Casamia chef and co-owner Jonray has died

Jonray Sánchez-Iglesias, one of the pair of brothers who run the Michelin-starred Casamia in Westbury-on-Trym, has died.

The 32-year-old died of skin cancer and leaves his wife Kirsty and their two young daughters Olive and Bella.

Jonray’s tragic death came in the same week as Casamia was named as fourth best restaurant in the UK by The Sunday Times and in the year that he and his brother Peter were named chefs of the year in the Good Food Guide 2015.

Congratulations to @jonraysanchez and @Petercasamia our #GFG2015 chefs of the year @Casamia_ pic.twitter.com/ghIxQ26fmQ

— The Good Food Guide (@GoodFoodGuideUK) September 1, 2014

Casamia is due to move to the site of the former Bristol General Hospital in January.

A statement released by brother Peter on Monday said Jonray had died on Friday after a four-year battle with melanoma cancer.

“At the age of 32, Jonray achieved more than many of us could dream of accomplishing in a lifetime, not just throughout his incredible career as an extremely talented chef, but also in his personal life as a devoted husband and loving father of two beautiful girls, Olive and Bella,” the statement said.

“Jonray’s talent has been mostly recently recognised in the announcement made in the Sunday Times this weekend naming Casamia as the fourth best restaurant in the UK.

“This accolade is a testament to Jonray’s dedication to our restaurant and industry over the years, an industry that he loved so much and considered himself lucky to be a part of.”

“Throughout the past four years Jonray’s strength and bravery were unbelievable. No matter what challenges he faced Jonray would always fight back. Even after undergoing numerous surgeries and making countless visits to the oncology unit he was determined to head straight to his team and guest just to hear the words Check on Chef.

“His colleagues and customers would never have known what he was going through and that is the way he wanted it. He always put on a brave face and seldom complained during the four years during his diagnosis.”

Before the news was released, Jonray and Peter’s father Paco published this painting of his two sons on his Twitter account:

The Sánchez-Iglesias Brothers. (Artist,@Henriettagraham) pic.twitter.com/AOuoBsTy34

— Paco Sanchez (@PacoSanchez38) November 7, 2015

Jonray was a self-taught chef. While his younger brother Peter was doing a catering course and was working in the Casamia kitchen, he was studying graphic design and occasionally helping out with front of house and in the kitchen doing veg prep.

But one night the head chef walked out in the middle of service. “Pete had to really get himself out of the shit and my dad was so happy with his performance that he asked him to take over as head chef,” Jonray told The Staff Canteen in 2013.

“I hated my college course and I was helping out Peter more and more in the kitchen, so I ended up joining him. I learned everything on the job, getting the basics off Pete from what he’d learned at college and it just went from there.”

The pair opened their first restaurant, Fratelli in Cheltenham, after falling out with their father. But after that failed, they returned to the family trattoria working for free for a year to pay off their debts and then starting to transform the restaurant into what it is today, slowly removing lasagne and pizza off the menu and winning its first Michelin star.

Jonray was always fiercely ambitious, telling The Staff Canteen: “I don’t see the reason why one day we won’t have three stars. We’re always ambitious; we’re not just here making sandwiches; we’ve gone through the bad times and we’ve had some experiences that people like Gordon Ramsay never have, like having your own restaurant that’s under financial strain and no way out except cooking; we’ve cooked for our lives some nights and we still do now; we cook every day to keep this place ticking and we pump every ounce of money back into it.”

Jonray luis Sanchez-Iglesias 1983-2015, love u forever bro x pic.twitter.com/EUE6UVszFI

— Peter sanchez (@Petercasamia) November 9, 2015

Main photo: @jonraysanchez