Legendary chef who helped mentor Marco Pierre-White dies at 89 sparking tributes to a ‘true gastronomic leader’

Tributes have been paid to legendary chef Nico Ladenis, mentor of Marco-Pierre White, following his death at the age of 89.

The chef who famously taught himself how to cook became a doyen of cuisine when he won three Michelin stars at 90 Park Lane in the 1990s.

He opened his first London restaurant Chez Nico in Dulwich in 1973 followed by Simply Nico in Pimlico in 1989.

But it was his third venue, Chez Nico at 90 Park Lane, which launched him to fame.

Ladenis, who in his lifetime been compared to other chef legends Raymond Blanc and the Roux brothers, has been called a ‘field marshal of classical cuisine’.

Chef Paul Flynn described how he worked under Ladenis for nine years and praised his mentor’s legacy

Ladenis entered the cookery profession at the relatively late ago of 37 after an earlier career in the oil and gas industry. 

He made history as the first self-taught chef to win three Michelin stars in Britain and was the first of British-Cypriot to be awarded the honour – which is regarded as reaching the pinnacle of British gastronomy. 

His two books My Gastronomy in 1987 and 1996’s Nicowere described as part memoir and part ‘kitchen psychology’.

Celebrity chef Sat Bains described Ladenis as ‘a true gastronomic leader of chefs that inspired a whole generation’, while Tom Kerridge dubbed him a ‘a true culinary hero’.