Gabrielle Hamilton

Gabrielle Hamilton was born in 1966 in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Her early connection to food began at age 12, working as a dishwasher. She pursued higher education at Hampshire College and later earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction writing from the University of Michigan. While in Michigan, she took on a part-time cooking job to support her studies, reigniting her passion for the culinary arts.

In 1999, Gabrielle Hamilton returned to New York and established Prune, a thirty-seat restaurant in the East Village. Prune became known for its distinctive approach to food, which often challenged conventional culinary norms. Her success was recognized by the James Beard Foundation, with nominations for Best Chef NYC in 2009 and 2010, ultimately winning the award in 2011. Throughout her career, Hamilton has maintained a writing practice, contributing to publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, GQ, Bon Appetit, Saveur, and Food and Wine Magazine. Her work was anthologized in the Best Food Writing series annually from 2001 to 2006.

In March 2011, Hamilton’s memoir, “Blood, Bones and Butter,” became a New York Times bestseller. This book earned her a James Beard Award for Writing and Literature in 2012. She continued to receive accolades from the James Beard Foundation, including an award for journalism in 2015 for her article “Into the Vines,” published in Afar magazine. In 2018, she received the Outstanding Chef award from the James Beard Foundation. Hamilton’s restaurant, Prune, closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, an event she reflected on in a piece for The New York Times.