Bill Granger: Who was the 'King of Breakfast', the Australian chef credited with the global phenomenon of avocado toast?

Bill Granger opened a total of 19 restaurants around the world, from Australia to Japan and the UK

He was the Australian chef credited with creating the global trend for avocado toast and for transforming breakfast in his native country.

Now self-taught cook and the ‘King of Breakfast’ Bill Granger has died, aged 54.

Celebrity chefs have led tributes to Granger, who ran a series of restaurants and cafes around the world.

Australian chef and restaurateur Bill Granger is shown around Buckingham Palace's kitchens in 2011.

After dropping out of art school, he opened a restaurant called Bill’s in the Australian city of Sydney in 1993 – and eventually established a total of 19 branches in locations from Japan to London under the brand and another, called Granger & Co.

A statement from Mr Granger’s family said: “It is with great sadness that the family of Bill Granger announce he has passed away on 25th December. A dedicated husband and father, Bill died peacefully in hospital with his wife Natalie Elliott and three daughters, Edie, Ines and Bunny, at his bedside in their adopted home of London.

“Born in Melbourne, Australia, Bill was a self-taught cook who became a celebrated global restaurateur and food writer with a career spanning over 30 years. He will be remembered as the ‘King of Breakfast’, for making unpretentious food into something special filled with sunshine and for spurring the growth of Australian informal and communal eating around the world.”

The statement added: “He will be deeply missed by all, with his loss most profoundly felt by his adored family, who are grateful for all the love and support that has been given.”

The chef lived in London with his family, where he died in hospital on Christmas Day. His cause of death has not been revealed.

TV chef and restaurateur Jamie Oliver said: “This is devastating news, I’m so sad to hear this, what a guy he was … a wonderful human, kind calm soul. I admired everything he represented in food. I remember the first time I met him many moons ago, he couldn’t have been nicer and his food so good.”

Food writer and TV cook Nigella Lawson said: “I’m heartbroken to hear this. So cruel.”

Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness also paid tribute to Granger in a joint statement, saying his “talent, his joie de vivre, the way he brought people together” was “inspiring”. Australian singer and actor Jason Donovan dubbed Granger a “ray of Aussie sunshine”.

On the subject of avocado toast, which was described as his “gift to the world”, Granger once said to the Australian Financial Review: “I know, it's just a couple of ingredients, barely a recipe. [But] it’s immediately accessible, it’s fresh and it’s light. And it’s green.” The dish has become a staple on brunch menus around the world.

Granger wrote 14 cookbooks, including Australian Food and Feed Me Now! and made five television series. In January, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.

Granger presented a number of cooking shows and appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia.

Australian MasterChef host Matt Preston called the chef a “genuinely lovely bloke and an inspiration” and praised his work in shaping “the image of modern Australian food worldwide”.