James Kent Chef Death: Jamal James Kent an an American chef has died at age 46. Jamal was one of the most influential and accomplished chefs in New York City. Kent’s death was announced on Saga’s Instagram Saturday evening. “Crown Shy, Saga, and Overstory will be closed tomorrow: Sunday, June 16,” reads the Instagram post. “Celebrate Father’s Day with your loved ones.”
Who Was James Kent?
Jamal James Kent was an American chef. He was the winner of the Bocuse d’Or USA 2010. He and his commis Tom Allan went on to represent the U.S. at the international finals of Bocuse d’Or in Lyon, France, in January 2011, where they placed tenth. Kent started his culinary career at the age of 15 as a summer apprentice at Bouley. After completing school, he worked in various New York restaurants such as Babbo, Jean-Georges, and Gordon Ramsay.
Career As A Chef
Jamal James Kent helmed a trio of restaurants in a historic building in the Financial District, the two-Michelin-starred Saga, sky-high bar Overstory, and ground-floor Crown Shy; along with a growing collection of restaurants in his hospitality group. Before that, he led kitchens for then-partners Daniel Humm and Will Guidara as executive chef of the Nomad. He was also the chef de cuisine and a sous chef at the three-Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park.
Jamal’s group was on track to open five restaurants in partnership with Paris luxury department store Printemps at 1 Wall Street, ranging from a fine dining restaurant to a casual cafe, led by culinary director, Gregory Gourdet. During the pandemic, Kent and Katz distributed severance to staff, he told Eater this past week, and fed those in need and residents of 70 Pine Street. In partnership with American Express, the restaurants also erected yurts – Shy Village – to serve diners outside through the winter. Kent, who was a graffiti artist starting in his teens, had his work displayed in some of them.
Before he opened the trio of restaurants, Kent was executive chef of the Michelin-starred Nomad under Daniel Humm and Will Guidara from 2013 to 2017. Prior to that, he was a sous chef, then chef de cuisine, at Eleven Madison Park, from 2007 to 2013. “I walked in a young cook,” he recently told Eater of his time there, “and I walked out a chef and father.” Kent was married and had two children. “My kid’s first restaurant visit was to Eleven Madison Park,” he told Eater. Right after his first born’s first checkup, “I went in to prove that I really had a kid,” he joked.
James Kent’s Cause Of Death
Jamal James Kent has not been announced by the family. Kent’s hospitality group was preparing for a series of big openings, including one, inspired by his grandmother and the houseboat where he spent summers, at 360 Park Avenue South. Chef Danny Garcia is supposed to run it: He is currently on Bravo’s Top Chef and was his executive sous chef back when they worked together at Nomad. Renata Ameni is slated to run the pastry program. That restaurant, a few blocks way from where he went to junior high school, was on track to debut within the next couple of months.
His current business success story is the trio of restaurants in the Art Deco building at 70 Pine Street. The first to open was Crown Shy in 2019, with then-partner Jeff Katz, serving an a la carte seasonal menu; it currently has a Michelin star. Cocktail bar Overstory opened in 2021 on the 64th floor, and was ranked among the top 20 of the World’s 50 Best Bars. Saga opened in tandem a floor down, with multiple terraces and similarly breathtaking views. It holds two Michelin stars for a tasting menu rooted in European technique, drawing inspiration from the diversity of New York City, Kent’s hometown.
