Australian chef Bill Granger “died peacefully in hospital” on Christmas Day at age 54.
The renowned self-taught cook from Melbourne passed in London with his wife, Natalie Elliott, and their three daughters, Edie, Inès and Bunny, by his side. The capital was their "adopted home", according to a statement on Instagram.
Tributes have poured in from celebrities including Hugh Jackman and fellow chefs Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson. Lawson said she was "heartbroken".
Granger's family said in their statement of the "dedicated husband and father": "He will be deeply missed by all, with his loss most profoundly felt by his adored family, who are grateful for all the love and support that has been given."
Who was Bill Granger?
The avocado toast pioneer, also hailed the ‘King of Breakfast’, had a career in food, restaurants and food writing spanning three decades.
His family said his legacy will live on over his talent for making "pretentious food into something special filled with sunshine and for spurring the growth of Australian informal and communal eating around the world".
Granger was brought up by a vegetarian mother and his father, a butcher. But his culinary journey really began when he applied for a job as a waiter during his second year of university and became friends with the owner. He cooked for her and she liked the way he did so, inviting him to cook in the kitchen. "And it started from there", Granger said in an interview with Lorraine Elliott.In 1993, Granger dropped out of art school and at 21 opened his first restaurant, bills, in Darlinghurst Sydney - not to be confused with UK namesake Bill's, the restaurant group founded by Bill Coulson. Granger's is where his avocado toast appeared on the menu before it took off as a global favourite.
A partnership with his wife in 1999 (who he also said in the interview was a vegetarian before they met) saw an escalation of the business and a global launch. Today, there are 19 restaurants located across Sydney, London, Greater Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Seoul.
London locations for Granger & Co began with Notting Hill in 2011 (which he summarised in three words as home, fun and sunny).
In 2021 he told the Standard: "We were living by the beach in Sydney, which is a real car city; we had an estate car and felt like we’d become a bit suburban so we decided to change our lives and moved to Notting Hill for a year, back in 2009 – we kind of accidentally emigrated."
Further London branches opened in Chelsea, Clerkenwell, Kings Cross and Marylebone. But Granger's love for food went beyond the restaurant business. He also authored 14 cookbooks, created five TV series and appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia.
His first book published in 2000, Sydney Food, enjoyed widespread acclaim. Others included Australian Food and one called Easy which depicted his championing of a relaxed approach to good food.
In 2023, he was honoured the Medal of the Order of Australia - an award individuals are appointed for their service to a particular field. On social media he wrote: "It's such an honour … Hospitality is not always the easiest business, but I can't think of many other jobs where the job is just to bring a bit of happiness and sunshine into other people's lives, and for that, and of course the award, I am hugely grateful."
Granger is survived by his wife and three daughters, one of whom has already been recognised as a torchbearer of her father's culinary passions with an Instagram account dedicated to cooking and where she shares recipes.
