For Food Network Fans, Anne Burrell Was the Fun-Loving Aunt

New York Times

18-06-2025

Anne Burrell's great gift might have been that she really knew how to lean in.
A talented chef with TV-friendly charisma, she mixed in a my-way-or-the-highway attitude and a dramatic crest of platinum-blond hair. She became a populist star for the Food Network as it transformed from the home-cooking, dump-and-stir era of Rachael Ray and Ina Garten into one that blended restaurant-trained chefs and competition.
Her death on Tuesday at her Brooklyn home, at age 55, is the first for the family of personalities who make up the Food Network universe.
'We've lost some great chefs, but not one of us who saw TV become a big deal in the middle of our cooking career,' said Elizabeth Falkner, who got to know Ms. Burrell a decade ago when they appeared together on 'The Next Iron Chef.' They reconnected, after several years, at a dinner Ms. Falkner hosted at the Soho House last week.
Unlike some Food Network stars from its earliest days in the 1990s and 2000s — like Sara Moulton or Ms. Ray, who dislike competition shows — Ms. Burrell understood that everyday viewers wanted a big helping of celebrity chefs and outlandish competition.
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