Food Critic and Broadcaster Charles Campion Dies Aged 69

British restaurant critic and broadcaster Charles Campion has died at the age of 69.

Campion, best known for his writing in the London Evening Standard and for his appearances at the critic’s table on TV show MasterChef, died on 23 December of undisclosed causes. He was described by fellow MasterChef judge and Independent restaurant critic Tracey MacLeod on Twitter as “the most knowledgeable, courtly and clear-eyed of colleagues.”

Campion’s daughter confirmed the passing of her father on Twitter on Boxing Day.

Campion was also renowned, as pointed out by Guardian writer Tony Naylor, for a “rare” tendency to, “be digging for gold outside the usual bling openings and press release circuit.”

It was in this vein that he authored eight editions of the respected Rough Guide to London Restaurants, whose 2005 edition was described by the Guardian as “London’s best restaurant guide.”

Observer critic and MasterChef colleague Jay Rayner remembered Campion as “a great and lovely man, with a brilliantly droll sense of humour.” “And boy he knew his subject,” he wrote on Twitter. “A great loss.”

Charles Campion, food writer and broadcaster born 17 October 1951 — 23 December 2020, aged 69. He is survived by his wife Sylvia and two children Ashley-Jane and Geoff.