Chef Angus Brown Has Died

Angus Brown, chef and co-owner of 8 Arm and Octopus Bar, has died, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. He was 35. No cause of death has been confirmed.

“We’re devastated and heartbroken,” Nhan Le, Brown’s business partner, said in a statement Wednesday. “Angus will forever be remembered for his generosity of spirit, enthusiasm, and extraordinary talent. His favorite place was in the kitchen, and he was someone that everyone wanted to be around. We’ll miss him every day.”

Brown and Le opened 8 Arm in August, and the duo had been working on another new restaurant, Ama. Together they opened Octopus Bar, the East Atlanta Village late-night staple, in 2011, and they previously collaborated on Lusca before closing the Brookwood Hills restaurant earlier this year. It was a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best New Restaurant award in 2015.

Bill Addison, Eater’s national restaurant critic who is based out of Atlanta, called Brown one of this city’s great culinary talents.

“Angus found his voice as a chef at Octopus Bar and Lusca, and the cooking he was doing at casual 8 Arm — dishes I enjoyed like mussels cooked in sake and ginger and served over toast — was a prelude to the wonderful things to come at Ama,” Addison said.