Obituaries : Bert Greene; Food Expert and Author

Bert Greene, a cookbook author and food writer whose column “Bert Greene’s Kitchen” appeared in The Times in the early 1980s, has died at 65.

The New York City resident died Friday of a heart attack in a Manhattan hospital, said Judith Blahnik, an associate.

Author of six cookbooks, Greene was believed to be one of the first food entrepreneurs to open a gourmet takeout store. The success of that shop, started in Amagansett, N.Y., in 1966, encouraged him to leave his job as art promotions director at Esquire magazine to capitalize on his lifelong love, food.

In 1981 he won a Tastemaker Award from the International Assn. of Cooking Professionals and the Seagram’s company for his cookbook “Honest American Fare.”