Restaurateur Ben Byruch Dies Suddenly at 44

Restaurateur Ben Byruch, co-founder of New York City’s Pig & Khao and husband of chef and Top Chef alum Leah Cohen, has died at 44. The restaurant and a fundraising campaign say he died Nov. 10; no cause of death has been publicly disclosed. Byruch and Cohen opened the Southeast Asian-inspired restaurant together in 2012, married in 2016 and had two young sons. In a tribute, Pig & Khao remembered Byruch as the restaurant’s creative heart and asked for privacy for Cohen and their family. Friends and members of the culinary community have shared condolences, and a GoFundMe was created to help the family with memorial expenses and other immediate needs.