The culinary world is mourning the loss of Skye Gyngell, the groundbreaking Australian-born chef who transformed Britain's dining landscape with her artist's eye and unwavering commitment to seasonal ingredients. She has died at age 62.
A Singular Visionary in the Kitchen
Gyngell possessed what few chefs achieve: both the palate of a master chef and the colour palette of an artist. These dual talents manifested in food that was visually stunning, delicately detailed, and perfectly attuned to nature's rhythms. Her perspective fundamentally shaped the tastes and thinking of a generation of cooks, establishing her as one of the most significant chefs of her era without ever seeking the spotlight.
Her professional journey began in earnest when she took her first head chef position at Petersham Nurseries in 2004, cooking from a modest garden shed that belied the sophistication of her creations. Despite dirt floors underfoot, she produced food of breathtaking beauty that appeared simple yet revealed astonishing complexity upon tasting.
Redefining British Restaurant Culture
In 2011, her extraordinary cooking earned Petersham Nurseries a Michelin star, yet she left the establishment the following year. Her decision to step away from the Michelin system now appears remarkably prescient, just as her early dedication to sourcing ingredients directly from their origin anticipated the farm-to-table movement's dominance.
Gyngell's career was marked by reinventions that consistently strengthened her unique voice. She served as culinary director of Heckfield Place, where she collaborated with farmer Jane Scotter to develop an extraordinary hotel farm featuring rare produce varieties, a working dairy, and intentional flower cultivation.
In 2014, she opened Spring at Somerset House, choosing the name for her favourite season while embracing all four throughout her cooking. The restaurant made history in 2019 by becoming the UK's first plastic-free restaurant. She further innovated with her joyful Scratch menu, creating beautiful prix-fixe dishes from ingredients that would otherwise go to waste.
An Enduring Legacy Beyond the Kitchen
Gyngell's influence extended far beyond her own establishments. She drew parallels with culinary pioneers like Alice Waters, Maggie Beer, and Darina Allen - all feminists who believed in food's transformative power when rooted in nature. She earned respect from diverse peers including René Redzepi and Nigella Lawson.
To those who knew her, Gyngell was impossibly cool, searingly honest, and unintentionally hilarious. Younger chefs and creatives coveted seats beside her at dinner tables, eager to absorb her taste in fashion, literature, and art. Her observations about the food world consistently cut through industry nonsense with sharp intelligence.
Her legacy lives on through her daughters, Holly and Evie, who embody her beauty, curiosity, and quiet strength, and her grandchild Cyprien, who brought her recent joy. More broadly, her impact resonates in restaurants worldwide, evidenced by dishes like the "Skye salad" served at New York establishments run by young chefs who never worked with her but cook in the language she helped write.
Skye Gyngell created a vocabulary of beauty, purity, and integrity in her food that travelled far beyond Britain. While her Australian roots informed her instinctive approach and vibrant sense of colour, what she created truly belongs to the world.
