Keith Floyd, one of the world’s original celebrity chefs, died of a heart attack in Dorset, England, on Monday. He had been suffering from bowel cancer.
The 65-year-old’s last venture was an upscale seafood restaurant on the vacation island of Phuket, Thailand, called Floyd’s at Burasari. The restaurant was included in The Tatler’s “Best Restaurants of Thailand 2008,” and was widely regarded as one of Thailand’s finest seafood establishements.
“Floyd was passionate and full of love,” said Lily Udomkunnatum, managing director of Floyd’s Brasserie and the Burasari Resort, in a posting on the restaurant’s Web site. “His heart was always with the customers and the staff. Not a day went by where he did not put on his best dinner jacket and bow-tie, and greet every single guest that came into the brasserie. He was always the last one to leave.”
Floyd brought an entirely new approach to the world of TV cooking programs with a slightly haphazard but ultimately warm ambience, which enthralled millions of viewers worldwide. He succeeded in combining humour, cooking and travel in one package.
Seafood was something of a speciality for Floyd, who spent years exploring new ways of cooking it. “Floyd on Fish,” which aired on the BBC, was one of the most successful cooking shows of the 1980s. Janice
“Keith was not just one of the best, he was the best television chef,” said Jamie Oliver, one of today’s most popular celebrity chefs, in a statement. He was “an incredible man who lived life to the full, and an inspiration to me and to so many others.”
According the BBC, his last meal was one of oysters, partridge and champagne.
