Bill Granger, the Australian chef, food writer and restaurant owner who took Aussie-style food to world capitals from London to Seoul, has died. He was 54.
Granger’s family said on social media on December 26 that the chef died in a hospital in London on Christmas Day.
“A dedicated husband and father, Bill died peacefully in hospital with his wife Natalie Elliott and three daughters, Edie, Inès and Bunny, at his bedside in their adopted home of London,” the family statement said. It gave no further details.
Born in 1969 in Melbourne, Australia, Granger was a self-taught cook who launched a chef’s career over three decades after dropping out of art school. He opened his first restaurant in 1993 in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst, where he soon became known for his breakfasts served at a central communal table.
He and his wife then launched their restaurant business globally, opening more than a dozen restaurants and cafes under his name in London, Seoul, and Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka in Japan.
Their relaxed atmosphere and his signature dishes, like avocado on sourdough toast, creamy scrambled eggs and ricotta hotcakes, proved a hit with diners worldwide.
“He will be remembered as the ‘King of Breakfast,’ for making unpretentious food into something special filled with sunshine and for spurring the growth of Australian informal and communal eating around the world,” his family wrote.
Granger wrote 14 cookbooks, his family said, and was known for presenting on various cookery shows. He also appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia. Earlier this year, he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to tourism and hospitality.
Tributes paid to MasterChef Australia presenter Jock Zonfrillo, dead at 46
Tributes paid to MasterChef Australia presenter Jock Zonfrillo, dead at 46
Pat Nourse, the creative director of Melbourne’s Food and Wine Festival, also paid his tribute to Granger.
“I didn’t know Bill well, but he was always generous and kind to me whenever we met, and his first book, Sydney Food, has moved with me across nine kitchens, a perfect snapshot of a time and a place that I loved,” he wrote.
“My heart goes out to his family and friends. A Melbourne boy who defined a slice of Sydney life and took it to the world.”