The Farish House owner & chef Lori Hassler dies after battle with cancer

Sad news to report: Lori Hassler, owner and chef of The Farish House in downtown Phoenix, has passed away at age 54.

As many in the Valley food and drink community are aware, Hassler was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer in 2020.

After graduating from Tempe McClintock High and Arizona State University, Hassler traveled and worked in Europe, marrying her husband, Eric, in Italy.

After the couple returned the Valley,  the mostly self-taught chef launched her first restaurant, the well-regarded Radda Cafe Bar, in Scottsdale in 2003.

When the restaurant’s lease ran out during the 2008 recession, Hassler opted not to renew and instead went to work for local wine and spirits distributor Young’s Market.

By 2018, however, she was ready to get back in the restaurant business, opening The Farish House in the former brick home of William Farish, Phoenix’s first city manager, built in 1899.

While successfully shepherding the bistro through the covid pandemic, Hassler began experiencing back pain that later was diagnosed as ovarian cancer that had spread to her brain.

Chemotherapy did little to slow down Hassler, who continued to oversee her restaurant and became an active member of AZ Women in Food, a group created in 2021 to support woman-led local food businesses.

In May, Hassler watched her daughter, Sydney, graduate from high school, and last month she and Eric were able to return to Italy to celebrate their 25th anniversary.