One of my favorite books of 2011 was Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, a food memoir written by Gabrielle Hamilton (second from right). When publicity first surfaced that Gabrielle was coming to town for Sauce Magazine's Celebrity Chef Series (presented in partnership with Left Bank Books), my friend Mary Morgan and I signed up immediately. In addition to writing a best seller, Gabrielle is chef/owner of Prune in New York's East Village, which she opened in 1999.
The lunch and book signing event ($35 included a copy of the book) was held Monday afternoon at Monarch in Maplewood. This post's first photo is actually the last one taken Monday afternoon. After the 82 attendees had departed, I was invited into the kitchen to snap a photo of those responsible for arranging the sold-out event: from left, Kris Kleindienst, co-owner of LBB, Ligaya Figueras, Senior Staff Writer at Sauce, Josh Galliano, Monarch's Executive Chef, Gabrielle, and Monarch's Sous-Chef Rick Lewis.
The menus, one of which was vegetarian, were created by Executive Chef Josh Galliano based on his memories of dining at Prune. There are no recipes in Blood, Bones, etc. though a Prune cookbook may be on the horizon. By the way, I learned that "Prune" was Gabrielle's childhood nickname.
While it may appear in the photo above that Gabrielle is really digging into the delicious first course of Italian sausage, rapini, orecchiette, and chickpeas, I noticed that she only took a couple of bites of each course—a chef's secret for staying so trim. (I just got the inside scoop from Aaron Teitelbaum: Gabrielle wasn't eating much because she started her day at 5 a.m. and had been to Pappy's for breakfast.)
By the time the second course of lovely roasted chicken arrived most of us felt as though we had already had lunch. In between courses Gabrielle read from her book, which was just released in paperback, available at Left Bank Books, $16. There was such a buzz about Blood, Bones, etc. in advance of publication that the book went into a third printing before it was even released.
During the "Q & A" session following the readings, a couple of people said they had read the book several times—they loved it so much. Gabrielle earned her MFA in fiction writing from the U. of Michigan, has written for the New Yorker and Food & Wine, and was just recently named 2012 Food Columnist for House Beautiful (enjoy her delicious—I know, I've tried it—recipe for braised chicken legs here).
The main dessert was an unusual parsnip ice cream with clafouti. The alternative dessert (the luncheon was oversold), was creme brulee served in a jelly jar, above.
The last photo shows Gabrielle sitting at a table signing her book after the luncheon. When one of the gentlemen in line said he was anxious to visit Prune when in New York, the chef/owner said to be sure and say hello. As an observer, I couldn't help but feel she really meant it.
This morning I ran into Aaron Teitelbaum, co-owner of both Monarch and the CWE's Herbies Vintage 72 on Euclid, and asked why they didn't hold the Sauce Celebrity Events at Herbie's…after all it is practically next door to Left Bank Books. He told me they did have an event there a couple of years ago but, given the size of the crowd, the layout at Monarch was better suited for such an event. Maybe next time…
Aaron did say that after the book signing at Left Bank Books' downtown location Monday night, Gabrielle and the chefs and owners of Monarch & Herbie's joined other area chefs for a "chefs night out." There are "six degrees of separation" it seems among chefs in the restaurant business. Aaron, who is also the Executive Chef of Herbie's, worked for Daniel Boulud in New York, who happens to be a friend of Gabrielle's.
There are two more Celebrity Chef events coming up this spring and summer. One features Alice Medrich (read her blog here), the chocolate guru, and the other is with barbecue king Adam Perry Lang who will be in town June 22, locations tba. Check Sauce and Left Bank Books' calendars for more info on these events as it becomes available.