Claire’s Corner Copia and Basta Trattoria - Two Excellent Restaurants in New Haven, Connecticut

Claire’s Corner Copia and Basta Trattoria are two restaurants you do not want to miss if visiting Yale or just passing through New Haven. They sit side by side on the lively Chapel Street, right outside of Yale, where the sidewalk is extra wide with huge shade trees surrounded by boutique shops. If you are just passing through New Haven on I-95, just take exit 47, and you will quickly find yourself sitting just off the New Haven green, enjoying a delicious, healthy, organic, sustainable meal.

Claire and her husband, Frank Criscuolo own and operate both restaurants. The food at Claire’s is renown and and a winner of consistent awards. In 2009 it was voted the Best Vegetarian Restaurant in the State, by the readers of Connecticut Magazine, and Best Vegetarian Restaurant, and Best Desserts in a Restaurant, by the readers of the New Haven Advocate, 2009. As for Claire’s desserts, the May issue of the Connecticut Magazine wrote that "Lithuanian Coffee Cake at Claire's Corner Copia is one of the 50 foods you need to eat before you die."

While Claire’s is a casual vegan, organic, and kosher eatery that is open all day, Basta Trattoria, is a cozy dinner restaurant serving southern Italian dishes full of organic meats and organic Italian wines. Basta Trattoria was started by Frank five years ago, and it is a homey brick restaurant serving sustainable, organic vegetables, wild line-caught fish and seafood, organic and free-range chicken, prime grass-fed beef, hand made Italian cheeses, and Italian wines from small family owned vineyards throughout Italy. If you want to sit down in a relaxed setting with a glass of wine, and the most delicious food from the same fabulous owners, this is the place to eat in New Haven. Both restaurants are very reasonably priced and an unforgettable experience.

Claire’s Corner Copia has been a landmark in New Haven for 35 years and is always busy, often with a line of Yale students ordering at the counter. When you enter Claire’s, you need to stand back for awhile to gaze at the extensive chalkboard that lists coffees, teas, yogurt parfaits, breakfast omelets, sandwiches, soups, and salads, all homemade, organic and casually priced. Under your nose is an incredible array of home-baked chocolate dense cakes, coffee cakes, cupcakes that are mouth watering – all made with organic ingredients and no trans fats. It is a smart crowd who know that the food Chef Claire serves is good for you, but it is the taste that wins her all the awards and keeps the restaurant packed.

Most passersby stopped to say hello to Claire and Frank while we sat at an outside cafe table in front of the two restaurants chatting over a great glass of red wine. I was thrilled to get the chance to talk with both of them about the challenges of serving organic, sustainable food. Most of the food in both restaurants is from nearby farms and much is from their own organic garden. To me, the biggest issue is: “Why aren’t Americans eating almost totally organic, and why don’t people seem to connect illness and cancer rates with the food we are eating?”

One big reason is it is more expensive to buy organic because we don’t have enough farmers willing to farm organically. Secondly, people don’t seem to correlate pesticide use with cancer. We have a huge health crisis which is costing all of us. If we can prevent even some cancer cases by eliminating the pesticides from the food we eat, we could be preventing many of the health issues we are trying to solve.

Our children are worth the extra money organic foods cost. It is much more important than many other things we are paying for. The difference in the cost of feeding a family on organic foods over conventional foods may be less than the amount that families pay for cell phones, cable TV, video games, etc. Claire suggested a great book on this issue titled, “The History of the Secret War on Cancer” by Deborah Davis.

A great idea Claire mentioned, and one she is a big participator in, is to get your child’s elementary school to start a garden. It teaches our children at a young age how to grow their own organic garden and how to make money from it. Other great suggestions from Claire and Frank are to be careful about where your organic food comes from. Recently, some food from China was labeled and sold as organic, but was found to be tainted with pesticides. Also, if you live in New England look up the New England Organic Farmers Association (NOFA)if you want to purchase healthy, organic produce.

Below is the link to Claire’s and Basta Trattoria’s websites with menus.

Claire's Corner Copia
1000 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT
(203) 562-3888

Basta Trattoria
1006 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT
(203) 772-1715