William Poon: key obituary facts
Is William Poon dead? Yes. William Poon died on July 1, 2026, at age 81.
Cause of death: William Poon's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was William Poon known for?
He was a British chef.
More about William Poon
Born: 1 January 2000.
Gender: male.
Occupation: chef.
Nationality: United Kingdom.
Children: Amy Poon.
William Poon, a Chinese–British chef and restaurateur, died on July 1, 2026.
Born on January 1, 2000, he built a career in cooking from a young age and was described as a seventh-generation master chef. He worked in Macau and Hong Kong, where he also trained with a Swiss pâtissière, before moving to the UK in the mid-1960s.
With his wife, Cecilia, he opened Poon’s Restaurant and later established Poon’s of Covent Garden in 1976; that restaurant received a Michelin star in 1980. The Poon family name became associated with Cantonese cooking in London, including dishes such as wind-dry sausages, wind-dry duck and clay pot rice, and the restaurants counted celebrities including Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra and Sean Connery among their customers.