Gabrielle Hamilton (born 1966) is an American

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. She is the chef and owner of

Prune A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica'') tree. Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. Use of the term ''prune'' for fresh plums is obsolete except when applied to varieties of ...

, a restaurant in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and the author of ''Blood, Bones, and Butter'', a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

Early life and education

Hamilton, born in 1966, was raised in New Hope, PA. In an interview with

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, Hamilton said her way of eating and cooking was heavily influenced by her

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

mother. She said her mother didn't waste food and the family often foraged for fresh ingredients from their garden and from the forests and fields surrounding their house. Hamilton attended undergraduate at

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

Amherst, MA Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massac ...

and received her MFA in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Hamilton’s sister, Melissa Hamilton (cookbook author), is also a food writer and chef. Their late father owned Hamilton’s Grill Room in

Lambertville, NJ Lambertville is a city within Hunterdon County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 4,139, an increase of 233 (+6.0%) from the 3,906 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflecte ...

Career

Following a career in catering, Hamilton opened the restaurant Prune in the East Village in 1999. She had no formal experience in restaurants, nor did she attend culinary school. Her 30-seat restaurant garnered widespread acclaim and admiration from diners, critics and other chefs including

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain ( ; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author and Travel documentary, travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the huma ...

and

Eric Ripert Eric Ripert (; born 2 March 1965) is a French chef, author, and television personality specializing in modern French cuisine and noted for his work with seafood. Ripert's flagship restaurant, Le Bernardin, in Midtown Manhattan, New York has b ...

. Prune earned a spot in the Bib Gourmand section of the Michelin's 2014 New York guide. Hamilton was featured in the fourth season of the PBS show ''

The Mind of a Chef ''The Mind of a Chef'' is a non-fiction television series on PBS narrated and executive produced by Anthony Bourdain, and combines travel, cooking, history, and science. Each season follows a different chef, or pair of chefs, and examines their b ...

''. She also appeared as a guest judge on the first season of ''

The Taste ''The Taste'' is an American cooking-themed reality competition series on ABC. It aired from January 22, 2013, through January 22, 2015. On May 7, 2015, ABC canceled ''The Taste'' after three seasons. Format ''The Taste'' season begins with bli ...

'' on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Hamilton published a piece in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' discussing the closure of Prune and broader implications of the pandemic for the restaurant industry in the United States.

Personal life

Hamilton was married for 10 years to Michele Fuortes, an Italian-born teacher and researcher at Weill Cornell Medical College. They had two children, Marco and Leone, and later divorced. Hamilton is currently married to

Ashley Merriman Ashley Merriman is a chef from Center Sandwich, New Hampshire. She graduated from Hamilton College (class of 1998) and the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). When Merriman was in New York City, most of the time she worked at Butter and when ...

, who was her co-chef at Prune.

Bibliography

Books

* **

Michiko Kakutani is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life and family Kakutani, a Japanese Americ ...

, in ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' review in February 2011 called it "brilliantly written." **

described it as "simply the best memoir by a chef ever." *

Essays, reporting and other contributions

* *Hamilton, Gabrielle (April 23, 2020)
“My Restaurant Was My Life for 20 Years. Does the World Need It Anymore?”
''The New York Times''.

Awards and honors

Hamilton received the

James Beard award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

for best chef in

in 2011 and again in 2012 for her chef memoir, as well as winning Outstanding Chef in 2018. She also earned a James Beard award for journalism in 2015 for a piece she penned for the travel magazine ''Afar''; entitled "Into the Vines," the article documents the wines and winemakers of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

References

External links

* *
Cooking With Words
by

Frank Bruni Frank Anthony Bruni (born October 31, 1964) is an American journalist writing for ''The New York Times'' since 1995. Following a wide range of assignments, including a stint as chief restaurant critic, he was named an op-ed columnist in June 2011 ...

, ''

''
A Mentor Named Misty

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Gabrielle Living people Hampshire College alumni LGBTQ people from New York (state) LGBTQ people from Pennsylvania The New Yorker people University of Michigan alumni American women chefs American women memoirists American memoirists James Beard Foundation Award winners 1966 births 21st-century American women LGBTQ chefs Chefs from Pennsylvania