Charles Phan (1962–2025), influential Vietnamese chef 

Charles Phan was a Vietnamese chef whose restaurant, The Slanted Door, and cookbooks helped spark a nationwide appreciation of his country's cuisine.

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.

Dorothy Zehnder (1921–2023), matriarch of Michigan’s Bavarian Inn 

Dorothy Zehnder was a legend of the popular Bavarian Inn in the tourist town of Frankenmuth, Michigan, where she worked for more than 80 years.

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.

Gael Greene (1933–2022), restaurant critic and “Top Chef Masters” judge

Gael Greene was an influential food writer as the longtime restaurant critic for New York magazine.

Sylvia Wu (1915–2022), restaurateur to Hollywood stars

Sylvia Wu was the owner of the legendary restaurant Madame Wu’s Garden in Santa Monica, California, a popular destination for Hollywood stars.

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

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

Janice Bluestein Longone (1933–2022), America's foremost cookbook expert

Janice Bluestein Longone was an antiquarian bookseller whose collection of tens of thousands of American cookbooks provided an archive of the nation’s culinary history.

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.

Sylvia Weinstock (1930–2021), “Queen of Cakes” baker and decorator

Sylvia Weinstock was a cake baker and decorator known as the “Queen of Cakes.”

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.

David Mintz (1931–2021), inventor of Tofutti vegan ice cream

David Mintz was the inventor of Tofutti, the first commercially successful vegan ice cream.

Ben Watkins (2020), “MasterChef Junior” star

Ben Watkins was a young chef who starred on “MasterChef Junior” in 2018, when he was 11 years old.

Luis Troyano (2020), “Great British Baking Show” finalist

Luis Troyano was a runner-up on season five of the popular reality series “The Great British Baking Show.”

Cecilia Chiang (1920–2020), restaurateur who brought authentic Chinese cuisine to the U.S.

Cecilia Chiang was a restaurateur whose San Francisco restaurant, the Mandarin, introduced a more authentic style of Chinese food to U.S. diners.

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

Carol Brock (1923–2020), food writer who founded Les Dames d’ Escoffier

Carol Brock was a food writer who founded Les Dames d’ Escoffier, a professional organization for women in the culinary world.

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.

Joe Coulombe (1930–2020), founder of Trader Joe’s

Joe Coulombe was the founder of Trader Joe’s, the budget-conscious grocery store chain that focuses on unusual prepared foods, gourmet goods, and produce. Coulombe later worked with retail brands including Thrifty Corp. and Petrini’s.

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.

Frieda Caplan (1923–2020), pioneering produce marketer who named the kiwifruit

Frieda Caplan  was the “Kiwi Queen,” the founder and owner of Frieda’s Inc., the specialty produce company that introduced exotic fruits and vegetables including the kiwifruit, sugar snap peas, and mango to the U.S. Other unusual produce introduced or popularized by Caplan: alfalfa sprouts, habanero peppers, blood oranges, starfruit, turmeric, and hundreds more. Caplan was the first woman in the U.S. to own and operate a produce company. She wasn’t intimidated by the gender imbalance she experienced in her early days in the business: When she won an industry award for “Produce Man of the Year,” she refused to accept it until it was renamed “Produce Marketer of the Year.”

Harry Morton (1981–2019), Pink Taco founder

Harry Morton  was the founder of the Pink Taco restaurant chain and former co-owner of the Viper Room in Hollywood. He was the son of Peter Morton, the co-founder of the Hard Rock Café chain, and the grandson of Arnie Morton, who founded Morton’s, The Steakhouse. Morton was the former boyfriend of actress Lindsay Lohan and had been romantically linked to other celebrities including Demi Moore and Paris Hilton.  

Narayana “Grandpa Kitchen” Reddy (2019), YouTube star cooked for orphans

Narayana Reddy was a YouTube star known as Grandpa Kitchen, whose viral videos showed him cooking massive meals for orphans in his community near Hyderabad, India.

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.

Dorcas Reilly (1926–2018), creator of the green bean casserole

Dorcas Reilly first created the iconic green bean casserole in 1955 while working as a staff member in the kitchen at the Campbell Soup Company. Cream of Mushroom soup was a popular base for casseroles around the country, but Reilly was the first to add frozen green beans. Campbell Soup estimates that around 40 percent of their sales of cream of mushroom soup goes towards making green bean casserole.

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.

Chef Addie Gundry: From Farm to Food Network Star

Here's what she cooks to honor her grandparents' Minnesota roots.

Food, Memories, and Loss

Eating is the ultimate social activity; we build relationships around the irreplaceable pleasure of sharing food with others.

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.

Raise a Glass to the Lemmy

When , founder and frontman of Motorhead, died in December, the rock world lost one of its most colorful characters. And Jack Daniel's whiskey lost one of its most devoted fans.

"One of Life's Great Pleasures"

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

My Italian Grandmother’s Lentil Soup

Author Jodi Moreno remembers a hearty, comforting lentil stew.

Bubba's Thumb Print Cookies

Dan Pashman, creator and host of the James Beard Award-nominated WNYC podcast The Sporkful , grew up baking Thumb Print Cookies with his mother in the family's New Jersey kitchen.

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.

Mamo's Mushroom Barley Soup With Short Ribs

Duff Goldman shares his Grandma's recipe for Mushroom Barley Soup with Short Ribs.

Two Tasty Legacies

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

Homemade Ice Cream Makers

During National Ice Cream Month, we remember folks known for their homemade ice cream.

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.