Mārtiņš Rītiņš

Mārtiņš Rītiņš (19 October 1949 – 11 February 2022) was a British-born Latvian chef, restaurateur, businessman and culinary TV presenter. In 2007, he was made Knight of the Order of the Three Stars, a meritorious award for Latvian citizens.

Biography

Born in Cheshire to Latvian parents and educated in England, Mārtiņš spent part of his life in Canada, but lived in Latvia from 1993.

In 1971, he graduated from Westminster Technical School in London. From the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, he worked for various catering companies in the Grand Metropolitan Hotels hotel chain. From 1984 to 1992, he owned Martins Catering Ltd in Toronto.

Rītiņš was gay. During the 1980s, he sang with a gay mens' choir in Toronto. Rītiņš had struggled with alcoholism as an adult, but later became sober and remained sober until his death.

For many years he hosted his own cooking television LTV show, Kas var būt labāks par šo?. Rītiņš was President of Latvia's Slow Food Association.

Rītiņš died of complications from COVID-19 on 11 February 2022, at the age of 72.