In June 2017, TV chef Darren Simpson, who trained in some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world, including Le Gavroche and Sir Terence Conran’s Sartoria in Savile Row, died from a heart attack after struggling with alcohol abuse throughout his culinary career. Two months later, former Ritz head chef Michael Quinn died after a long battle with ill-health as a result of alcohol addiction.
Similarly, chefs such as the late Anthony Bourdain have been very open about how drugs and alcohol influenced their early careers, and how prevalent it has been in the restaurant industry.
But there is a small but increasingly vocal number of bartenders, brewers and chefs who are choosing to go alcohol-free. Read more here.