Ava Chef Randall Copeland Dies

News broke earlier today that Randall Copeland, chef at the celebrated suburban restaurant Ava, died this morning at the age of 39. Culture Map is reporting the chef died in his sleep and the cause of death is still unknown. Copeland worked alongside Graham Dodds at Bolsa when it first...

By Scott Reitz

April 2, 2013

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News broke earlier today that Randall Copeland, chef at the celebrated suburban restaurant Ava, died this morning at the age of 39. Culture Map is reporting the chef died in his sleep and the cause of death is still unknown.

Copeland worked alongside Graham Dodds at Bolsa when it first opened, ushering the farm-to-table movement in a city where seasonal cooking was still quite rare. He then teamed up with chef Nathan Tate to open AVA which focused heavily on farm-fresh produce. In his 2009 review of the Rockwall restaurant Dave Fairies said his experience was a nearly unbroken series of "wows," "damns" and indecipherable sounds ending in "that's good."

We'll update you when more news is available.

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