Great chefs inspire us with their creative recipes and love for food. When featured on television, the best chefs help us gain confidence in our cooking abilities by breaking down seemingly complicated recipes into simple steps. Even chefs who choose to stay behind the scenes can achieve gastronomic greatness, their culinary artistry admired by all who dine in their top-rated restaurants. Today, we’re remembering some of our favorite chefs who have died.
PAUL BOCUSE (1926 – 2018)
French chef PAUL BOCUSE (1926 – 2018) was “modest about his accomplishments in the kitchen but grandiose in his dreams,” according to his Associated Press obituary, crediting his long reign as France’s master chef to good produce fresh from the garden, a superb kitchen staff, and happy diners.
BENOIT VIOLIER (1971 – 2016)
BENOIT VIOLIER (1971 – 2016) had been dubbed the world’s best chef just months before his death. The chef and owner of Restaurant de l’hôtel de Ville in Crissier, Switzerland, named the best restaurant in the world by La Liste in 2015, found inspiration in the wild game he hunted near his home and restaurant.
View Benoit Violier’s obituary
PENG CHANG-KUEI (1918 – 2016)
PENG CHANG-KUEI (1918 – 2016) is the chef credited with creating the famous dish General Tso’s Chicken. The sweet and spicy fried chicken dish was first prepared in Taiwan in 1952 and served to visiting U.S. Navy Admiral Arthur W. Radford. Impressed with the dish, the Admiral asked for its name and Peng quickly made one up. (General Tso was a famous 19th century military leader from Peng’s native Hunan Province in mainland China.)
View Peng Chang-Kuei’s obituary
PAUL PRUDHOMME (1940 – 2015)
Cajun chef PAUL PRUDHOMME (1940 – 2015) popularized spicy Louisiana cuisine and became one of the first American restaurant chefs to achieve worldwide fame.
View Paul Prudhomme’s obituary
WILLIE MAE SEATON (1916 – 2015)
A chef recognized for her classic American food, WILLIE MAE SEATON (1916 – 2015) and her New Orleans restaurant helped put fried chicken on the culinary map.
View Willie Mae Seaton’s obituary
HOMARO CANTU (1976 – 2015)
One of Chicago’s most renowned chefs, HOMARO CANTU (1976 – 2015) artfully blended science and fine dining at his Michelin-starred restaurant Moto.
WALTER SCHEIB (1954 – 2015)
WALTER SCHEIB (1954 – 2015) was White House chef for 11 years under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He died while hiking in the New Mexico mountains near Taos.
KERRY SIMON (1955 – 2015)
Former “Iron Chef” champ KERRY SIMON (1955 – 2015), aka the “rock ‘n’ roll chef,” served up dishes to rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Mötley Crüe.
ROGER VERGE (1930 – 2015)
French chef ROGER VERGE (1930 – 2015) revived interest in Mediterranean cuisine and inspired stars of French gastronomy including Alain Ducasse.
CLARISSA DICKSON WRIGHT (1947 – 2014)
CLARISSA DICKSON WRIGHT (1947 – 2014), left, and Jennifer Paterson pose with their food-stuffed motorbike and sidecar in London in this 1997 photo. The two plumpish women co-hosted “Two Fat Ladies,” a cooking show import from England that is broadcast on cable TV’s Food Network.
View Clarissa Dickson Wright’s obituary
MARCELLA HAZAN (1924 – 2013)
MARCELLA HAZAN (1924 – 2013) poses in the kitchen of her Longboat Key, Florida, home in 2012. Hazan, the Italian-born cookbook author who taught generations of Americans how to create simple, fresh Italian food, died Sept. 30, 2013, at her home. She was 89.
View Marcella Hazan’s obituary
CHARLIE TROTTER (1959 – 2013)
Self-taught chef CHARLIE TROTTER (1959 – 2013) earned 10 James Beard awards and helped shape the world of food. He opened his eponymous restaurant in Chicago in 1987 and had a cooking show on PBS in 1999, “The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter.”
View Charlie Trotter’s obituary
ANTHONY SEDLAK (1983 – 2012)
Canadian celebrity chef ANTHONY SEDLAK (1983 – 2012) hosted “The Main” for Food Network Canada. He also served as a judge on “Family Cook Off.”
View Anthony Sedlak’s obituary
ART GINSBURG (1931 – 2012)
ART GINSBURG (1931 – 2012), aka “MR. FOOD,” is shown during rehearsal in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2010. Ginsburg died Nov. 21, 2012, at his home in Weston, Florida.
INES DECOSTA (1932 – 2011)
INES DECOSTA (1932 – 2011) of Fall River, Massachusetts, was the woman who taught celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse how to cook.
SANTI SANTAMARIA (1957 – 2011)
One of a generation of chefs who brought Spanish cuisine to the attention of international gourmets, SANTI SANTAMARIA (1957 – 2011) prided himself on using natural, seasonal ingredients to make Mediterranean-style dishes.
View Santi Santamaria’s obituary
SHEILA LUKINS (1942 – 2009)
Award-winning chef and cookbook author SHEILA LUKINS (1942 – 2009) helped introduce Americans to French, Eastern, and Southern European cooking. For 23 years she served as a columnist and the food editor for Parade magazine.
DOM DELUISE (1933 – 2009)
Comedian and actor DOM DELUISE (1933 – 2009), who loved to cook and eat almost as much as he enjoyed acting, carved out a formidable second career as a chef of fine cuisine.
CHRISTIAN “HITSCH” ALBIN (1948 – 2009)
CHRISTIAN “HITSCH” ALBIN (1948 – 2009) fed the world’s luminaries for decades as executive chef of The Four Seasons in New York City. He died five days after being diagnosed with cancer.
View Christian Albin’s obituary
ROCKY AOKI (1938 – 2008)
ROCKY AOKI (1938 – 2008) offered customers entertainment and a sense of magic at Benihana Palace, his Japanese steakhouse. At the time of his death, there were more than 100 Benihana restaurants worldwide.
FRIEDMAN PAUL ERHARDT (1943 – 2007)
FRIEDMAN PAUL ERHARDT (1943 – 2007), aka “CHEF TELL,” had a jolly personality, thick German accent, and wit that made him a fixture on television in shows such as “Regis and Kathie Lee.” A source of inspiration for comedy sketches on “Saturday Night Live,” Erhardt was said to be the inspiration for the Swedish chef on “The Muppet Show.”
View Friedman Paul Erhardt’s obituary
JULIA CHILD (1912 – 2004)
Despite becoming the most well-known cook in America with a TV career that spanned decades, JULIA CHILD (1912 – 2004) had her most-iconic moment on screen as a result of a mistake. A potato cake she was trying to flip came to pieces, part of it landing outside the pan. “I didn’t have the courage to do it the way I should have,” she confessed to her audience, pressing the cake back together in the pan. “But you can always pick it up, and if you’re alone in the kitchen, who is going to see?”
PIERRE FRANEY (1921 – 1996)
Legendary chef, writer, and food columnist for The New York Times PIERRE FRANEY (1921 – 1996) is shown in 1985 at a dinner in his honor in New York with French master chefs. Franey, a native of Burgundy, France, died after suffering a stroke after giving a cooking demonstration on board the Queen Elizabeth 2 en route to England.
JAMES BEARD (1903 – 1985)
JAMES BEARD (1903 – 1985) was a pioneer in establishing America’s early gourmet-food identity. He appeared on America’s first cooking show in 1946 – “I Love to Eat,” pre-dating Julia Child’s show by 15 years – ran his own restaurant in Nantucket and by the mid-1950s had established himself as the New York Times-anointed “dean of American cookery.”
