Chef Ian McAndrew dies after four decades in British kitchens
Master Chefs of Great Britain announced the death of the chef behind Eastwell Manor's 1982 Michelin star and, decades later, Blackaddie House Hotel.
Chef Ian McAndrew has died, Master Chefs of Great Britain (MCGB) announced on 12 October, with the group crediting him as an influence on young chefs across a four-decade career that ran from Kent to Dumfries and Galloway.
MCGB chairman George McIvor said in a statement that McAndrew's "knowledge, passion and commitment to the industry were exemplary," according to Restaurant Online, which first reported his death. The organisation said its thoughts were with his wife, Jane McAndrew, and the wider family.
McAndrew trained under Anton Mosimann at the Dorchester in London before working at the Capital Hotel and the Waldorf, Restaurant Online reported. He took his first head-chef role at Eastwell Manor in Kent, where the restaurant won a Michelin star in 1982, the trade title said.
Eastwell Manor in 1982, Blackaddie decades later: two Michelin stars, one long British career.
Three years later, McAndrew and Jane opened Restaurant Seventy Four in Canterbury, which also earned a Michelin star, according to Restaurant Online. He went on to run Restaurant One Sixteen in Knightsbridge, central London, before the couple moved north.
At Blackaddie House Hotel near Sanquhar, in Dumfries and Galloway, the McAndrews built a restaurant-with-rooms that ran for more than a decade, according to Scottish business title Insider and the Caterer. McAndrew was named Scottish Chef of the Year at the CIS Excellence Awards in 2016, Insider reported at the time.
Three cookbooks and an autobiography
McAndrew wrote three cookbooks, including A Feast of Fish and Poultry & Game, Restaurant Online said. He published an autobiography, Just Call Me Chef, earlier in 2026.
Chef Tom Kerridge paid tribute on social media, calling McAndrew "an outstanding chef and wonderful man," according to Restaurant Online. Other tributes from the trade followed on 12 October, the title reported.
A path typical of his generation
McAndrew's career followed a route common to British chefs who trained in the 1970s and 1980s: a London apprenticeship under an established name, a first Michelin star at a country-house hotel, then an independent venture further from the capital. The same ladder still shapes competitions such as the UK Young Chef final, which crowned a winner this month.
No cause or place of death has been made public. Blackaddie House Hotel had not issued its own statement at the time of publication.
