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 (June 17) at her Brooklyn home, at age 55, is the first for the family of personalities who make up the Food Network universe.
