Tributes Pour In For Food Network Star, NJ Native Chef Carl Ruiz

CHATHAM, NJ - In the hours and days after the passing of celebrity chef, frequent Food Network judge and former local business co-owner Carl Ruiz, friends and family have taken to social media and express their sorrow over his loss.

An official cause of death has not been released, but friend Matt Farah wrote on Instagram that Ruiz had “passed peacefully in his sleep.”

Ruiz and his ex-wife Marie Riccio owned Marie's Italian Seafood which as well as Marie's Chicken Joint and Marie's Italian Specialties in the Hickory Square Mall on Shunpike Road in Chatham. The pair divorced in 2018. Most recently, Ruiz opened LaCubana, a Cuban restaurant in the New York Meatpacking District, in June.

"On behalf of the La Cubana family, with heavy hearts, we are deeply saddened to share the passing of our beloved Executive Chef Carl Ruiz," La Cubana posted to social media. "No words can fully express our sadness at the sudden loss of our dear friend and brother."

Madison NJ PBA 92 posted to social media lamenting the loss of Ruiz, noting he was a good friend to the organization. Ruiz lived in Madison for a time.

"You will be missed," they posted to Facebook.

"This man was somehow fatherly, comforting, wise, reckless, brilliant, wickedly funny & unique all in 1. My life will be lonelier without him," Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli wrote on social media.

Another Iron Chef, Michael Symon said that Ruiz will be remembered for his sense of humor.

Chef Richard Blais asked that people take a food photo and hashtag it with #ruizing, a a phrase Ruiz invented to spread his carefree outlook on life.

Indeed, shortly before his death, Ruiz was #Ruizing his way through some local eateries in Maryland.

Ace of Cakes star Duff Goldman posted a photo of his own #Ruizing.

George Ruiz, Carl's brother, spoke on behalf of the family and said the late chef is loved and will be deeply missed.

"Our family mourns the loss of Carl Ruiz. He was all about great times, great food and great friends. Please remember his laugh and his wit," George Ruiz said. "He made everyone feel special."

George Ruiz's tweet was shared by Guy Fieri, who hosts a slew of shows on the Food Network. Several, like "Diners Drive-Ins and Dives" and "Guy's Grocery Games," featured Ruiz.

"I’m heartbroken that my friend chef Carl Ruiz is gone," Fieri wrote. "I have no words to describe what a great friend he was to me and my family. His ability to make me laugh and smile under any circumstances was only outshined by his talent as a chef."

Fieri said that his friend Ruiz was "one in a hundred million."

After opening Marie's in Chatham back in 2011, Fieri showed up in the Hickory Square Shopping Center stopped in for a bite and ended up being put to work.

"I've known Guy [Fieri] for a while," Ruiz said at the time. "His manager called me and asked me for the address [to Marie's], and there it was, he showed up."

In 2011, Ruiz told Patch that Fieri ended up having to help serve patrons in the packed eatery.

"Guy comes to visit and it was freakishly busy, so he started working making sandwiches," Ruiz had said. "All these kids were like, 'I can't believe Guy Fieri's making my lunch!' It was surreal."

Fieri returned a second time to the restaurant, but this time to film an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" in 2013.

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