Mariusz Komenda, the Polish chef and restaurateur who reached the semifinals of “MasterChef” Poland, has died at 44, less than a year after a brain tumor diagnosis. He died Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, following his illness.
His funeral, preceded by a funeral Mass, was set for Saturday, Oct. 10, at the municipal cemetery in Środa Śląska, Gazeta Wrocławska reported.
The cooking competition airs on TVN, and the Polish broadcaster 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.
A Semifinal Run in 2019
The eighth season of “MasterChef Poland” aired in 2019 and made Komenda’s name familiar across the country. He placed among the final five and did not win the title. He flew to Mexico with the other semifinalists, fulfilling one of his culinary dreams. He returned to the program in later seasons as a guest and eventually as a juror.
“Cooking is an art,” he once said in remarks translated from Polish. He built his cooking around fresh products, a range of cuisines and plate presentation.
Two Restaurants in His Hometown
Komenda opened two restaurants in his hometown of Środa Śląska, a Lower Silesian town in powiat średzki, where he lived and worked. He opened Sztuka Restaurant in 2020, turning his passion into daily work, and gave up running his own restaurant in 2023.
He opened Father & Son, a Mexican restaurant, in April 2025 with his son, Mateusz Komenda, in the center of Środa Śląska. Local cooking competitions seated him on their juries, residents ate food he prepared for them, and charity initiatives drew his participation — his reach extended well past the dining rooms he ran.
Komenda said his love of cooking came from his family home. Teresa, his mother, invited him into the kitchen to make dishes alongside her, then asked her son to judge how they tasted. He made his first dish on his own at 10 years old, a heart-shaped cake for Mother’s Day. He spoke early of wanting a restaurant of his own in Środa Śląska, and years before the show he talked about running it one day with his son beside him. Both ambitions came true.
Diagnosis Came in January
Komenda was admitted to a hospital in January 2026 with a suspected stroke. Doctors found instead a tumor of the right thalamus with the radiological features of a malignant glioma. Specialists opted for immediate intervention as his condition deteriorated. He underwent two major head surgeries within a short span, and in the second operation doctors removed part of his skull bone to reduce the risk of further complications. Radiotherapy, further treatment and intensive rehabilitation followed. He received care at the State Medical Institute in Warsaw and at a hospital in Legnica.
Oncology tests also turned up other conditions that required treatment. He underwent neurorehabilitation in the hope of regaining his physical abilities.
Komenda made his diagnosis public on Instagram in March. He wrote that he had at first assumed a temporary crisis and that the reality proved far harder, and that the moment upended his life and the lives of those closest to him. He said he had been fighting every day since, for his health and a return to normal life.
Residents, friends, local groups and organizations mobilized around him. Supporters organized an online fundraiser and charity events to pay for further therapy. A fundraising appeal launched in March sought money for medication, rehabilitation, scans and travel, with a target of around £31,000.
Tributes From Co-Stars
Grzegorz Zawierucha, a fellow 2019 “MasterChef Poland” contestant and the series winner, posted a tribute. “Maniuś… I can’t manage to write anything. Goodbye, brother. See you. Prepare the most delicious dinner today, my friend,” he wrote.
Co-star Mateusz Krojenka said he was “wrecked” by the news and praised Komenda’s “infectious smile.”
A serious illness had occupied his final months, local news outlet TVi Roland said, offering condolences to his family and friends. Words equal to its sorrow were hard to find, TVN said, adding that its thoughts were with his family, his loved ones and everyone who had the chance to know him.
