Restaurant critic Egon Ronay has died at the age of 94 after a short illness.
Ronay, who was born in Hungary in 1915, wrote his first guidebook in 1956 after managing several restaurants and contributing to the Daily Telegraph.
He continued to publish the books for three decades, helping to usher in the era of restaurant reviews.
Paying tribute, Michelin-starred celebrity chef Raymond Blanc said Ronay was a visionary who had pushed up "the standard of British cuisine".
Ronay died on Saturday morning at his Berkshire home with his wife and two daughters by his side, said close friend and broadcaster Nick Ross.
"He was, in the most literal sense, incredible, right up until the last few weeks of his life - he was sharp as a button," said Ross, who had known the writer for 15 to 20 years.
"We went for a tasting with him four months ago and he had this remarkable ability to taste flavours in anything.
"Right up until his death, even young chefs regarded him as the monarch".
Blanc said winning Ronay's Restaurant of the Year award in 1978, for Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Oxfordshire, "changed his life".
He said: "[Ronay] was meticulous, he was a visionary and he knew what gastronomy should be.
"There's no doubt that he had a huge, huge influence and he helped British chefs to believe in themselves".
Ronay was the son of a prominent restaurateur in Budapest whose businesses were destroyed during and after World War II.
