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Mark Peel, restauranteur and Top Chef judge, has died, The Los Angeles Times reports. Peel, who was 66 years old, died Sunday (June 20) at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. According to his daughter, he had been diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer nine days ago.
“He was a husband, partner, father, grandfather, brother, and uncle with so much joy and aplomb,” Peel’s family said in a statement shared with Eater. “We will miss him and his cooking with all our hearts (and stomachs).”
While Peel was a renowned chef credited with the popularization of California cuisine, he frequently stepped out of the kitchen and in front of the camera, appearing twice on Top Chef Masters and judging Top Chef in 2009 and 2010. He was also featured on cooking shows like Hell’s Kitchen, Knife Fight, and Kitchen Nightmares.
Peel first got his start as a dishwasher in high school, working at a restaurant in the Sonoma Valley. While he entered college with hopes of becoming a doctor, he later transferred to Cal Poly Pomona’s hotel and restaurant program. While attending Pomona, Peel began working for Wolfgang Puck in 1975, starting a job at Ma Maison on the weekends that eventually led to a position as the restaurant’s assistant chef.
He later moved on to Michael’s, the Santa Monica restaurant where he first met his ex-wife Nancy Silverton in 1979, before landing a job at Chez Panisse. Just a few years later, he helped Puck open Spago in West Hollywood in 1982, where he worked as chef de cuisine. In 1989, he opened his James Beard-award winning restaurant Campanile with Silverton.
Campanile, which the L.A. Times dubbed the “quintessential Los Angeles restaurant” during its heyday, lasted for 23 years. The restaurant closed in 2012 and the La Brea Avenue building is now home to Republique. Peel and Silverton were also founders of La Brea Bakery, which they sold in 2001. Peel’s most recent project was Prawn, a restaurant located at Downtown L.A.’s Grand Central Market.
Peel is survived by his five children: Vanessa Silverton-Peel, Benjamin and Oliver Silverton-Peel, and Vivien and Rex Peel.
