Chef Dom Taylor, winner of Channel 4’s Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef and founder of the Good Front Room restaurant, has died.
Lorraine Copes, founder of Be Inclusive Hospitality, said: “The brilliant human and talented chef, Dom Taylor, has passed away. First and foremost, Dom was warm, kind, funny and stylish.
“He was also an incredibly talented chef who championed the cuisines of his heritage, celebrating his Jamaican and St Lucian culture through food. He spent his entire career working in hospitality as a very passionate chef. The hospitality sector has lost someone truly special.”
Taylor was born to a Jamaican mother and a Saint Lucian father and started cooking at Lewisham College in London, where he trained in classical French cuisine.
He furthered his studies at Thames Valley University and spent a year working in South Carolina in the US before returning to London, where he was head chef of the Belgraves hotel (now the Hari) in Belgravia and the Courthouse hotel in Shoreditch.
In a 2023 interview with The Caterer, Taylor admitted he was initially reluctant to pursue Caribbean food professionally because “no one was really steering the ship” in his heritage cuisine.
However, towards his late 30s, he realised there were some “fantastic” Caribbean chefs, such as Kerth Gumbs and Jason Howard, who were “making a stamp” in that field, inspiring others to follow suit.
Prior to his television debut in 2023, Taylor operated a private chef business, Chef Dom Taylor Kitchen, which specialised in Caribbean cuisine and also had a restaurant residency at Fourteen87 in Catford, south-east London.
Over the course of Channel 4 series Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef, the chef cemented his reputation as a pioneer in Caribbean fine dining, and after winning the show, he launched a 10-month residency at the Langham, London, called the Good Front Room, which was widely reported to have been the first Caribbean restaurant to open within a luxury London hotel.
He told The Caterer at the time of its launch: “One of the issues with Caribbean food is consistency and [I’m] making it my life’s work to get that right.”
In August 2023, the Good Front Room received a rave review from Jimi Famurewa, former food critic at the Evening Standard, who praised Taylor’s “jubilant, irrepressible food that provides the best possible advert for diversified thinking and fresh perspectives”.
In May 2025, the chef opened Marvee’s Food Shop in London’s Ladbroke Grove, which marked his first major project after his pop-up restaurant drew to a close at the Langham.
The 60-cover restaurant, which served Caribbean classics such as Bammy (a traditional cassava bread) and Jamaican Festival (a deep-fried sweet bread), closed after just three months of trading.
But Taylor returned to the London dining scene earlier this year with a permanent outpost of the Good Front Room in Dalston.
He described the restaurant as an homage to his great aunt Myrtle and the sacred front rooms of many Caribbean households.
Taylor previously said of the Good Front Room: “As a grandchild of the Windrush generation, I feel a responsibility to carry the torch and keep our stories, recipes and traditions alive. Doing this now feels like the right moment to build something entirely my own, rooted in where I come from and led with intention.”
The Good Front Room confirmed it will remain open as it continues to “honour Dom’s legacy and continue the work he was so passionate about”.
The industry pays tribute
Melissa Thompson, chef and writer, Fowl Mouths
“Dom Taylor was a beautiful human and an incredible chef. He told stories through his food with humour and warmth, and his cooking was so clever. He was so creative, his food could be enjoyed by everyone from your 80-year-old uncle to young professionals. He was brilliantly innovative and everyone was welcome round his table. I’ll miss his beautiful smile, enthusiasm and funny stories. His legacy will live on in London’s food scene. When the first Caribbean restaurant gets a Michelin star, Dom will have played a massive part in it. Even the fact that that’s a possibility now – unthinkable even 10 years ago – has a lot to do with Dom and what he proved could happen when island food gets the platform it deserves. Rest well Dom.”
Undr, Ladbroke Grove, London
“Dom’s passion, creativity and commitment to celebrating Caribbean food and culture inspired so many. We feel incredibly grateful to have hosted Marvee’s Food Shop and to have shared in a small part of his remarkable journey. Your legacy will live on through the lives you touched and the community you built. Sending love to your family, friends and all who are mourning your loss.”
The Good Front Room, Dalston, London
“We are deeply saddened to share the news of the sudden passing of our founder, chef Dom Taylor. Dom was a visionary whose bold, joyful approach to celebrating the Caribbean cuisine of his childhood brought a fresh and exciting voice to London’s restaurant scene. His passion, talent and generosity touched so many people, and his legacy will continue to inspire those who had the privilege of knowing him and experiencing his food.
“He will be deeply missed, and our thoughts are with his family, friends and everyone whose lives he touched during this incredibly difficult time. We kindly ask that everyone respects the privacy of Dom’s loved ones at this time.”
Ashley Letchford, former managing director of the Jam Tree Group
“Dominic Taylor was far more than a business partner or someone I worked with. He was my friend. From the day I interviewed him to become executive chef of the Jam Tree Group, I knew he was special. He spent the next couple of years with us before we sold the business, and from the very beginning he blew us away with his mojito chicken wings. Then came his unforgettable jerk chicken thighs with plantain jam, packed with heat, flavour and everything that made his food so distinctive.
“Watching him go on to win Five Star Kitchen before becoming the driving force behind the Good Front Room at the Langham made me incredibly proud. I was always proud to call him my friend and honoured to have played a small part as his mentor along the way. It’s hard to believe someone with so much left to give has been taken so soon. I’ll always be grateful for the conversations we shared, the laughs we had, and the memories we made together.”
Please share your tributes to Dom Taylor to [email protected].
