First Australian woman to receive Michelin star dies aged 62

Australian chef Skye Gyngell, one of the most influential voices in modern seasonal cooking, has died aged 62 in London.

Her family confirmed the news on Saturday, describing Skye as a “culinary visionary who influenced generations of chefs and growers globally to think about food and its connection to the land”. She had been diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer, last year.

Skye became one of the UK’s most admired chefs after transforming the café at Petersham Nurseries in Richmond into one of London’s most talked-about dining destinations. The site was awarded a Michelin star in 2011, bringing international attention to her ingredient-first cooking and her belief in simplicity, seasonality and a deep respect for growers.

From Sydney to Paris, then London’s kitchens

Born in Sydney, Skye initially studied at Sydney University before realising cooking was where she wanted to be. She moved to Paris aged nineteen and trained in several acclaimed kitchens, including the two-Michelin-star Dodin-Bouffant, before relocating to London.

She went on to work at The French House in Soho with Fergus and Margot Henderson, establishing herself as a chef with a distinctive touch: refined French technique grounded in produce-led restraint.

Petersham Nurseries and the challenge of acclaim

In 2004, Skye became head chef at Petersham Nurseries Café. What began as a dilapidated garden café quickly became a pilgrimage site for cooks and diners who connected with her unforced, instinctive style.

The Michelin star brought huge attention, but it also created pressures that did not suit the rustic, informal spirit of the venue. Skye left the café in 2012, having spoken openly about diners arriving with expectations of a more traditional Michelin experience.

A new chapter: Spring and Heckfield Place

Skye returned in 2014 with Spring at Somerset House, one of London’s most elegant dining rooms and the first restaurant in the capital to remove single-use plastic from its operations. Her cooking there continued to champion British growers and regenerative farming, particularly through close relationships with Fern Verrow and other organic producers.

She later led the kitchens at Marle and Hearth at Heckfield Place in Hampshire. Both restaurants remain open today, continuing to operate with a hyper-seasonal philosophy rooted in the estate’s biodynamic farm.

A voice for growers, cooks and a gentler food culture

Throughout her career, Skye was widely respected across the chef community for her integrity, generosity and devotion to the land. She wrote several award-winning cookbooks and contributed as food editor for Vogue.

Her early work in the 1980s aligned closely with the principles that later defined the international slow food movement, long before it entered mainstream conversation in the UK.

Tributes have been shared from across the industry, including from Jamie Oliver, who thanked her for inspiring “young cooks”, and Nigella Lawson, who said: “However ill you know someone to be, their death is always a shock. It’s just awful that Skye is no longer in the world.”

Skye’s death came only days after her mother, interior designer Ann Barr, passed away. Her father, Bruce Gyngell – the first person to appear on Australian television – died in 2000.