Pioneering Australian chef Skye Gyngell has died aged 62.
Gyngell rose to fame in the UK after her cafe at Petersham Nurseries in south-west London was awarded a coveted Michelin star, one of the highest culinary honours. She went on to helm Spring restaurant at Somerset House and Marle and Hearth at Heckfield Place in Hampshire.
Gyngell’s family said she died on Saturday in London, describing her as a “culinary visionary who influenced generations of chefs and growers globally to think about food and its connection to the land”.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver paid tribute to Gyngell – who was diagnosed with skin cancer last year – and thanked her for “all you did to inspire young cooks”.
During the 1980s, Gyngell pioneered the “slow food movement” before becoming a private chef for clients including Nigella Lawson, Madonna and Guy Ritchie.
Lawson mourned her death, writing on Instagram, “However ill you know someone to be, their death is always a shock. It’s just awful that Skye is no longer in the world.”
Gyngell died just days after her mother, Ann Barr, who was a well-known interior designer.
Her father, Bruce Gyngell, was the first person to appear on Australian television in 1956 with the line: “Good evening, and welcome to television”. He died in 2000.
Born in Sydney, Skye Gyngell was studying at Sydney University when she realised the culinary world was where she wanted to be. She moved to Paris at 19, where she trained and worked under acclaimed chefs including at the two Michelin-starred restaurant Dodin-Bouffant.
Gyngell later moved to London and worked at the French House in Soho with Fergus and Margot Henderson.
In 2004, Gyngell became head chef at Petersham Nurseries cafe in Richmond, where she turned the dilapidated site into a thriving cafe, and in 2011, it was awarded a Michelin star.
But the kudos was a double-edged sword for Gyngell, who left the cafe a year after the award, saying she was frustrated by customers who expected a traditional Michelin experience at her rustic cafe.
Her later ventures included Spring at Somerset House, which was the first single-use plastic-free restaurant in London.
Gyngell, who overcame drug and alcohol addiction in her younger years, was also known for her award-winning cookbooks and wrote columns for Vogue as its food editor.
Last year, she found a lump in her neck and was diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer.
She underwent an operation which included the removal of her salivary glands, causing her to temporarily lose her sense of smell and taste.
