Melbourne celebrity chef and author Greg Malouf has died aged 65, triggering an outpouring of grief from the Australian culinary community.
Born in Melbourne to Lebanese parents, Malouf was renowned for pioneering modern Middle Eastern cuisine and his guest appearances on MasterChef.
Greg Malouf and Lucy Malouf at MoMo in 2010.Credit: Eddie Jim
He worked as the head chef at O’Connell’s in South Melbourne in the early 1990s and later helmed contemporary Middle Eastern restaurant MoMo.
His groundbreaking work earned him multiple chef hats from The Age Good Food Guide between 1991 and 2010.
Italian restaurateur Matteo Pignatelli told The Age he was still processing the news of the death of his friend and former colleague.
He said Malouf brought Middle Eastern cuisine to the forefront of modern fine dining in Australia and the world.
Greg Malouf.
“The string of young chefs who Greg mentored is his legacy,” he said. “He was so proud of them all.”
Pignatelli said he and Malouf had shared many “experiences, mischiefs and memories”.
“I’m going to miss our bromance and our banter,” he said.
Malouf wrote multiple cookbooks alongside his writing partner and ex-wife Lucy Malouf, including SUQAR: Desserts & Sweets from the Modern Middle East.
The critically acclaimed book won the 2019 James Beard Foundation Award for Baking and Desserts.
Lebanese chef Joseph Abboud, who owns Rumi in Brunswick East, said Malouf’s books were a source of “much inspiration”.
“Greg’s expression of Middle Eastern food gave many of us the confidence to explore the cuisine of our heritage,” he said.
In 2010, Melbourne chef Tom Sarafian was browsing in a local bookshop when he came across one of Malouf’s cookbooks.
“I saw all this food that I used to eat at my grandparents’ home presented in such a beautiful and finessed style,” he said.
“It was so revolutionary and inspiring, and I immediately knew I had to work with this guy.”
Sarafian worked alongside Malouf at Melbourne’s MoMo and followed him to the UK to work at the Michelin-starred Petersham Nurseries Cafe in Richmond, a celebrity favourite.
Sarafian described Malouf as the “kindest and loveliest man” and said the industry “had lost a giant”.
“He had so many talented and amazing chefs work for him and I think that’s a real testament to his character. He will be truly missed.”
Malouf had triple-bypass surgery in 1981, aged just 21.
Eight years later came his first heart transplant – only the 17th performed at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital – which required 40 days in hospital in isolation.
His second heart transplant, in 2003, required a 10-day hospital stay.
In a 2007 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Malouf said he did not treat his work as work, and said it was a lifestyle.
“For me cooking is like having a conversation or kicking the footy in the backyard. I don’t have to think about it.”
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