In 1991, at the age of 31, she opened her restaurant Elka in the Miyako Hotel in San Francisco's Japantown, serving a blend of Asian and French cuisine.[1][2] The restaurant was met with national acclaim.[2][5] The New York Times Magazine described the restaurant's dishes as "light and memorable" with "deep and husky flavors"; it called Gilmore "the enfant terrible of the modern California kitchen" and "an iconoclastic cook."[6] In 1994, she was nominated for the James Beard Foundation's Award for Best California Chef.[7]
In 1995, she opened Liberté, a French-American restaurant, in San Francisco.[1] It closed after a few months.[1] She was later hired by the Omni Berkshire Place Hotel in New York to open and run Kokachin, a seafood restaurant.[1]
In 1998, she returned to San Francisco and opened Oodles, an Asian fusion restaurant; it closed shortly thereafter.[1][2][8] Reviewing Oodles, Mark Bittman of The New York Times wrote that "[d]espite the angular, not-especially-attractive interior, the restaurant is comfortable and inviting, and the brazen nature of the food gives a meal here a true sense of excitement."[9]
Gilmore was recognized as a champion of women chefs.[2][5] She was also credited for her mentorship of fellow lesbian cooks.[10] In 1993, she co-founded the organization Women Chefs & Restaurateurs, along with fellow San Francisco chefs Barbara Tropp and Joyce Goldstein.[1][11]
She died on July 6, 2019, in San Francisco, of cardiac arrest due to a series of ongoing medical issues.[1][2]