Narrated by Executive Producer Anthony Bourdain, THE MIND OF A CHEF is that rare and beautiful thing: an intelligent show about cooking. Season four of the Emmy & James Beard Award-winning series from Zero Point Zero Production, presented by WGBH Boston, enters the minds of chefs Gabrielle Hamilton and David Kinch, and follows these two great culinary figures from their home kitchens to destinations around the globe in search of ingredients, inspiration and the perfect meal.
As in the previous three seasons, featuring chefs David Chang, Sean Brock, April Bloomfield, Ed Lee and Magnus Nilsson, THE MIND OF A CHEF will combine cooking, travel, history, humor, art and science into a cinematic journey, each episode capturing another glorious flicker from the mind of its subject. Season four continues the tradition with two all-new chefs and will take the viewer on a journey through 16 half-hour episodes that focus on what it truly means to cook, think, create and live in the food-obsessed world that is THE MIND OF A CHEF.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1: “Prune" airs Saturday, Jan. 2 at 3:30 p.m. - With every chipped plate and hand-written to-do list, Gabrielle’s “presence” is all over Prune, her tiny, 30-seat East Village restaurant. Spend a day at this idiosyncratic establishment to see what drives a reluctant chef and her “family.” View the conditions of the abandoned restaurant when she first opened it in 1999 and how she breathed new life into it with a very strong perspective and personality. Gabrielle cooks Prune classics: smoky eggplant, celery salad and sweetbreads.
Preview | Season 4 Episode 1: Prune
"With every chipped plate and hand-written to-do list
Episode 2: “Garbage” airs Saturday, Jan. 9 at 3:30 p.m. - Gabrielle is constantly looking into the garbage cans to see what the cooks are carelessly throwing away. Baffled at the portions left in the pan, the bowl, the quart container—what could and should have made its way onto the plate—Gabrielle explores what is and isn’t garbage. She even invites her plumber to show her a few toilet pointers, because 60 percent of a chef/owner’s mind is not fixated on food, even though it wants to be.
Preview | Season 4 Episode 2: Garbage
"Having been raised in a large family with many mouths to feed
Episode 3: “Rome” airs Saturday, Jan. 16 at 3:30 p.m. - Gabrielle’s deep love for Rome, Italy, began with her first visit when she was “taken around” and shown all the oldest and best things in this city, including the quiet alleys, the sunset Negroni and the powerful confidence of an ungarnished plate. She cooks one of her favorites, a parmesan omelet, and learns how to make puntarelle and raviolo. She then makes her version of ravioli.
Preview | Season 4 Episode 3: Rome
Explore Gabrielle’s deep love with this ancient city. Season 4 of THE MIND OF A CHEF premieres September 2015 on PBS.
Episode 4: “Hunger” airs Saturday, Jan. 23 at 3:30 p.m. - For Gabrielle, hunger can be described as “lonely.” From a young age, she was left alone in her home to fend for herself. Rummaging through the pantry and refrigerator, she satisfied her hunger with what she could scavenge. At 16, she moved to New York City, where she used her jar of change to feed herself. All these experiences made her the chef she is today. At Prune, she makes canned sardines with Triscuits, a signature dish at the restaurant. Then she cooks a fresh sardine sandwich and a New York City classic, egg and cheese on a roll. She visits chef Daniel Boulud at restaurant Daniel; then they both take a bite from Gabrielle’s youth with egg and cheese on a roll from the corner deli.
Preview | Season 4 Episode 4: Hunger
"From a very young age
Episode 5: “Past” airs Saturday, Jan. 30 at 3:30 p.m. - It’s an age-old saying: Where you have been is almost as important as where you are going and ultimately makes you who you are today. Gabrielle has traveled the country and the world, but goes back to her roots, visiting the lush grounds of her childhood. From the 9th Street Italian markets in Philadelphia where she shopped with her mother when she was five to her childhood home in Pennsylvania, accompany Gabrielle as she goes foraging along a stream, shops for pasta and cheese and cooks up spit-roasted rabbit and ravioli with Andrew Abruzzese, an old family friend.
Preview | Season 4 Episode 5: Past
"It’s an age-old saying
Episode 6: “Hustle” airs Saturday, Feb. 6 at 3:30 p.m. - Surviving the restaurant game for 15 years in New York City takes some major hustle. From lying about her age to get her first dishwasher gig to lying about her tips, getting busted and charged with grand larceny, hustling was the easy part in running a restaurant for Gabrielle. In this episode, Gabrielle is all about the Hustle. She works the infamous egg shift at Prune brunch, where you physically hustle to survive, invites her old friend and co-hustler, Heidi for lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and fancy champagne to talk about harder times, re-visits some horrible catering gigs, and learns how to cook to cook the ever-humble dish of fish dumplings in cream sauce with legendary chef André Soltner.
Preview | Season 4 Episode 6: Hustle
"Surviving the restaurant game for 15 years in New York City takes some major hustle. From lying about her age to get her first dishwasher gig to lying about her tips
Episode 7: “Napkin” airs Saturday, Feb. 13 at 3:30 p.m. - Milan holds some of Gabrielle’s all time favorite experiences on the planet in the form of food, restaurants and overall “Italian-ness.” It’s a meeting ground of both contemporary and classic Italian culture. But what really entices Gabrielle are the small details, an embroidered curtain, a classically non-garnished plate, a perfectly folded napkin. The work is centuries old in tradition and respect, quiet and not ostentatious or for personal gain. In this episode, Gabrielle revisits Da Giacomo, a restaurant that prepares a timeless baked fish in salt crust dish. Along with the curtains, they way the espresso is served, the fish prepared, the waiters waiter, the “napkin” defines something deep, wide and artisanal for her. She cooks baccala with Antonia Klugman and orange swordfish with Marta Pulini.
Preview | Season 4 Episode 7: Napkin
"Milan is a meeting ground of both contemporary and classic Italian culture. But what really entices Gabrielle Hamilton are the small details
Episode 8: “Evolution” airs Saturday, Feb. 20 at 3:30 p.m. - These days, Gabrielle is constantly looking to the future, wondering what could come next in her life after the kitchen, and who will be able to keep the traditions she works so hard to uphold, alive and well once she does. In this episode, Gabrielle looks long and hard at how she has evolved not only as a chef, but also as a writer and restaurant owner. She takes a walk down memory lane with long time friend and catering food mentor, Misty Callies while making a simple but elegant chicken dish. She looks to Jacques Pépin for techniques on how to de-boning a chicken, make butter rosettes, and bake cream puff swans. Finally, she talks about the future with Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain at the ever-classic Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel and gets some sage advice from them.
Preview | Season 4 Episode 8: Evolution
"Gabrielle looks long and hard at how she has evolved not only as a chef
Episodes and clips from this series are available for online viewing. THE MIND OF A CHEF is on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and you can follow @MindOfAChef on Twitter.
Season 4 Preview | Chef Gabrielle Hamilton
"Season four of the Emmy-winning and James Beard Award-winning series THE MIND OF A CHEF enters the minds of chefs Gabrielle Hamilton and David Kinch
