Kevin Donovan, co-founder of the St Kilda foreshore restaurant Donovans, has died. He was 68.

Donovan and his wife, Gail Donovan, sold the restaurant on August 31, after 26 years at the helm. He had been unwell with an undiagnosed condition for the past five years and had not been able to work in the restaurant for at least three years, Gail said at the time.

The restaurant’s new owner, Nick Parkhouse, said Donovan had died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday morning. “Gail had cooked a wonderful dinner for him. His last meal was sharing an incredible thing with Gail, which was a marvellous send-off for him.”

The American-born restaurateur arrived in Australia in 1986 to open the Hyatt on Collins (now Grand Hyatt Melbourne), where he was the director of food and beverage.

He met Gail when he interviewed her for a job at the Hyatt. “I went home and said to my housemate, ‘I’m going to marry that guy.’ I thought he was wonderful,” she said.

The pair went on to manage South Yarra restaurant Chinois before buying the former Jean Jacques By The Sea in St Kilda, which occupied a beachside bathing pavilion dating to 1928.

They renamed it The Pavilion before giving the restaurant a very colourful, personal livingroom-style makeover in 1997 and reopening as Donovans alongside silent partners Richard B. Fisher and Jeanne Donovan Fisher (no relation).

The restaurant has been awarded at least one Good Food Guide hat every year since opening, and the two shared the Vittoria Coffee Legend Award in The Age Good Food Guide 2016.

At the time of the sale, Parkhouse assured Donovans’ legion of regulars that nothing at the restaurant would change.

“What Gail and Kevin have created is one of the most iconic restaurants, not only in Melbourne, but Australia. It’s so revered and loved and there’s not a damn thing that’s going to change. It’s my honour to carry the mantle.”

Reflecting on Donovan’s death weeks later, Parkhouse said: “He was my adopted father and I learnt so much from him. He was a paramount professional in the hospitality industry, not just in Australia, but around the world.”