A chef who worked in award-winning London restaurants is among the latest victims of Covid-19.
Balam Singh, 48, who was born in Ghuttu, a village in the Himalayas, left India to work in the kitchen of the Sheraton Hotel in Dubai, before moving to the capital 20 years ago.
Mr Singh, of Mitcham, worked at The Painted Heron in Chelsea when it opened in 2002, and later at Michelin-starred Gymkhana in Mayfair.
The avid cricket fan was senior chef at Dastaan in Epsom when he caught the virus.
His son Vijendra, 21, said his father developed mild Covid symptoms on Christmas Eve and tested positive, and was self isolating at home when his condition deteriorated on January 2.
He said paramedics revived his father after his heart stopped and took him to St George’s Hospital. He died shortly before 7am on January 3.
Mr Singh said: “He touched so many lives, he was a great chef and family man.”
Friend and colleague Jogesh Datta said the chef “was a culinary maestro”.
