Teage Ezard, the chef responsible for venues including Gingerboy and Ezard, was diagnosed with an incurable neurological disease in 2024.
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Celebrated Melbourne chef Teage Ezard, responsible for venues including Gingerboy and Ezard, has died age 59.
He was diagnosed in October 2024 with an incurable neurological disease, multiple system atrophy cerebellar type. The cerebellar type causes poor muscle coordination, with symptoms including difficulty chewing and swallowing, changes in vision, and slurred speech.
Chef Teage Ezard, pictured in 2017.Simon Schluter
Friend and fellow chef Shane Delia described Ezard as a “trailblazer”.
“As a young chef, Teage … was the rock star of chefs before there were any celebrity chefs. He cooked without fear,” Delia said.
He began his cooking career with an apprenticeship under Hermann Schneider, who ran the decorated Two Faces for more than 20 years in South Yarra.
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Teage Ezard with his wife Tina in July 2025. Peter Tarasuik
Last year, Ezard and wife Tina shared their experience with the progressive disease in an interview with Good Weekend.
The couple established a charity, Combat MSA, to raise awareness of the disease and support others living with a diagnosis and their carers.
Teage Ezard as a young boy.
Delia described Ezard’s illness as “devastating” but noted that: “He never pitied himself. He was always positive, even right up to the end.”
The family have not yet released a statement, but a number of chefs posted condolence messages on social media on Saturday afternoon.
More to come
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Emma Breheny – Emma is Good Food’s Melbourne eating out and restaurant editor and editor of The Age Good Food Guide.From our partners