Tributes have been pouring in following the death of renowned food critic Richard Vines.
Richard was a writer and broadcaster with more than four decades of experience in the industry. He has sadly passed away, aged 71.
A big chunk of Richard’s career, 25 years, was spent at Bloomberg, most of which as chief food critic.
Prior to his route into journalism, Richard started out as a train announcer at Oxford Station, working for British Rail.
He wrote dance reviews for student newspapers whilst at the London School of Economics, which proved his first tentative steps into the writing industry.
Richard then studied journalism studies at Cardiff University, going on to train as a journalist at the Morning Telegrapher in Sheffield.
Spells as a freelancer for the Daily Mirror in Manchester followed, before joining The Times, on the foreign desk.
Richard spent time living in Beijing and Hong Kong, writing for publications such as The Asian Wall Street Journal and South China Morning Post. During that time he interviewed political leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Lee Kuan Yew.
A return to London came in 1995, when Richard joined Bloomberg. Almost a decade later, in 2004, he found a job within the company as a restaurant critic, becoming chief food critic in 2008, which he maintained before retiring in 2021.
Richard went on to team up with good friend Pierre Koffmann, running a website and restaurant review column together.
Up until last year, Richard continued posting to his website ‘Vines Dines’.
Tributes pour in
Pierre led the tributes online, writing: “RIP Richard Vines. THE REST IS SILENCE.”
Many other chefs also left their messages of condolence via Instagram.
Jason Atherton and wife Irha wrote a touching tribute post, which read: "We are devastated to learn of Richard’s passing.
"Our industry has lost one of the truly good guys today, one of the loveliest people you could ever meet.
"Richard was deeply loyal, incredibly kind, and someone who supported me as a young chef when I was still growing, helping me in so many ways.
"As a true critic at Bloomberg, he only ever shared positive energy and encouragement.
"More than that, he was a true friend. Richard, rest in peace, my friend.
"You will be deeply and truly missed.
"Love, Jason and Irha and the girls."
Andre Garrett said: “Oh no! I’m very sad reading this, Richard was a lovely guy, a big loss to us all. RIP Richard.”
Tom Aikens added: “So sad!! Will leave a big empty void.”
Adam Handling wrote: “This is incredibly sad to read. Richard was always there for me when I started out and along my journey. A true inspiration and gentleman.
“The world has lost a very, very good person. Thank you for all your belief in me. I owe you quite a lot of my career.”
Meanwhile Michael Caines and Tom Booton labelled Richard “a true gent”.
