Clark, Gillian 1963- (Gillian Frances Clark)

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Clark, Gillian 1963- (Gillian Frances Clark)

PERSONAL:

Born July 12, 1963; divorced; partner of Robin Smith; children: two daughters. Education: Studied at a culinary school.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Colorado Kitchen, 5515 Colorado Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20011.

CAREER:

Chef. Colorado Kitchen, Washington, DC, chef and owner, 2000—.

WRITINGS:

Out of the Frying Pan: A Chef's Memoir of Hot Kitchens, Single Motherhood, and the Family Meal, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Gillian Clark is a chef. Born in 1963, Clark left an alcoholic husband and raised her two daughters. She sought refuge from her difficult situation in the kitchen and decided to turn her culinary talents into a career. After attending culinary school, she opened Colorado Kitchen, a restaurant in Washington, DC, and served as its primary chef. The moderate-priced restaurant serves American, Southern, and specialty dishes and helped to slowly turn around a run-down area of the capital city by creating a more personable eating environment in an area whose other restaurants were previously shielded by thick plexiglass walls or iron bars.

Cynthia Hacinli, Todd Kliman, and Ann Limpert wrote about Colorado Kitchen in a Washingtonian review. They described the restaurant as "as witty and referential as a postmodern novel." Rachel Dowd, writing in the Advocate, described Colorado Kitchen as follows: "Inspired by her grandmother's kitchen, the eatery has a black-and-white checkered floor, red vinyl chairs, a tin ceiling, and cloth napkins. The bathroom walls are papered with recipes for cold-water sponge cake and buttermilk biscuits. And the kitchen—unlike those of her armored neighbors—is wide open, so six days a week … patrons can watch Clark" cook for them. Although Clark has loyal customers, she garnered international attention for an article she wrote noting that the customer is not always correct, citing a number of ridiculous requests some patrons have asked of her. Reader responses ranged from general agreement ("If you'd rather have things done your way, eat at home.") to outrage at the idea that her restaurant-goers were not able to order anything they liked ("How dare she have the audacity to suggest that she knows my likes and dislikes better than myself."). In an article in the Washington Post, Clark replied: "When you pay a chef, it's like paying a doctor or any professional. You're paying for professional expertise…. Let us feed you. We know how." The interviewer explained: "It hurts her … to see someone scrape off the thick layer of exotic mushrooms in veal glace sauce from her meatloaf and then pour ketchup all over the meat. She likens it to how a mother feels when she slaves over dinner for her family, only to hear her kids refuse to try it and see her husband reach for the A-1 bottle before even picking up his fork." Clark expressed confusion as to why customers doubt her or any experienced chef's culinary choices, in her case, "that of a chef who works 12 hours a day or more, in a kitchen barely big enough for three people, carefully crafting her menus to balance taste, texture, color, and the height of flavor from seasonal ingredients," according to the Washington Post interviewer.

In 2007, Clark published a memoir entitled Out of the Frying Pan: A Chef's Memoir of Hot Kitchens, Single Motherhood, and the Family Meal, published through Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press. In the book, she explains her divorce from an alcoholic husband and rising against the odds to set up a successful restaurant in a run-down area of Washington, DC, while also raising her two daughters.

Ann Burns, writing in Library Journal, described the book as an "inspiring culinary memoir, complete with recipes." Burns commented that Out of the Frying Pan "is an uplifting resource for aspiring chefs." A contributor to Kirkus Reviews stated that the book is "not your typical chef's memoir, for sure, but more a litany of problems than a satisfying appraisal of either a life or a profession." Booklist contributor Vanessa Bush called the memoir "a refreshing mix of the elevated world of haute cuisine and the down-to-earth perspective" of a successful, career-oriented mother. A contributor to Publishers Weekly commented that "the emphasis on family adds a personal dimension to this memoir about both comfort food and commitment to success."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Clark, Gillian, Out of the Frying Pan: A Chef's Memoir of Hot Kitchens, Single Motherhood, and the Family Meal, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2007.