Restaurateur Sankey dies

James Sankey, co-founder of Oloroso restaurant in Edinburgh, has died 10 months after suffering a cardiac arrest and irreversible brain damage.

Sankey had a major heart attack and collapsed in Princes Street, close to Oloroso, last February. He died of pneumonia on 21 December, a year to the day that Oloroso opened. He was 38.

Sankey's business partner, Oloroso co-founder and head chef Tony Singh, commented: "James was one of Scotland's most highly regarded restaurateurs."

Close friend and former business colleague Andrew Radford, owner of Edinburgh's Atrium restaurant and Blue Bar Café, where Sankey worked for nearly 10 years before opening Oloroso, said Sankey was a consummate operator. "For someone so young, he achieved so much, but he could have achieved so much more," said Radford, who, before the launch of the Atrium in 1993, had worked with Sankey in operations across Scotland and England during the 1980s.

Sankey, who held a Wine & Spirit Education Trust diploma and was studying for his Master of Wine, was one of Scotland's leading wine experts.

The funeral took place near Sankey's family home in Albrighton, Shropshire. A memorial service will take place in Edinburgh on 22 January.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 9-15 January 2003