Anne Burrell, the popular former restaurant chef who hosted the Food Network‘s “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef” and co-hosted “Worst Cooks in America,” died Tuesday in Brooklyn. She was 55.
“Anne was a remarkable person and culinary talent – teaching, competing and always sharing the importance of food in her life and the joy that a delicious meal can bring. Our thoughts are with Anne’s family, friends and fans during this time of tremendous loss,” the Food Network said in a statement.
A co-host of “Worst Cooks in America” from 2010 to 2024, she did not appear on the most recent season.
Burrell was one of the Iron Chefs, serving as sous-chef to Mario Batali from the show’s beginning in 2005, and went on to compete in “The Next Iron Chef Super Chefs.” The former chef at New York restaurants including Felidia, Savoy and Joseph Bastianich and Batali’s wine store Centro Vinoteca, she was also a contestant on the first season of the “Chopped All-Stars Tournament.”
Burrell also appeared on the Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” in 2009, and made numerous appearances on shows including “Rachael Ray,” “The Kitchen,” “Guilty Pleasures” and “Cutthroat Kitchen.”
After participating in more than 200 culinary competitions, she told the Tasting Table, “I truly in my heart feel that your food knows how you’re feeling when you cook it and it reacts accordingly. I like to put happy and joy into my food, and it’s not so serious. I teach the worst cooks in the world. I mean, you got to know how to do that. So, to me, I want to express to people, ‘Take the fear factor out of it and put the fun factor in.’”
She previously hosted the series “Chef Wanted With Anne Burrell” in 2020-2013.
Born in New York, Burrell graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and then worked in Italy after graduation. She opened her own restaurant Phil & Anne’s Good Time Lounge in Brooklyn in 2017.
She most recently competed on Food Network’s “House of Knives,” which premiered in March, and wrote two cookbooks, “Cook Like a Rock Star” and “Own Your Kitchen: Recipes to Inspire and Empower.”
Burrell served on the Garden of Dreams Foundation Advisory Board and was also a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Celebrity Ambassador, where she was an advocate for juvenile diabetes awareness. She was also an advocate for City Harvest, where she served on their Food Council.
She is survived by her husband Stuart, his son Javier, her mother Marlene and sister Jane.
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