Celebrating 50 Years of Culinary Icon Claire Criscuolo with Paul Bass at New Haven Museum

New Haven, Conn. (November 21, 2025) –The comforting warmth one feels on entering Claire’s Corner Copia, the iconic vegetarian eatery on the corner of Chapel and College, will be in abundance in the New Haven Museum ballroom when legendary restauranter Claire Criscuolo is feted for 50 years of good will and great food on Monday, December 15, 2025, at 6 p.m., during “Health, Happiness, Purpose and Peace: Celebrating Claire's," immediately following the Annual Meeting of the New Haven Museum Board of Directors at 5:30 p.m. A reception will follow. Register here. The free event will also stream on FB Live.

In conversation with Paul Bass, founding editor of the New Haven Independent, Criscuolo will share memories, heartfelt stories, and some favorite recipes from her latest book, “50 Vegetarian Recipes from 50 Years at Claire’s Corner Copia.” In what she terms as “this crazy experiment,” Criscuolo, a registered nurse, and her late husband, Frank, a musician, opened Claire’s Corner Copia in 1975 simply wanting to bring real, clean food to New Haveners while blending Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Greek influences. “We believed that if we can eat together, and share our stories, we’ll realize that really, we all want the same things: good health, happiness, purpose, and peace.”

Clearly, leading with the heart has been a recipe for success for Criscuolo. Heralded as “one of the 10 best heart-healthy restaurants in America” by MSNBC, Claire’s has received accolades from national press and fans alike, noting the restaurant’s ability to pivot to meet the needs of the times, and the community, while dishing up delicious healthy food.

“Our mission at Claire's Corner Copia is based on the understanding that we can and will help others who need a hand up,” Criscuolo says. Among the restaurant’s numerous philanthropic efforts are support for: New Haven Reads, Clifford Beers Child Guidance Clinic, Saint Jude's Children's Hospital, All our Kin, Covenant House, Hole in the Wall Camp, Yale Child Study, YNHH NICU, Camp Kesem at Yale, Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut, Marrakech, Friend’s Center, Connecticut Mental Health Center, and other organizations that help those in need. New Haven children are their focus. In 2021, Claire’s started Someone Cares Closet, in partnership with Carolina Perrott, of Yale Child Study Center.