Richard E. Grant and Jamie Oliver have paid tribute to Australian chef Skye Gyngell following her death.
The 62-year-old chef, who received a Michelin star for her restaurant, Petersham Nurseries Café, in London, passed away in the British capital on Saturday 22 November. She had been diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer, last year.
Responding to the news, veteran actor Grant recalled his friendship with Gyngell and revealed her acts of generosity towards his family, particularly when his late wife, Joan Washington, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020. She died the following year.
"Devastated to hear that Chef Supremo Skye Gyngell has died. I met Skye at Petersham Nurseries 21 years ago, became good friends, cooked through all her recipe books each summer in the south of France and in London, and when my wife was diagnosed, she sent us sublime food parcels to lift our spirits," he wrote on Instagram.
"Her final act of generosity was to cater for our daughter @oliviagranted wedding last September. I will continue to cook her unique recipes as long as I am lucky enough to live (heart and heartbroken emojis)."
Gyngell, who pioneered the "slow food movement", went on to helm the London restaurant Spring as well as Marle and Hearth inside the Heckfield Place hotel in Hampshire, England. She was also the food editor for Vogue magazine.
Paying tribute, fellow chef Oliver wrote on his Instagram Stories, "Terrible sad news. She was an amazing woman and incredible cook and kindhearted. She will be very, very, very missed. Thank you for all you did to inspire young cooks."
Meanwhile, culinary expert and TV personality Nigella Lawson told her followers that she was "heartbroken".
"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," she stated.
