Celebrity Chef Carl Ruiz Dead At 44, Last Tweets Feature Maryland Eateries
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Celebrity chef Carl Ruiz, best known for his appearances on the Food Network, died suddenly Saturday. He was 44 years old.
Before his untimely death, Ruiz had spent at least Friday in Maryland -- eating at restaurants in Baltimore and Harford County.
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Some of the tweets from Ruiz seem eerie now as he joked about his "cold, dead black heart."
Ruiz tweeted Friday as he ate at Baltimore's famous Chaps Pit Beef.
"My lord this sandwich is [a] national treasure," Ruiz tweeted. Chaps Pit Beef was recently named Maryland's Best Fast Food by Food & Wine Magazine.
Another tweet about Chaps fries eerily foreshadowed his own death.
"Absolutely perfect hand cut french fries homemade gravy. Be still my cold dead black heart," Ruiz tweeted.
The chef, who owned La Cubana in New York City's meatpacking district, also tried Maryland's famous crab cakes.
He did not tweet where he got the crab cakes, but his Twitter location said he was in Havre de Grace, and commenters suggested he may have been at Backfin Blues Creole de Graw, because the crab cakes were served with creole classics of red beans and rice and collard greens.
At this time it's unknown whether Ruiz was in town for an event or just to grab some of Maryland's favorite foods.
The New York Police Department could not confirm details of Ruiz's death. Matt Farah, who paid tribute to the chef on Instagram, claimed that Ruiz may have suffered a heart attack in his sleep.
La Cubana told CBS News it will establish The Carl Ruiz Scholarship Foundation in his honor. The restaurant added that it was "deeply saddened" by the news of his death.
"No words can fully express our sadness at the sudden loss of our dear friend and brother. Beyond his immense culinary talent, Carl's larger-than-life personality never failed to entertain, enlighten, and uplift every person he encountered along his #Ruizing adventures," La Cubana wrote in an Instagram post. "His fierce intellect and infectious humor knew no bounds."
