With every chipped plate and hand-written to-do list, Gabrielle’s “presence” is all over her NYC restaurant, Prune. Her life experience, whether it be her upbringing by a French mother who cooked serious food like calf’s livers and ratatouille, to her trip around the world with $200-worth of traveler’s checks, can all be seen, felt, and tasted at Prune.
In this episode, we spend a day at Prune. As Gabrielle and her staff open the gates till the last shift drink is had, we see what drives a reluctant chef and her “family.” We see how the conditions of the abandoned restaurant when she first opened it in 1999 and how Gabrielle breathed new life into it with a very strong perspective and personality. Gabrielle cooks Prune classics: smoky eggplant, celery salad, and sweetbreads.