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Pioneering Australian chef Skye Gyngell has died aged 62.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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”. <\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
During the 1980s, Gyngell pioneered the “slow food movement” before becoming a private chef for clients including Nigella Lawson, Madonna and Guy Ritchie.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
Gyngell died just days after her mother, Ann Barr, who was a well-known interior designer.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Born in Sydney, Skye Gyngell was studying at Sydney University when she realised the culinary world was where she wanted to be. <\/b>She moved to Paris at 19, where she trained and worked under acclaimed chefs including at the two Michelin-starred restaurant Dodin-Bouffant.<\/p>\n
Gyngell later moved to London and worked at the French House in Soho with Fergus and Margot Henderson.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Her later ventures included Spring at Somerset House, which was the first single-use plastic-free restaurant in London. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Last year, she found a lump in her neck and was diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer.<\/p>\n
She underwent an operation which included the removal of her salivary glands, causing her to temporarily lose her sense of smell and taste.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n