Gleneagles chef Andrew Fairlie dies
January 23, 2019
Image copyright Andrew Fairlie Renowned Scottish chef Andrew Fairlie has died aged 55 following a long illness.
Mr Fairlie, whose Gleneagles restaurant is the only one in Scotland to have two Michelin stars, revealed last November that he had a terminal brain tumour.
His father Jim Fairlie wrote on Twitter that his son’s “many achievements and memory will live on”.
He said: “It is with enormous sadness and grief that Kay and I announce the death of our beloved son Andrew.”
Mr Fairlie said his son had “slipped away quietly this morning” and that the chef’s wife, Kate, and his family had kept vigil for him “for some weeks”.
Kate Fairlie and his daughters, Ilona and Leah, on behalf of the family, said: “We are utterly heartbroken that Andrew has gone but are so thankful we had this extraordinary man in our lives.
“He was a beautifully kind, generous, loving son, father, husband, brother and friend, and enriched the lives of anybody lucky enough to meet him.”
Michelin star chef Tom Kitchin told BBC Radio Scotland’s John Beattie Programme that Mr Fairlie had “a real presence about him.”
He said: “He was the most humble, humble man, but he was a real thinker.
“What he has done for the Scottish culinary side of things is just unbelievable.
“He’s taken this country to levels we never even knew existed. It’s just a really, really sad day.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Mr Fairlie’s legacy “will inspire the next generation of world class chefs.”
Mr Fairlie, who was first diagnosed in 2005, stepped down from his restaurant in November.
He made the decision after doctors told him in June that no further treatment was available.
Mr Fairlie was the first winner of the Roux Scholarship in 1984, aged 20, and went on to judge the competition.
He opened his own restaurant within the Gleneagles Hotel in 2001. It received its first Michelin star eight months later.
The restaurant was awarded a fourth AA rosette in 2004, followed by its second Michelin star in 2006.
The same year Mr Fairlie was named AA Chef’s Chef of the Year.
Mr Fairlie was named a Relais & Chateaux Grand Chef, one of only seven in the UK, in November 2011.
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