James Kent Obituary, Eminent Chef Behind Santa Monica Pier’s Culinary Overhaul Dies Of Heart Attack: Chef Jamal “James” Kent passed away on Saturday. He was in charge of a rapidly expanding empire of restaurants in New York City and had just unveiled a fresh menu concept for the Santa Monica Pier. The esteemed chef’s death was originally revealed on social media by Saga Hospitality Group, the restaurant chain he owned. A group spokesperson verified that a heart attack was the cause of death. His age was forty-five.
“A person who appeared to be headed for even greater success abruptly disappeared,” remarked Ellen Marie Bennett, the founder of Hedley & Bennett, who spent almost ten years getting to know Kent. “I believe this made everyone’s jaw drop.” After receiving training at Johnson & Wales and Le Cordon Bleu, Kent started his professional career at the age of 15 as an apprentice at chef David Bouley’s renowned French restaurant, Bouley. He later went on to work at Gordon Ramsey, Jean-Georges, and Babbo.
The New Yorker started working in the kitchen at the venerable Eleven Madison Park in 2007 and then moved on to the NoMad. He spent six months practicing for the prestigious culinary competition Bocuse d’Or, where he represented the United States. An Eleven Madison Park coworker characterizes Kent as possessing “layers and layers to his knowledge of cooking.” Following his departure from Eleven Madison Park and the NoMad to focus on his own ventures, Kent founded and oversaw three Saga Hospitality-owned restaurants in New York City: Crown Shy, Saga, and Overstory.
Three more are in the works for the same city. Although Kent came from a background in fine dining—he worked in the kitchens of several restaurants that were awarded Michelin stars—earlier this month, his career debuted in Los Angeles, where he served gourmet takes on more informal fare amid the midway games, roller coaster, and Ferris wheel of Santa Monica Pier. On June 7, Kent opened five additional food stands along the boardwalk in Pacific Park.
There are vendors selling funnel cakes, stuffed churros, a variety of French fries, smashburgers, and an ice cream shop in His Snackville. The chef’s venture into Los Angeles may have just begun with the collaboration with Kent; a spokesman for Pacific Park stated that the famous pier project was “looking[ing] forward to implementing the new culinary concepts developed for ‘Snackville’ and other projects.” Condolences and recollections poured into social media from all across the world as soon as Kent’s death was made public.
Hansei chef Chris Ono told The Times, “I would talk about him so much, like, ‘James is gonna be the king of New York, he’ll be the next Daniel Boulud, the next Jean-Georges.’” After four years of cooking together at Eleven Madison Park, they had rejoined last week in Los Angeles. Ono went on, “Those culinary giants respected him, and he really admired and admired them.” He was seen by them as the next big thing, the next great. That, in my opinion, explains why it hurts so much and why so many people find this shocking.
