In recent years, a number of culinary luminaries have passed away without their deaths being
widely recorded. Here are some food celebrities you might not realize were dead, but whose
work you likely appreciated while they lived, whether by watching them on TV, reading their
critical writing, or tasting foods influenced by their touch.
Narayana Reddy was better known to the world, and in particular to his native India, as
Grandpa Kitchen. In just two short years, his YouTube channel brought the septuagenarian
chef a degree of fame and accolades not only because the massive meals he cooked outdoors
over open flames looked delicious, but because the food Grandpa Kitchen prepared was served
almost exclusively to orphaned children and others in need. He used almost all the proceeds
his YouTube videos created to donate funds to charities as well.
Reddy had a warm and loving demeanor and started off each of his videos:
"Hello guys, how are you? Welcome to our channel. This is your grandpa!"
And while the volume of food he prepared made replicating the recipes exactly all but impossible
for most chefs, his videos were a joy to watch simply for their own merit.
"Grandpa" Reddy died in the fall of 2019, but younger members of his family have continued
this kind man's work, and the introduction to every video still features Grandpa Reddy
greeting viewers before the younger generation takes over. They continue to cook and feed
the hungry in India and have a YouTube channel currently boasting more than 8.3 million subscribers.
Known as much for his spiked-up mane of hair as his successful restaurants, TV show hosting
roles and appearances, and his competitive cooking on programs like Hell's Kitchen and
Master Chef, the death of Gary Rhodes in late November of 2019 was an absolute shock to
the culinary world.
The apparently healthy 59-year-old chef died within hours after collapsing suddenly at
his home — the cause was later revealed to be an internal brain bleed known as a subdural
hematoma. Rhodes had shown no signs of health issues leading up to the sudden collapse.
His passing brought mournful remembrances from luminaries in the food world including
Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey, among many others.
Rhodes had a long and storied career. He ran a Michelin star restaurant at age 26 before
going on to open successful restaurants in both London and Dubai. He had his own line
of bread mixes and cooking tools. On top of all of that, Rhodes was knighted in 2006.
Floyd Cardoz is so far the highest profile food celebrity whose death is attributed to
complications associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus. Cardoz died in a New Jersey hospital
in March of 2020 not long after returning from his native India.
Cardoz was a pioneering chef who was largely responsible for opening the American palate
up to Indian cuisine, now one of the most popular ethnic cuisines in the country. He
polished his craft with studies at the renowned Swiss culinary school Les Roches before coming
to the United States, where he would run several successful restaurants in New York City and
go on to open two new restaurants himself. He also opened several restaurants in Mumbai,
authored two cookbooks, and appeared on myriad popular cooking shows, including Top Chef
Masters. Cardoz was also celebrated for the charitable work to which he devoted much of
his time and energy.
One of the last posts on Cardoz's Instagram account is a tribute to Chef Gray Kunz, who
had passed away not long before — sadly, the last post on the account would come just
days later on March 11, shortly before Cardoz fell seriously ill.
Jonathan Gold was to the Los Angeles Food scene what Vin Scully was to Los Angeles sports.
Gold primarily wrote for the Los Angeles Times, where he covered the ever developing LA restaurant
scene, a scene many in the food world felt had come to rival that of New York, London,
or Paris in recent years.
Gold won a Pulitzer Prize for his food writing with LA Weekly in 2007 (and came close again
in 2011) and was considered one of the finest critics working when he died at age 57 after
a short fight with a virulent case of pancreatic cancer.
In his later years, Gold cut a distinctive figure, with long hair ringing a balding crown
and a thick mustache. He was also known for his easy smile and affable demeanor. The celebrated
food writer started his journalistic career writing about music, including the then nascent
rap scene. No surprise then that much of his food writing focused on street food, mom and
pop restaurants, and emerging trends, a break from most food criticism at the time that
focused more on high-end dining.
Aaron Grissom had so much potential left to give when he died following a motorcycle accident
at just 34 years old. The young chef had hit a troubled spell after a domestic violence
arrest in 2014, but he was on an ascendant path again, having left Los Angeles for Tacoma
where he found work at a local restaurant and began carving out a name as a chef for
the stars. Grissom cooked for myriad A-list celebrities when they visited his home state,
Washington, and looked poised to carve out a meaningful career in that capacity.
Before the stint cooking in LA, he had appeared on TV programs like Top Chef and Diners, Drive-Ins,
and Dives. His competitive and often prickly attitude did not always win Grissom the warmth
of viewers or of his fellow competitors, but he was clearly a talented chef and had a knack
for celebrity. Grissom was wearing a helmet when he lost control of his bike -- the crash
was not the result of recklessness or intoxication.
Adrian Anthony Gill, better known as AA Gill, his usual pen name, died as he lived: both
irreverently and with class.
"Oh my god, just happens to be here. A book. Written by me."
His acerbic criticism was seen as overly harsh and crass by some readers, as hilarious and
informative by many more. He published multiple books, many of which were travelogues anchored
by food-related content, a few of which were novels that were largely panned by literary
critics, and he wrote for major publications like Britain's Sunday Times. An alcoholic
in early life (he chose the "AA" sobriquet in homage to the Alcoholics Anonymous program
that helped him overcome his drinking), he also wrote openly about his struggles with
addiction and overcoming it. His clear-eyed and honest discussion of his troubles endeared
him to many readers.
Gill announced that he was suffering from an embarrassment of, quote, "the Full English"
of metastasized cancer in late November of 2016 and died within a few short weeks.
Cristie Schoen Codd's death at age 38 was absolutely devastating to her family and friends
and to many fans who had watched the chef's ascendance. The devastation was three-part,
as Codd was killed along with her husband and their unborn child. The suspected killer
was a man named Robert Owens, who had done work at the Codd's home. A fiery competitor
on the Food Network series Food Network Star, Codd was primarily interested in Cajun cooking
and was frequently hired to be the caterer and chef for major Hollywood movie productions,
including the films Ender's Game, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Terminator Genisys.
Her passing drew a sorrowful tweet from the latter film's star, former California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said Cristie, quote, "brought us together at meals like a family."
She and her husband had met through the film industry in which Joseph Codd had worked as
a key grip.
Josh Ozersky left an oversized mark on the food world for a man who died at age 47. He
wrote for Time and Esquire. He created New York Magazine's influential column Grub Street.
He penned successful books like restaurant guide Meat Me in Manhattan and the social
history book The Hamburger: A History. Ozersky's work served to elevate the "common" food,
such as the burger, as well as to make seemingly highfalutin foods more accessible to all eaters.
He was the founder of Meatopia, an event that began as a one-off party in New York, grew
into a ticketed event two years later, and soon grew into annual festivals held in multiple
cities around the world.
His death in 2015 was a shock and was caused by a freak accident: after suffering a seizure
while in a hotel shower, Ozersky collapsed to the ground and subsequently drowned while
unconscious. He was visiting Chicago on the occasion of the annual Beard Awards at the
time of his untimely death.
To call Homaro Cantu a "chef" would be like calling Leonardo da Vinci a painter. Cantu
was indeed a chef, but also an inventor, designer, scientist, businessman, and philanthropist.
"Do you see yourself as part of a genre or a school or a group?"
"I like to think of it as culinary terrorism."
But it was his blend of scientific and artful work with food that made the young man famous
and wealthy.
His restaurant Moto had earned a Michelin star when Cantu was little past 35 years old.
He was a true pioneer and innovator of molecular gastronomy, creating things like carbonated
fruit, edible menus and utensils, and edible smouldering "cigars" that were in fact pork
shoulder wrapped in collard greens. The holder of myriad patents, Cantu seemed to have no
end to ideas about not only what foods to work with but also how to cook them. He was
always eco-conscious and looking out for the disadvantaged as well, as he did when designing
an oven that cooked using minimal power such that it might be usable by people in areas
without reliable access to electricity.
Cantu reportedly slept no more than four hours per night and was constantly reading or tinkering
in the kitchen or garage when not working. His death by hanging in 2015 came as a shock
to his family, friends, and those in the culinary world.
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