Anne Burrell, the dynamic Food Network fixture whose gravity-defying blond swoop and high-octane presence made her one of the country’s most recognizable interpreters of Italian cooking, died Tuesday in Brooklyn at 55, her family announced. They did not specify a cause.
Before television stardom, Burrell logged years on Manhattan’s restaurant line, cooking at Savoy and Felidia. Viewers first met her as Mario Batali’s sous-chef on “Iron Chef America,” but her outsized personality quickly earned her a solo vehicle: “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef,” which debuted in 2008 and ran nine seasons. She remained a network mainstay, co-hosting the popular “Worst Cooks in America,” turning up on “Chopped,” “Food Network Star,” and more. The network remembered her as “a remarkable person and culinary talent — teaching, competing and sharing the joy of a great meal.”
Born Sept. 21, 1969, in Cazenovia, N.Y., Burrell chased her Julia Child-inspired dreams all the way to Italy, graduating from the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners. Back in New York, she joined Felidia, where she connected with chef Lidia Bastianich. Colleagues recall her intensity. Scott Conant, a “Worst Cooks” co-host, joked that when his team beat hers on a special episode, she avoided him for three months. “She was the most competitive person ever,” he said.
Burrell authored two best-selling cookbooks — “Cook Like a Rock Star” and “Own Your Kitchen” — both penned with food stylist Suzanne Lenzer. She famously loathed black pepper (“a spice like horseradish,” she said), though she grudgingly allowed it in pasta carbonara for tradition’s sake.
She leaves behind her husband, marketing executive Stuart Claxton, whom she married in 2021; her mother, Marlene Burrell; her sister, Jane Burrell-Uzcategui; and a stepson, Javier Claxton.
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