The restaurant industry in Seattle is reeling from yet another sudden loss of one of their own.
The chef and restaurateur Tamara Murphy, a James Beard Award winner and co-owner of Terra Plata, died on Saturday after suffering a stroke while on vacation in Idaho. She was 63.
The restaurant posted the news on Instagram and on the restaurant’s website, saying Murphy was surrounded by family and friends while in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Boise. Her organs were donated to benefit others, as she had requested.
The news comes just weeks after Seattle chef and restaurateur Wayne Johnson died from a traumatic brain injury caused by a bacterial infection.
Murphy was described as a leader in Seattle’s culinary and small business community having helmed acclaimed restaurants, including Campagne and Brasa, as well as Terra Plata, which she owned with life and business partner Linda Di Lello Morton. The restaurant opened in 2011, and the two were reportedly planning a second concept later this year.
Terra Plata was closed on Sunday and Monday.
Murphy and Di Lello Morton were known for their work championing LGBTQ+ causes and supporting political leaders, and they launched the Food is Love Project in 2020, which provided more than 38,000 meals to families facing food insecurity during the pandemic.
“It is this civic commitment and dedication to service that Linda will continue to uphold in Tamara’s memory,” the restaurant statement said.
In comments on the post, those who worked with her praised Murphy’s “quiet kindness” and generosity, describing her as a mentor who had an impact on countless people in the industry.
On social media, Rachels Bagels and Burritos described Murphy as a friend and a hero who “embodied restaurants as a vocation (to steal a phrase). They’re special places that offer something uniquely warm to our lives. She knew that restaurants make our cities what they are, a vital place to gather over a meal and enjoy the best of what it means to be human,” the post said. “And she did it while also showing us how restaurants can give back so much.”
Murphy won a James Beard Award for Best Chef for her work at Campagne in 1995. She was also a semifinalist in 2009 for the Outstanding Chef award while at Brasa, where she ran the kitchen for 11 years.
Murphy reportedly moved from North Carolina to Seattle in the 1980s with then partner, chef Chris Keff. Her background included work at the New York restaurant Gotham Bar and Grill.
A celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date, the restaurant said.
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