Floyd Cardoz death: Celebrity chef dies from coronavirus aged 59

Top Chef winner was admitted to hospital last Wednesday

Chef Floyd Cardoz dies of coronavirus at age 59 (Getty)

Chef Floyd Cardoz has died at the age of 59 due to complications from coronavirus.

On Wednesday, the news of Cardoz’s passing was confirmed by Hunger Inc Hospitality, where the world-renowned chef was culinary director, according to CNN.

“It is with deep sorrow that we inform you of the passing away of Chef Floyd Cardoz,” the statement reads.

Cardoz, the chef and founder of Bombay Canteen and O Pedro in Mumbai and New York City restaurants Tabla and Bombay Bread Bar, was admitted to the hospital on 18 March, where he was diagnosed with coronavirus.

At the time, the Top Chef Masters winner apologised to his followers on Instagram for worrying them after he’d initially expressed concern over his health.

Sharing a photo of himself in a hospital gown, Cardoz wrote: “Sincere apologies everyone. I am sorry for causing undue panic around my earlier post. I was feeling feverish and hence as a precautionary measure, admitted myself into hospital in New York.

“I was hugely anxious about my state of health and my post was highly irresponsible causing panic in several quarters. I returned to New York on March 8th via Frankfurt.”

The news of Cardoz’s death prompted an outpouring of tributes from fans and notable figures in the restaurant industry.

“Floyd Cardoz made us all proud,” Top Chef host and judge Padma Lakshmi tweeted. “Nobody who lived in NY in the early aughts could forget how delicious and packed Tabla always was. He had an impish smile, an innate need to make those around him happy, and a delicious touch. This is a huge loss…”

New York Times food critic Pete Wells wrote: “Floyd Cardoz was an exceptional talent, a chef equally at home with undiluted Indian flavours as he was with the delicious union of French, Indian and American food, a personal idiom that he invented.”