Gene Hovis Dies in New York

Gene Hovis, a Southern-born chef who used his grandmother's recipes to become a caterer, friend and food adviser to New York society figures, died on Tuesday in New York from cardiac arrest. He was 59.

In the early 1990s, Hovis became the creative food director for Macy's East department stores, overseeing a splashy renovation of the Herald Square flagship store's food hall. “Everything Gene touched had the gentleness and graciousness of the South — even the hurly-burly of Macy's,” said his friend André Leon Talley, editor at large of Vogue.

He is survived by his companion, Hans-Joachim Teetz.