Ava Zonfrillo, the eldest daughter of celebrity chef Jock, has penned a heartfelt tribute to her father after his shock death three weeks ago.
Ms Zonfrillo, 22, posted the tribute on her Instagram account on Sunday, exactly three weeks after the 46-year-old MasterChef judge was found unresponsive in a Melbourne hotel room.
“Still can’t accept that we’ll be remembering you for more time than we had you, but it doesn’t mean we’ll love you any less,” she wrote.
“I love you dad, always.”
The post was accompanied by eight photos and two videos of Zonfrillo, some of them featuring the father and daughter together. Among them was a short loop of Zonfrillo blowing an exaggerated kiss to the camera.
The post came a week after a funeral service for the Scottish-born TV chef was held in Sydney.
Singer Jimmy Barnes, who considered Zonfrillo “like a brother”, performed Amazing Grace at the service with daughter Mahalia Barnes.
Wife Lauren Fried and MasterChef co-host Andy Allen helped carry the late chef’s coffin from the service.
“I know days like this are meant to be a celebration of someone’s life, so I will try really hard to do that through my immense sadness,” Ms Fried said at the service, Ten News reported.
The service was also attended by celebrity chefs George Calombaris, Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge, who was visibly upset.
Ms Zonfrillo and her sister Sophia are the celebrity chef’s adult children from a previous marriage. He also shared son Alfie and daughter Isla with Ms Fried.
Zonfrillo died suddenly on May 1, while his family was in Rome. He had returned to Australia ahead of the premiere of the latest series of MasterChef, which was due to begin on May 2.
Tributes came from around the world for him, including fellow celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay, as well as actor Rebecca Gibney and former Australian of the year Dylan Alcott.
Victoria Police have since confirmed they believe Zonfrillo’s death was the result of natural causes. They are, however, still awaiting an official report from the coroner.
His death delayed the screening of MasterChef by a week. Network Ten decided to go ahead with the series with the full support of Zonfrillo‘s family, it said.
-with AAP
