'Top Chef Masters' Winner Floyd Cardoz Dies at 59 from COVID-19
“Top Chef Masters” winner Floyd Cardoz has died at the age of 59 due to COVID-19, confirmed by his family to Scroll.in, on Wednesday. The chef owned two popular restaurants in his native India. He rose to prominence when he won season three of “Top Chef Masters” in 2011. He also starred in season two of Netflix’s “Ugly Delicious.”
Cardoz was visiting Mumbai until March 8 when he returned to New Jersey via Germany, according to his Instagram. He was admitted to the hospital in New York on March 18 because he was feeling feverish. He tested positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus that causes a respiratory infection and symptoms such as fever, shortness or breath and coughing. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 414,179 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and 18,440 have died due to complications from the virus.
Fans, friends and colleagues reacted to his death on Twitter and shared condolences.
Tragic news. Floyd Cardoz the world renowned chef – with his own Restaurants in New York – Chez Floyd, then lately Bombay Canteen, O Pedro and restaurants in Bombay and Goa has succumbed to the Corona virus in New Jersey RIP
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) March 25, 2020
.@floydcardoz made us all so proud. 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… pic.twitter.com/Q6eRVIpZkL
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) March 25, 2020
Thought are with Floyd’s family, rest peacefully my friend. https://t.co/pZdbfJkmaH
— Tom Colicchio (@tomcolicchio) March 25, 2020
Floyd Cardoz passed away from C19. I adored him. A great chef, groundbreaking in so many ways, a generous human, resilient of spirit and loved his family, his garden and our restaurant world so much. I’m stunned.
I know what I’m eating tonight for dinner https://t.co/ndPhMECp2E— Andrew Zimmern (@andrewzimmern) March 25, 2020
Floyd did so much to advance the cause of Indian food and Indian people in America. He was generous, funny, and warm, and I've always wished I could turn back time and eat at Tabla. Sending love to his family. https://t.co/nLMm9ALwmW
— Priya Krishna (@PKgourmet) March 25, 2020
Rest in peace Floyd Cardoz. I used to love his restaurant Tabla. People arent just numbers or percentages or age brackets and when they go they take some of the light they emanate and whole universes of love with them
— Chelsea Peretti (@chelseaperetti) March 25, 2020
Saying prayers for #floydcardoz we enjoyed getting to know him on #gdny. . Loved his cooking. Saying prayers for his family #rip https://t.co/xAzpQBRSb7
— Rosanna Scotto (@rosannascotto) March 25, 2020
Floyd Cardoz was an exceptional talent, a chef equally at home with undiluted Indian flavors as he was with the delicious union of French, Indian and American food, a personal idiom that he invented. https://t.co/7NcTes1D01
— Pete Wells (@pete_wells) March 25, 2020
Floyd Cardoz is an Indian-American institution. His Tabla was nothing short of a revolution — not just our food but our people. It launched the year I graduated college. There are no coincidences. Floyd was among desis redefining the food, media, biz, arts, culture of NYC… ctd pic.twitter.com/bUmcEQLBW6
— S. Mitra Kalita (@mitrakalita) March 25, 2020
Image via Creative Commons/Global Crop Diversity Trust
Renée Fabian was the features editor at The Mighty. She has also written for The Washington Post, VICE, Healthline, Talkspace, The Fix, The Establishment, The Culture Trip, and GRAMMY.com, among others. Renée was named a 2019 AHCJ Comparative Effectiveness Research fellow, a 2020 USC Center for Health Journalism California fellow, and holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @ryfabian.
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