My brother-in-law, Michael Quinn, who has died aged 71, was the first British head chef at the Ritz hotel in London. He improved the reputation of the nation’s food and helped put British cooking on the map.
Born in Leeds, the youngest of six children of Frank Quinn, a gardener, and his wife, Agnes (nee Conboy), he left Corpus Christi secondary modern, Leeds, at 15, becoming an apprentice chef at the Queens hotel. He won national awards and prestigious posts from the beginning of his career. After working his way up to head chef at various hotels, in 1974, following divorce from his wife, Sheila, he became a single parent. He moved to Accrington to be near his eldest sister and her family, qualified as a teacher, then taught catering students at Accrington FE College.
After marrying for the second time, to Jane, in the 70s, he became head chef at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex. In 1982, he was appointed head chef at the Ritz. In his mid-30s, he was at the summit of the culinary world. Michael, who never forgot his roots, translated the menu from French to English, and introduced traditional dishes, such as steak and kidney pie and bread and butter pudding, to the Ritz menu.
He was appointed MBE in 1985 for his service to the food business. He was rightly proud of his reputation and worked hard to improve food standards and to raise the status of British food. But all this was taking its toll. He was a functioning alcoholic, and it began to dominate him. He left the Ritz and took a post at Ettington Park hotel near Stratford-upon-Avon, but it was soon apparent that he could not continue working.
His second marriage broke down and Michael began a period of staying with his siblings, trying and failing at first to be sober. During a cooking demonstration in Leeds in 1996, Michael collapsed. He was taken to hospital with severe liver disease, and received the last rites. This was the moment he needed; with the help of AA he began the path that led him to be sober for the rest of his life.
His heart was not in cooking any more; he needed to tell his story. In 2001 he formed a new charity, the Ark Foundation, with friends, themselves chefs, to educate catering college students about the dangers of alcohol. Under the auspices of the charity Hospitality Action he visited almost all catering colleges in the country and many overseas. He continued in this exhilarating but exhausting work for 13 years.
His was a massive talent, which he never entirely recognised in himself. He had been a bringer of change in the kitchen and he became a bringer of change in people’s lives.
He is survived by Michael, his son with Sheila, by Andrew and Jamie, his sons with Jane; his sister, Margaret, and his brother, Peter.
