Food Network Star Anne Burrell, Found Dead at 55, Always Knew She Would Be Famous

Anne Burrell, the Food Network chef found dead in her Brooklyn, home June 17 at age 55, was a TV star almost from the moment she first appeared as a sous chef on one of the first episodes of Iron Chef America in 2004, assisting Mario Batali. Her spiky hair and kitchen intensity fascinated viewers so much that she was eventually given her own cooking show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. When I interviewed her for my 2013 book From Scratch: Inside the Food Network, Burrell told me about her difficult upbringing, and her childhood fantasy that Julia Child was her friend. She spoke of a family member who struggled with drinking. Restaurant work often attracts people looking for surrogate families. I remember her in better times at karaoke singing “Country roads/ take me home…” You could not look away. She gave everything her all, including, as you’ll see below in this excerpt adapted from my book, on the set of her cooking show. Food Network is a still-powerful brand,and Burrell’s death hur...