Gordon Hamersley is an American chef based in Boston and cookbook author. Arguably his roast chicken is his most acclaimed recipe. It was part of a meal he cooked for

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...

in her show ''In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs.''Featured Chefs of In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs
/ref>Hamersley’s Bistro Closing After 27 Years In Boston’s South End
/ref> His personal trademark is his ever-present

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

cap.Gordon Hamersley on Staying Motivated 27 Years Later
/ref> His book ''Bistro Cooking At Home'', which he wrote with Joanne McAllister Smart, won the

International Association of Culinary Professionals The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States-based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. History The organizati ...

won the 2004 Cookbook Award in the Chefs and Restaurants Category.

Biography

In the 1970s he enrolled in

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

(CGS’71, SED’74) where he trained at some French restaurants within the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

area. By 1979 he had moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where he worked in

Ma Maison Ma Maison was a restaurant opened by Patrick Terrail in October 1973 at 8368 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California. It closed in November 1985. Ma Maison is credited with getting Wolfgang Puck's career off the ground and for starting the trend in ...

under the supervision of chef

Wolfgang Puck Wolfgang Johannes Puck (born July 8, 1949) is an Austrian-American chef and restaurateur. Early life and career Puck was born in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria. He learned cooking from his mother, who was a pastry chef. He took the surname o ...

. In 1982, he moved with his wife Fiona to

Nice, France Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

where they shopped and ate French food. A year later he came back to Boston and got a job with

Lydia Shire Lydia Shire (born 1948) is a Boston-based chef and restaurateur. Early life and education Born in Connecticut and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, both of her parents were illustrators. Shire began cooking as early as age four alongside her ...

at Boston's

Copley Plaza Hotel The Fairmont Copley Plaza is a Forbes four-star, AAA four-diamond hotel in downtown Boston, Massachusetts managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It stands on Copley Square, part of an architectural ensemble that includes the John Hancock Tower, ...

. Four years later, he and his wife Fiona opened

Hamersley's Bistro Hamersley's Bistro was a South End, Boston French restaurant owned by Gordon Hamersley that closed in October 2014 after 27 years. They were known for their roast chicken in a shallot-mustard-herb marinade. But the duck confit was called the best ...

Tremont Street Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts. Tremont Street begins at Government Center in Boston's city center as a continuation of Cambridge Street, and forms the eastern edge of Boston Common. Continuing in a roughly so ...

where they served

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

. When asked "Who has been your biggest culinary inspiration?", he responded: Hamersley's Bistro closed in the end of October 2014. In January 2015, Hamersley began writing a food column for ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''. In its Spring 2014 issue, the quarterly ''Upland Almanac'' introduced Hamersley as its "Upland Kitchen" columnist.

Honors and awards

Hammersley's Bistro became very popular among eaters and received positive reviews while

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and season ...

magazine called the owner one of the "Ten Best New Chefs for 1988". From 1988 to 1993 he was nominated for the

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

and received it only by 1995. A year later, his restaurant got a "Hall of Fame" award from ''

Boston magazine ''Boston'' is a monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area and has been in publication since 1805. History and profile ''Boston'' magazine was started in 1805. Metrocorp, Inc. bought the magazine in 1970. The company also owns ...

'' and from 1988 to 1995 was ranked as the ''Best of Boston''. In 1997, ''The Boston Globe'' gave his bistro a four-star rating. Currently he is a member of the

New England Culinary Institute The New England Culinary Institute (NECI) was a private for-profit culinary school in Montpelier, Vermont. It was founded on June 15, 1980, by Fran Voigt and John Dranow. The first NECI class, conducted by Chef Michel LeBorgne, had seven st ...

board of advisors An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamersley, Gordon Living people 20th-century births Chefs from Massachusetts American male chefs Date of birth missing (living people) American restaurateurs Restaurant founders Boston University School of Education alumni James Beard Foundation Award winners Year of birth missing (living people) American cookbook writers Cookbook writers