SOF Digital Discussion: A Table for None: Does It Matter If Restaurants Survive the Pandemic?
Join us for an SOF Digital Discussion on Wednesday, June 24 featuring Gabrielle Hamilton, The New York Times Magazine food columnist and the chef and owner of Prune restaurant in New York City who recently wrote an essay about closing her 20-year-old restaurant due to the pandemic, in conversation with Kim Severson, a Southern-based New York Times correspondent who covers the nation’s food culture. The two will explore whether dining socially is an essential human experience and how restaurants can help shape the culture of our communities. Food can be a common touchstone that brings people together – what do we lose when we cannot safely share meals together in public?
**If you are not currently a member of the Society of Fellows, and are interested in joining, please contact the SOF team at 9790-544-7980 or sof@aspeninstitute.org.
Presenter:
Gabrielle Hamilton is the chef/owner of Prune, which she opened in New York City’s East Village in October 1999. Prune has been recognized in all major press, both nationally and internationally. Hamilton has made numerous television appearances including segments with Martha Stewart, Mark Bittman, and Mike Colameco and was the victor in her Iron Chef America battle against Bobby Flay on The Food Network in 2008. Most notably, she won an Emmy for her role in Season 4 of the PBS series Mind of a Chef. Hamilton has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, GQ, Bon Appetit, Saveur, Food & Wine, Afar, Travel and Leisure, Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, Elle, and House Beautiful. Her work has been anthologized in Best Food Writing 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2013. Gabrielle has won 4 james beard awards, culminating with the top honor of Outstanding Chef in 2018. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef,” which has been published in six languages. Most recently, she wrote the cookbook, “Prune,” featuring 250 recipes from her East Village restaurant. She is a monthly columnist for The New York Times Magazine and is currently at work on her next book, a memoir, to be completed in 2021.
Kim Severson is a national food correspondent for the New York Times covering food trends and news across the United States. She was previously the New York Times Atlanta bureau chief and, before that, a staff writer for the Dining section of The Times. Her first full-time food writing job was with the San Francisco Chronicle. She also spent seven years as an editor and reporter at the Anchorage Daily News in Alaska. Before writing about food, she covered crime, education, social services and government for daily newspapers on the West Coast.
Severson won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for her contributions to the team that investigated sexual harassment and abuse against women. She has also won four James Beard awards and the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for her work on childhood obesity.
She has written four books, “The Trans Fat Solution,” “The New Alaska Cookbook,” a memoir called “Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life,” and, in 2012, “Cook Fight!” a collaborative cookbook with fellow New York Times food writer Julia Moskin.