Tributes have been paid to the pioneering chef and restaurant proprietor Skye Gyngell, who has died aged 62.
The Australian was an early celebrity proponent of using local and seasonal ingredients and built a garden restaurant from scratch, the Petersham Nurseries Cafe in Richmond, south-west London, which went on to win a Michelin star.
A statement released by her family and friends read: “We are deeply saddened to share news of Skye Gyngell’s passing on 22 November in London, surrounded by her family and loved ones.
“Skye was a culinary visionary who influenced generations of chefs and growers globally to think about food and its connection to the land.
“She leaves behind a remarkable legacy and is an inspiration to us all. The family requests privacy at this time.”
Jeremy Lee, chef at London restaurant Quo Vadis, praised the chef for her “extraordinary life and career … how this lovely lass lit up the world”.
The celebrity chef Jamie Oliver wrote: “Terrible sad news. She was an amazing woman and incredible cook and kindhearted. She will be very, very, very missed. Thank you for all you did to inspire young cooks.”
Gyngell was born in Sydney on 6 September 1963. Her father was the broadcaster Bruce Gyngell, who in 1956 was the first person to appear on Australian television and in the 1980s succeeded Greg Dyke as managing director of the breakfast television franchise TV-am. Her mother, Ann Barr, was a well-known interior designer.
While studying law at Sydney University, she took a job washing up at a delicatessen before moving to Paris to train under Anne Willan at the École de Cuisine La Varenne and then worked at the two Michelin-starred restaurant Dodin-Bouffant.
The chef moved to London, where she worked at the Dorchester under Anton Mosimann before working at the French House in Soho under Fergus and Margot Henderson.
She pioneered the “slow food movement”, a grassroots initiative founded in Italy in the 1980s to preserve traditional cooking and promote a “good, clean and fair” approach to eating.
Gyngell transitioned to teaching and private catering to clientele that included Nigella Lawson, Charles Saatchi, Madonna and Guy Ritchie, and was later appointed food editor of Vogue.
In 2004, she returned to the restaurant industry after visiting Petersham House, Lord Burlington’s 18th-century villa, and opened Petersham Nurseries Cafe.
She also opened Spring at Somerset House in London and ran restaurants Marle and Hearth at Heckfield Place in Hampshire.
Marle was awarded a green Michelin star in 2022 and has retained it every year since.
Last year, the chef and food author was diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer.
The treatment blunted, for a time, her treasured sense of smell and taste. “Savoury foods tasted really salty,” she said. “Anything with chilli was like the spiciest curry in the world.
“One teaspoon of sugar in my tea was more like 20 spoonfuls, and I couldn’t taste the tea.”
In 1989, she married Thomas Gore; they divorced in 1996, and she is survived by their daughter, Holly, and by Evie, her daughter from a relationship with James Henderson.
Dining and Cooking