First ‘rock star’ of British cuisine
Gary Rhodes, OBE Restaurateur and TV chef BORN APRIL 22, 1960 – DIED NOVEMBER 26, 2019, AGED 59
GARY Rhodes is credited with modernising British cuisine and his skill in the kitchen earned him a series of Michelin stars.
His spiky hair gave him a boyish look and he was known as the first rock star of cooking. But his single-minded dedication to achieve cooking perfection ensured a meteoric rise.
When his father Gordon left the family home in Gillingham, Kent, Gary was just six but quickly realised he would have to help out with the domestic chores to make life easier for his mother Jean, a secretary, and provide hearty meals for his younger siblings.
After school in Kent, he took a catering course at Thanet Technical College, where he met Jennie Adkins.They married in 1989.
Rhodes’ first job in the industry was as a commis chef at the Amsterdam Hilton, but it proved short-lived after he was hit by a van, which left him with a blood clot on the brain. But he survived.
His later TV work included appearances on Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef. His series Rhodes Around Britain was aired in 1994, followed by More Rhodes Around Britain and Open Rhodes.
The chef wrote 20 books on cooking and was awarded an OBE. He also took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2008.
Rhodes died suddenly in hospital after collapsing and suffering a bleed on the brain at his home in Dubai, where he ran two leading restaurants.
Tributes poured in from celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver, who said: “Gary was a fantastic chef and incredible ambassador for
British cooking, he was a massive inspiration to me as a young chef. He re-imagined modern British cuisine with elegance and fun.”
Gordon Ramsay wrote on Twitter: “He was a chef who put British cuisine on the map.”
Rhodes is survived by his wife and two sons, Samuel and George.