Gordon Hamersley is an American chef based in Boston and cookbook author. Arguably his roast chicken is his most acclaimed recipe. It was part of a meal he cooked for

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

in her show ''In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs.''Featured Chefs of In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs
/ref>Hamersley’s Bistro Closing After 27 Years In Boston’s South End
/ref> His personal trademark is his ever-present

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ch ...

cap. His book ''Bistro Cooking At Home'', which he wrote with Joanne McAllister Smart, won the

International Association of Culinary Professionals The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. It was started in 19 ...

won the 2004 Cookbook Award in the Chefs and Restaurants Category.

Biography

In the 1970s he enrolled in

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

(CGS’71, SED’74) where he trained at some French restaurants within the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

area. By 1979 he had moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he worked in

Ma Maison Ma Maison was a restaurant opened by Patrick Terrail in October 1973 at 8368 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California. It closed in November 1985. It is credited with launching Wolfgang Puck's career and for starting the trend in cuisine known as ...

under the supervision of chef

Wolfgang Puck Wolfgang Johannes Puck (born July 8, 1949) is an Austrian chef and restaurateur. Early life Puck was born in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria. He learned cooking from his mother, who was a pastry chef. He took the surname of his stepfather, Jos ...

. In 1982, he moved with his wife Fiona to

Nice, France Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million

where they shopped and ate French food. A year later he came back to Boston and got a job with

Lydia Shire Lydia Shire (born 1948) is an American Boston-based chef and restaurateur. Early life and education Born in Connecticut and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, both of her parents were illustrators. Shire began cooking as early as age four alo ...

at Boston's

Copley Plaza Hotel The Fairmont Copley Plaza is a Forbes four-star, AAA four-diamond hotel in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It stands on Copley Square, part of an architectural ensemble that includes th ...

. Four years later, he and his wife Fiona opened

Hamersley's Bistro Hamersley's Bistro was a South End, Boston French restaurant owned by Gordon Hamersley that closed in October 2014 after 27 years. They were known for their roast chicken in a shallot-mustard-herb marinade. But the duck confit was called the be ...

Tremont Street Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts. Tremont Street begins at Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Government Center in Boston's city center as a continuation of Cambridge Street, and forms the eastern edge of ...

where they served

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

. When asked "Who has been your biggest culinary inspiration?", he responded: Hamersley's Bistro closed in the end of October 2014. In January 2015, Hamersley began writing a food column for ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''. In its Spring 2014 issue, the quarterly ''Upland Almanac'' introduced Hamersley as its "Upland Kitchen" columnist.

Honors and awards

Hammersley's Bistro became very popular among eaters and received positive reviews while

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...

magazine called the owner one of the "Ten Best New Chefs for 1988". From 1988 to 1993 he was nominated for 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 ...

and received it only by 1995. A year later, his restaurant got a "Hall of Fame" award from ''

Boston magazine ''Boston'' (also called "''Boston'' magazine" or referred to by the nickname "BoMag") is a regional monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area, which has been in publication since 1962. History Metrocorp Publishing, a Philade ...

'' and from 1988 to 1995 was ranked as the ''Best of Boston''. In 1997, ''The Boston Globe'' gave his bistro a four-star rating. Currently he is a member of the

New England Culinary Institute The New England Culinary Institute (NECI) was a private for-profit culinary school in Montpelier, Vermont. It was open for 40 years before shutting down as result of the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the ...

board of advisors An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamersley, Gordon Living people 20th-century births Chefs from Massachusetts American male chefs Date of birth missing (living people) American restaurateurs Restaurant founders Boston University School of Education alumni James Beard Foundation Award winners Year of birth missing (living people) American cookbook writers