Robert Carrier dies at the age of 82

Robert Carrier, the renowned chef-restaurateur and broadcaster, died on Tuesday at the age of 82.

Carrier was a celebrity chef before the term was coined. His simple and accessible, yet surprisingly glamorous, cookery books and cards are credited with revolutionising British cooking during the 1960s and 70s

Carrier was born in the USA in 1923 under the name Robert McMahon but later adopted his grandmother’s French surname.

He first came to Britain in 1953 and, following a spell as food editor of Harper’s Bazaar, Carrier opened a restaurant in Camden Passage, Islington, in 1966.

In 1971, he bought Hintlesham Hall near Ipswich which he restored into a hotel and restaurant. He soon introduced a cookery school there but the project was closed a year later in 1982.

After serving as chairman of the Restaurateurs Association of Great Britain in 1984, Carrier focused more on his broadcasting and spent time in France and Morocco.

He was admitted to hospital just hours before he died in the South of France, where he was living.

By Alix Young

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