Prune Chef Gabrielle Hamilton : NYC

I could tell my New Yorker foodie friend, Gus, was hesitant. He was allowing me, an Aussie who hadn’t been to New York for nearly 20 years, to pick the dinner restaurant for my upcoming trip to NYC.

I’d read about Prune, the East Village restaurant and it’s penchant for “clean and fresh flavours” in a Christine Manfield article last year. The 30 seater restaurant, named after the childhood nickname of its owner and chef, Gabrielle Hamilton, opened in 1999.

Just this year, Gabrielle was voted best chef in NYC by the James Beard Foundation and she is one of the top chefs coming to Sydney to partake in the World Chef Showcase, part of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival (October 1-2). Gabrielle is also an accomplished writer, having written articles for The New York Times, The New Yorker and Food & Wine. Her first book , a memoir of sorts, Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef (Chatto & Windus $35) has just been released.

Gus is very happy when I announce my restaurant selection. He’d been dining at Prune on and off over the last 10 years. It’s “all about the produce, simple and well executed” he said. “A small cosy restaurant, it hasn’t changed much over the years, although the clientele have evolved somewhat as the East Village area has moved up market”.

We arrive early on a Friday evening. The restaurant’s starting to fill up, there are people at the bar, there’s a nice buzz already. Friendly staff take us through the menu, I grab a glass of light red.

The menu screams quality produce, it’s hard to choose. Do we get the Grilled Quail with shaved rhubarb, arugula and black mint or the Roasted Suckling Pig with pickled tomatoes ? In the end, we decide on a starter of Roasted Bone Marrow, parsley salad (with capers), sea salt and for main meals we get the “Shore Dinner” with lobster, clams, corn, sausage and potatoes and the Swordfish with anchovy butter and new potato slaw.

It’s not often that you find Roasted Bone Marrow on a menu. I was eager to taste it, partly as a “nod” to the title of Gabrielle’s new book (let’s not tell my dietary focused GP though). It doesn’t disappoint as I scoop out the marrow and eat with lightly toasted bread and the fresh parsley salad.

Just before our mains arrive, the heavens open up as a blustery storm hits the city. Sitting at the open bay doors, we see people queuing huddle in the doorway trying to avoid the wet, but they don’t leave, they are sticking around for a table. The storm, although short-lived, brings a freshness to the air. It seems to accentuate the “fresh, nature driven food” being plated in the restaurant.

The waitress arrives with our mains. Being that I was in NYC, on the north eastern seaboard of the United States, it’s summer, and I was in a restaurant famed for its handling of quality produce, picking the lobster (in the end) was a pretty easy decision. The presentation of the dish shows off the quality and simple execution of some great produce.

There’s a nice texture on the lobster meat, which together with the vegetables, sits in a light bisque-like sauce. Gus tells me he’s seen a sign in nearby Chinatown advertising “2 lobsters for $25″. Today I’m quite happy with my Gabrielle Hamilton version of a lobster dish.

The Swordfish that Gus orders is also spot on, simple and tasty.

After something sweet to finish the meal off, I order a Bittersweet Chocolate Pot de Crème while Gus sips on a coffee.

It’s a nice way to finish up our meal.

It also strikes me that the serving portions have been normal sized (ie. not hang over the edge of your plate US style servings). I think this is another reason that endears Prune to me, you can taste a few things but don’t leave feeling absolutely stuffed.

As it turns out, Gabrielle is away on a promotional tour in Italy at the time of our visit. So no chance for a personally signed copy of Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef. Hopefully an opportunity will present itself in Sydney during the World Chef Showcase. Incidentally, I’m partway through Gabrielle’s book. It’s a very engaging, rambling read. Honest and open. You can see how Gabrielle’s upbringing, and especially her mother, have influenced her approach to food and cooking.

For those that are interested, I think there might still be a few places available to the Spring Lamb Roast Party on Thursday 6th October 2011 – where Gabrielle will join Alex Herbert in the kitchen at Bird Cow Fish to prepare a dinner inspired by Gabrielle’s memories of her father’s theatrical outdoor cooking extravaganzas.

Prune
54 East First Street, NYC 10003 USA
+ 1 212 677 6221

No online or email reservations. Prune is open for dinner 7 nights a week, lunch during the week with brunch from 10am on the weekends (very popular as I noted when I passed on a Saturday morning while I made my way to Katz Delicatessen further down the street).