Celebrities mourn famed restaurateur

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This article was published 27/11/2019 (2167 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Harry Morton, the founder of Pink Taco and son of Hard Rock co-founder Peter Morton, has died at 38.

Variety and People report that police confirmed Morton was found dead in his Beverly Hills home Saturday.

“We are saddened by the passing of Harry Morton, the founder and former owner of Pink Taco,” Pink Taco spokesman Tim Ragones said in a statement. “Harry was a visionary and restaurateur ahead of his time, and his contributions, both professionally to our brand and personally to those he worked with, were numerous. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family and friends during this difficult time.”

Morton is best known for founding Pink Taco, a Mexican restaurant and food truck company, in 1999 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near the Las Vegas Strip. It has since expanded to locations in Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.

He came from a famous hospitality industry family: his father, Peter, co-founded the Hard Rock Cafe in 1971 and owned and operated the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Vegas until 2006. His grandfather Arnie co-founded the Morton’s Steakhouse chain in 1978 and his uncle Michael is also a restaurateur.

Morton’s half-sister, Domino Harvey, died at 35 in July 2005 of a drug overdose. Three months later, Domino, a movie based on her life, debuted starring Keira Knightley.

Harvey and Morton shared a mother, model Paulene Stone.

Harvey Morton also had ties to the celebrity world: he previously dated Lindsay Lohan and Demi Moore and was rumoured to have had connections to Jennifer Aniston and Britney Spears.

Lohan mourned her ex in an Instagram post Sunday, sharing a black-and-white photo of the two at a movie première in Venice in 2006.

“Best friends. Best life,” she wrote.

Stars like Ashton Kutcher, Luke Wilson, Tara Reid and Oliver Hudson were photographed at Morton’s 2002 birthday party, hosted at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s since-closed Baby’s Nightclub.

Earlier this year, Morton made headlines after purchasing Elvis Presley’s Beverly Hills estate. The Los Angeles Times reported at the time that he spent US$25.5 million on the 5,367-square-foot house, which his father had previously owned for about two years and sold in 2014.

— USA Today