Dom Taylor, founder of The Good Front Room and champion of Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef, has died.
The Good Front Room team announced the chef’s sudden passing this week, with tributes pouring in from friends, family, and peers across the hospitality industry.
Best known as a trailblazer in Caribbean fine dining, Dom first built a loyal following on Channel 4’s Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef series, judged by Michel Roux Jr, where he won the show.
Although Dom had operated a Caribbean-inspired private chef business prior to the programme, it was what came after that established him as one of London’s most exciting chefs. In 2023, he launched The Good Front Room at The Langham, becoming what was widely recognised as the first Caribbean restaurant to open within a luxury London hotel.
Featuring dishes such as ackee and salt fish cake, jerk chicken, and curried goat, the residency was so popular that it ran for an extra four months than planned, earning rave reviews from critics including Jimi Famurewa.
In 2025, Dom briefly opened a restaurant in Ladbroke Grove, before founding a permanent outpost of The Good Front Room in Dalston, which opened earlier this year. He described the restaurant as a homage to his great-aunt Myrtle and the sacred front rooms of many Caribbean households.
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A lasting legacy in Caribbean fine dining
As a grandchild of the Windrush generation with Jamaican and Saint Lucian heritage, Dom was passionate about creating Caribbean food that was authentically recognisable yet boundary-pushing.
'One of the things I most loved and admired about Dom is how boldly and proudly he championed both Jamaican and Saint Lucian food, the food of his heritage,' said Lorraine Copes, founder of Be Inclusive Hospitality. 'If you have ever dined with Dom, you would have experienced Caribbean food that was both familiar and new, thanks to his creative take on tradition.'
Tributes have been pouring in from industry peers for the chef. On his legacy, chef and writer Melissa Thompson said: '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.'
While Ravneet Gill, chef and founder of Gina, said: 'Dom was warm, intelligent and full of depth. Even when he wasn’t talking about happy things, he somehow always seemed to be smiling.'
The Good Front Room has confirmed that it will remain open to honour Dom’s legacy and continue the work he was so passionate about.
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