‘He will be remembered as the King of Breakfast’: Australian chef Bill Granger, known for ricotta pancakes and more, dead at 54
- Bill Granger, a chef, food writer and restaurant owner, was best known for his sunny personality and for championing Australian-style breakfasts
- He died on Christmas Day, his family said. ‘A wonderful human,’ celebrity chef Jamie Oliver says in tribute, as actors Hugh Jackman and Jason Donovan chime in
Bill Granger, the Australian chef, food writer and restaurant owner who took Aussie-style food to world capitals from London to Seoul, has died. He was 54.
Granger’s family said on social media on December 26 that the chef died in a hospital in London on Christmas Day.
“A dedicated husband and father, Bill died peacefully in hospital with his wife Natalie Elliott and three daughters, Edie, Inès and Bunny, at his bedside in their adopted home of London,” the family statement said. It gave no further details.
Born in 1969 in Melbourne, Australia, Granger was a self-taught cook who launched a chef’s career over three decades after dropping out of art school. He opened his first restaurant in 1993 in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst, where he soon became known for his breakfasts served at a central communal table.
He and his wife then launched their restaurant business globally, opening more than a dozen restaurants and cafes under his name in London, Seoul, and Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka in Japan.
Their relaxed atmosphere and his signature dishes, like avocado on sourdough toast, creamy scrambled eggs and ricotta hotcakes, proved a hit with diners worldwide.