ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Colourful culinary identity and steakhouse entrepreneur Ian ‘Hogster’ Breath has passed away after a suspected heart attack on the Queensland Sunshine Coast earlier this afternoon.
The 38-year-old was rushed to a private veterinarian clinic in Mooloolaba shortly after 1pm local time but was turned away after staff discovered it was just an incredibly sick man wearing a hot pink hog costume. The resto-bar icon died a short time later at Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
It’s understood by The Advocate that Mr Breath was unmarried at the time of his death and does not have any children but leave behind a rich, cultural legacy that spans over four decades.
Many of Mr Breath’s culinary colleagues and rivals have expressed their shock at the legend’s passing.
Television chef and face of many cheap supermarket BBQ tools, Curtis Stone, said via X, formally known as Twitter, that Hogster’s famous “18-hour slow cooked steaks” inspired not just him but many other chefs and cooks of his era.
“Vale Ian! I hope they’re ready for your famous Hogspitality up there in Hog Heaven!”
Another great fan of ‘Hogspitality’ is Sydney dining titan Neil Perry, who explained via TikTok that he still eats curly fries and drowns his steak in cheesy mushroom sauce to this day after first trying it at a Port Douglas Hog’s Breath Cafe.
“There’s a lot of Hog’s Breath in my new place in Sydney, Margaret,” said Perry in a short statement.
“Ian will be missed. A true trailblazer.”
An investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Breath’s treatment at the Sunshine Coast veterinarian clinic is underway and a report will be prepared for the Coroner.
More to come.
