THE New Year's Eve meal that contained death cap mushrooms and killed two people was prepared in a restaurant kitchen, Canberra health authorities said last night.

Chef Liu Jun, 38, who made the meal at the Chinese bistro in the Harmonie German Club, and a Chinese woman, Tsou Hsiang, 52, died from liver failure in a Sydney hospital while waiting for transplants.

Death Cap Mushroom ... ‘He’s super into fresh food, and that’s part of the problem here.' Credit:Marina Neil

Mystery surrounds another man, 51, who remains in Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a stable condition with death cap poisoning.

ACT Health initially said this man was part of the same group, but ACT police said this was not the case.