blood, bones and butter: a memoir for every appetite

Before March 2011, Gabrielle Hamilton was best known as the chef-owner of Prune, a long-standing culinary mecca in New York’s East Village.

But Hamilton is now known as one of the best food biographers of our time. Her first book, Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, debuted on the NYT best-seller list–at number 2 no less! This is quite an achievement for a food author lacking possession of her own television series, pot and pan line or kitchen appliance endorsement deal. Hamilton’s work has risen to the top purely on the strength of her storytelling and her unique perspective on the business of restaurants.

We put this book on a par with Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential for its wisdom, wit and sheer entertainment value. Like Bourdain, Hamilton relates her life experiences through food but she does so with a bit more grace and feminine finesse. This is likely due, in part, to the fact that Hamilton is one of the foremost-educated chef/authors on the scene. In addition to her culinary education (at the school of hard knocks), Hamilton achieved an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Michigan.

We are thrilled to see this successful restaurateur finally put her Masters to its fullest use, sharing culinary tales that will entice both serious food lovers as well as anyone who simply appreciates a good book.