Chefs

A Look at Notable & Celebrity Deaths from January 2025 Week 3

Here are the most recent deaths in the national news, as reviewed and fact-checked by the Legacy.com news team in the third week of January 2025.

Naomi Pomeroy (1974–2024), Top Chef Masters star

Naomi Pomeroy was a Portland, Oregon chef who founded the restaurant Beast and competed on cooking shows like “Iron Chef” and “Top Chef Masters.” 

Jasper White (1954–2024), James Beard Award-winning Boston chef

Jasper White was a chef who helped put New England cuisine on the map as the owner of Jasper’s and Jasper White’s Summer Shack.

Max Hardy (1983–2024), Detroit chef known for community advocacy

Max Hardy was a Detroit chef and author who was profiled in The New York Times and was best known for his community advocacy and philanthropic work.

David Bouley (1953–2024), top New York City chef 

David Bouley was an influential four-star chef in New York City known for his many TV appearances and the Tribeca restaurant that bore his name.

Lynn Yamada Davis (1956–2024), TikTok chef known as Lynja

Lynn Yamada Davis was known for her viral cooking videos on her TikTok channel, Cooking with Lynja.

Thierry Rautureau (2023), “The Chef in the Hat” 

Thierry Rautureau was a celebrity chef known for his Seattle restaurants and his appearances on “Top Chef Masters” and other TV shows.

Michael Chiarello (1962–2023), American celebrity chef 

Michael Chiarello was an acclaimed chef in California’s Napa Valley who authored numerous cookbooks, produced popular olive oils, and starred on the Food Network’s “Easy Entertaining” among many other TV appearances.

Walter Royal (1957–2023), Iron Chef America winner  

Walter Royal was a North Carolina chef who won “Iron Chef America” in 2006 with his dishes made from ostrich.

Emily Meggett (1932–2023), renowned Gullah Geechee chef 

Emily Meggett was a chef who brought Gullah Geechee cuisine to a wide audience with her cookbook, “Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes from the Matriarch of Edisto Island.” 

Raghavan Iyer (1961–2023), chef who brought Indian cooking to the U.S.

Raghavan Iyer was a chef who helped popularize cooking the cuisines of his native India in the U.S.

Ali Ahmed Aslam (1945–2022), Chicken Tikka Masala inventor

Ali Ahmed Aslam was a restaurant owner in Glasgow, Scotland who was credited with inventing the popular Indian dish Chicken Tikka Masala.

Roland Mesnier (1944–2022), longtime White House pastry chef

Roland Mesnier was the White House pastry chef for 25 years, serving five presidents.

Howie Kleinberg (1975–2022), Miami restaurateur and “Top Chef” contestant

Howie Kleinberg was a Miami restaurateur who owned Bulldog Barbecue and competed on season three of “Top Chef.”

Diana Kennedy (1923–2022), chef who helped popularize Mexican cuisine

Diana Kennedy was an influential chef who was known as the “Julia Child of Mexican Cuisine” for promoting and popularizing its traditional recipes.

Sally Schmitt (1932–2022), chef who co-founded Napa Valley’s French Laundry

Sally Schmitt was a chef who co-founded the Napa Valley restaurant French Laundry and pioneered California cuisine.

Mark Peel (1954–2021), Campanile chef who was a judge on “Top Chef”

Mark Peel was a celebrity chef who founded the Los Angeles restaurant Campanile and appeared on TV shows including “Top Chef” and “Hells’ Kitchen.”

Martha Lou Gadsden (1930–2021), Lowcountry soul food icon

Martha Lou Gadsden was the owner of the iconic Charleston, South Carolina soul food restaurant Martha Lou’s Kitchen.

Aaron Grissom (2020), “Top Chef” contestant

Aaron Grissomwas achef who appeared on c3a2c280c29cTop Chef: Bostonc3a2c280c29d in 2014 and in an episode of the Food Network show c3a2c280c29cDiners, Drive-Ins and Dives.c3a2c280c29d

Floyd Cardoz (2020), “Top Chef Masters” winner

FloydCardoz was a star on televisions Top Chef Masters andthechef atthe trendy Manhattan restaurantTabla.He won season 3 of the Top Chef Masters realitycooking challenge show. Cardoza was born in Mumbai and was known for his elevated Indian dishes that wowedNew York Citydiners atTablaand BombayBread Bar.

B. Smith (1949–2020), restaurateur and lifestyle guru

B. Smith was the owner of the popular Manhattan restaurant B. Smith, whose eye for style made her a well-known designer and lifestyle guru. Born Barbara Elaine Smith, she was also a model who was one of the first black women to appear on the cover of Mademoiselle magazine, in 1976. Called the black Martha Stewart, she starred in the syndicated TV show “B. Smith with Style,” and she wrote cookbooks including “B. Smith’s Entertaining and Cooking for Friends.” As a décor designer, Smith created collections sold at Bed Bath & Beyond and La-Z-Boy.

Famous Chefs

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.

Carl Ruiz (1975–2019), celebrity chef known for Food Network appearances

Carl Ruiz was a celebrity chef and restaurateur who became well known for appearances on Food Network shows including “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and “Guy’s Grocery Games.”

Maida Heatter (1916–2019), "Queen of Cake" and cookbook author

Maida Heatter was the "Queen of Cake," a pastry chef and cookbook author known for her decadently sweet creations.

Leah Chase (1923–2019), New Orleans chef perfected Creole cuisine

Leah Chase was the "Queen of Creole Cuisine," the owner of the legendary Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans who fed presidents and made space for civil rights leaders to meet and plan the movement. She and her husband, jazz trumpeter Edgar "Dooky" Chase, took over his parents’ sandwich and lottery shop in the Treme neighborhood, and she used her background of working in French Quarter restaurants to build it up into a fine dining establishment for the black community in the days when New Orleans was still segregated. Dooky Chase was a popular gathering place whose prominent customers included the , James Baldwin, and , and wrote it into his song "Early Morning Blues." Credited with perfecting Creole cuisine, Chase was honored with the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, and Food & Wine magazine named Dooky Chase one of their 40 most important restaurants of the past 40 years. Chase was also an avid art collector with a notable collection of art by African-American artists, and her own portrait by Gustave Blache III hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.

Fatima Ali (1989–2019), star of Bravo's “Top Chef”

Fatima Ali was a star of Bravo's “Top Chef,” voted fan favorite in the 2017 season. Before her “Top Chef” fame, Ali had the distinction of becoming the first Pakistani woman to win on “Chopped,” in 2012. A native of Lahore, Pakistan, Ali moved to the U.S. at 18 to attend culinary school. She excelled as a chef in New York restaurants as well as on television.

R.I.P. Kurt Michael Friese: How Apple Pancakes Became a Recipe for Sweet Memories

In Legacy's "Recipe Vault" series, chefs and food lovers share how meals connect us to those we've lost.

How Anthony Bourdain Taught Me When to Stop Being Snarky

I am writing about Anthony Bourdain while on the road in Maine, nestled near an oceanside cove of beach, plucking words out of a vineyard of sorrow while staving off the shakes from a lack of television. This is one of two acceptable conditions under which one may write about Anthony Bourdain, the other being next to a plate of food; nothing pretentious, something comfortable and with a bit of the finger lick, a salty thing if it can be managed.

Paul Giganti (1980 - 2017), chef who competed on Hell's Kitchen

Chef reached top 5 on latest "Hell's Kitchen" reality TV series...

Peng Chang-kuei (1918–2016), General Tso’s Chicken creator

Peng Chang-kuei, the Chinese chef credited with creating General Tso’s Chicken, has died in Taiwan, according to multiple news sources. He was 98.

The Zen of Food in Hospice

Food can nourish and nurture, even at the end of life.

Yeh-Yeh's Red Roast Pork Shoulder

In Legacy.com's series, celebrity chefs and food bloggers share how recipes preserve our life stories and connect us to those we've lost.

Benoit Violier (1971 - 2016), acclaimed chef

Chef Benoí®t Violier, whose acclaimed Le Restaurant de l'Hotel de Ville in Lausanne, Switzerland, was ranked recently atop a list of the world's best high-end dining establishments, was found dead at his home Sunday of a likely self-inflicted gunshot wound, police reported. Violier was 44. The restaurant in western Switzerland, which Violier operated with his wife, Brigitte, was the recipient of three Michelin stars, a mark of top quality in haute cuisine. Violier took over the restaurant in 2012 after having worked under its previous owner, Philippe Rochat, for 15 years. Rochat became a mentor and father figure to Violier over the years before passing the torch.

Paul Prudhomme (1940 - 2015), New Orleans celebrity chef

Famed chef Paul Prudhomme died Thursday morning at the age of 75, according to the New Orleans restaurant he owned, K-Paul's, CNN reported.

"One of Life's Great Pleasures"

Lebanese-American cookbook author Maureen Abood on the importance of food and the hunger for connection.

Hearty Short Rib Stew: A Food Network Star's Family Recipe

Duff Goldman, the pastry chef behind Food Network’s ‘Ace of Cakes,’ shares a recipe that figures deeply into his family history.

Cheryl Sternman Rule Shares a Recipe Close to Her Heart

As part of Legacy.com's ongoing Recipe Vault series, food bloggers and network stars share how recipes connect us to those we’ve lost.

James Beard, the Original Foodie

Taking your time has never been trendier – at least when it comes to food. While diners may not wish to wait hours for dinner to arrive, they revel in the thought of "slow food" – each ingredient sourced with care and fashioned into delectable courses worthy of buzzwords such as "artisanal" and "farm-to-table." But long before this mentality took hold, James Beard was extolling the virtues of "slow" cooking.

Two Tasty Legacies

Food is becoming a frequently mentioned hobby or passion in today’s obituaries.

James Beard, American Gourmand

James Beard, born this day in 1903, was a pioneer in establishing America's early gourmet food identity. Here's a look at the life of the chef and food writer and his influence on the country's culinary tastes.

Throwdown with Butch Lupinetti

The popular BBQ chef will be remembered for the time he battled Bobby Flay and won.