Canberra chef Victor Kimble of Soul Food Kitchen dies

• Victor Kimble talks about food for the Fourth of July

Soul Food Kitchen restaurateur and chef Victor Kimble has died of cancer.

The Alabama-born chef opened the restaurant in Erindale in 2013, serving up barbecue ribs, po boys, jambalaya and other southern American dishes.

He died on Easter Thursday after a battle with prostate cancer.

Close friend Karen Neill said Kimble was a man with a heart of gold who would be missed by a wide circle of friends from Canberra, the Gold Coast and Sydney.

"Victor and I had a love of food together and he was just an amazing man. It was shocking to see him deteriorate as quickly as he did, I was with him all the way through right to the very end, holding his hand and giving him all the love that I could give him," she said.

"He had a fantastic sense of humour, he was a funny man. He had a heart of gold and more. He would do anything for anybody with basically no questions asked. He was very much a Christian."

The restaurant is now being run by two of Kimble's employees, Rebecca West and Alissa Whybrow, who have renamed it Rockin Ribs.

West said Kimble had originally planned to close Soul Food Kitchen as his health deteriorated but she and Whybrow asked if they could take over the lease and keep his food going.

"He wanted us to do our own thing, so we took over the lease, called it Rockin Ribs, gave it a paint job," West said.

"We're going to keep most of his recipes, we're going to phase in more American recipes it's not just Cajun and Creole. The ribs will always be there and the pulled pork. And the jambalaya, everyone loves it."

West said Kimble was a wonderful man who had helped his staff immensely. "We're really grateful that he showed us everything he did. We wouldn't be able to do everything we had done without him. He's just great. We're always in the kitchen trying to imitate his voice, trying to keep him alive even though he's gone," she said.

Derek Philliber became friends with Kimble after the chef came into Costco to purchase supplies for the restaurant.

He said Kimble was a very social man who sold a very good barbecue rib.

"What I found since this has all happened is the amount of hearts that he's touched here in Canberra is phenomenal," he said.

"The amount of love and support that's come through in the last month.... he had an incredible group of people who rallied round him."

Kimble is survived by his children Victor and Moizee who live in America.

Kimble's funeral was held on Monday, April 13, at the Twin City Church in Queanbeyan at 1.30pm.