Mariusz Komenda, the Polish chef and restaurateur who cooked his way to the semifinals of “MasterChef” Poland and then opened two restaurants in his hometown, has died at 44, less than a year after a brain tumor diagnosis. Reports of his death emerged Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
TVN, the Polish broadcaster that airs the cooking competition, confirmed his death in a statement translated from Polish. “Mariusz was part of the MasterChef family. We will remember him as a man full of passion, energy, and a love for cooking,” the broadcaster said.
Komenda competed on the eighth season of “MasterChef Poland” in 2019, the run that made his name familiar across the country. He reached the final five and flew to Mexico with the other semifinalists, fulfilling one of his culinary dreams. He did not win the title, but he kept coming back, returning to the program in later seasons as a guest and eventually as a juror.
A Mother’s Kitchen in Lower Silesia
Long before the television lights, there was a kitchen table in Środa Śląska, the Lower Silesian town in powiat średzki where Komenda lived and worked. He said his love of cooking came from his family home, where his mother, Teresa, invited him to prepare dishes with her and asked him to judge how they tasted. At age 10 he produced his first dish on his own: a heart-shaped cake for Mother’s Day.
Even then he talked about wanting a restaurant of his own in Środa Śląska. He also talked, years before the show, about running it one day with his son beside him.
Two Restaurants in Środa Śląska
Both ambitions came true. In 2020 he opened Sztuka Restaurant, turning the passion into daily work, and he built his cooking around fresh products, a range of cuisines and the way a plate was presented. “Cooking is an art,” he once said, in remarks translated from Polish.
He gave up running his own restaurant in 2023. In April 2025 he and his son, Mateusz Komenda, opened Father & Son in the center of Środa Śląska — the restaurant he had imagined aloud years earlier.
His reach in the county went well beyond his dining rooms. He sat on the juries of local cooking competitions, cooked for residents and took part in charity initiatives.
A Diagnosis and a Town’s Response
That life changed in January 2026, when Komenda was admitted to a hospital with a suspected stroke. Doctors instead found a tumor of the right thalamus with the radiological features of a malignant glioma. His condition deteriorated so quickly that specialists opted for immediate intervention, and within a short span he underwent two major head surgeries, followed by radiotherapy, further treatment and intensive rehabilitation.
He made the diagnosis public in a March 25 Instagram post, writing that he had at first assumed he was facing a temporary crisis and that the reality proved far harder. The moment had upended his life and the lives of those closest to him, he wrote, and he had been fighting every day since for his health and a return to normal life.
The town answered. Residents, friends, local groups and organizations mobilized around him, and an online fundraiser and charity events were organized to pay for further therapy. Local news outlet TVi Roland said he had struggled with a serious illness over his final months and offered condolences to his family and friends.
TVN said it was hard to find words equal to its sorrow and that its thoughts were with his family, his loved ones and everyone who had the chance to know him. No exact date of death has been given.
