Picks". Connecticut Magazine. Staff (December 26, 2018). "Best Restaurants 2019: Experts' Picks". Connecticut Magazine. Staff (January 4, 2017). "2017 Best Restaurants: Experts' Picks". Connecticut Magazine. Staff (January 1, 2015). "Best Restaurants in Connecticut 2015: Experts' Picks". Connecticut Magazine.
  21. Cuda, Amanda (April 10, 2019). "Documentary spotlights iconic Bridgeport restaurant". Connecticut Post.
  22. Harvey, Dennis (April 27, 2019). "Film Review: 'Bloodroot'". Variety.
  23. Moynihan, Ellen (February 9, 2019). "Not your mother's chocolate: East Village shop makes vegan treats". New York Daily News. See: "Selma's Peppermint Patties". Lagusta's Luscious. and "Furious Vulvas". Lagusta's Luscious. for more information on their namesakes.
  24. "Newsbriefs". Women's Studies Quarterly. 9 (4): 42–44. Winter 1981. ISSN 0732-1562.

Further reading
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