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.
It was the secret to the success of “Worst Cooks in America,” which has run for 28 seasons. Ms. Burrell came off as your tough but fun aunt from upstate New York. She wasn’t going to be easy on the contestants, but she was also their cheerleader. She had a particular gift for explaining things, which many chefs do not. The show was an original, and spawned a genre that includes “Nailed It!” on Netflix.
(Ms. Burrell did not appear this year in the latest season of “Worst Cooks,” the first time since the show’s 2010 debut that she wasn’t involved. Food Network executives have not explained her absence.)
For the network, which is navigating the split of its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, into two companies, the question is how to stand out as a still-powerful brand, said Allen Salkin, the New York journalist who in 2013 published “From Scratch,” a critical look at the history of Food Network. “The network lost its power to make new stars a long time ago,” he said.
As the food media has become more fractured, moving from magazines to cable TV to streaming and social media, the network has relied on stars who not only cook, but come with shticks that can border on caricature.
“It’s gone from kitchen personalities to cartoons,” Mr. Salkin said.
To her fans, though, Ms. Burrell was simply a great cook who loved to perform and knew how to deliver exactly what viewers wanted.
Ms. Ray, whose first Food Network show, “30-Minute Meals,” debuted in 2001, was a bridesmaid at Ms. Burrell’s 2021 wedding and appeared on four seasons of “Worst Cooks.” She calls Ms. Burrell the Bette Davis of food TV celebrity. “She is invincible.”
When Ms. Ray was a young Food Network star, she felt the stress of trying to execute all the notes that came in during shoots. Not Ms. Burrell.
“Anne was always like: ‘Uh, no. No. I’m not doing that. This is how it’s going to be whether you like it or not,’” Ms. Ray said. “She was tough but fair. She knew it was a game, and she understood you have to keep it interesting, but she was also a defender and a protector” of the contestants.
Also, Ms. Ray said, she might break out in dance at any moment on set.
Marc Murphy, a New York chef who was a judge on the original “Chopped” and appeared with Ms. Burrell on “Worst Cooks,” watched fans fall all over her. They picked up her catchphrases — a growly “Brown food is good” or “Salty like the ocean, but not like the Dead Sea” — and acted as if she were more a friend than a celebrity.
The appeal of shows like hers hit him for the first time when he appeared with Guy Fieri on “Guy’s Grocery Games.” Mr. Murphy was standing in the middle of a grocery store with $20 to buy ingredients (only from certain aisles) for four dishes.
“I realized in that moment that people see themselves here standing in the grocery store,” he said. “Same with ‘Worst Cooks.’ People watch that show and go, “Oh, my God, that’s me.’”
Off camera, Ms. Burrell was part of a loose family of food-TV stars who grew up together — at least when it came to their fame.
Not everyone spent time together or shared details of their career moves, but they would often call to see who would agree to attend a food event or work together on an episode or two of a show.
“Some people think we all live in the same house,” Mr. Murphy said. “When we’re traveling around, people might recognize you here or there, but if there’s more than one us together out in the wild it becomes a bigger thing. It’s crazy.”
Ms. Burrell’s colleagues have spent the hours since her death checking in with each other, wondering about her death (the cause is still under investigation by the medical examiner) and recounting the times they spent with her.
The chef Andrew Zimmern was with her a few months ago for a food festival in Puerto Rico, and last year spent five days on a Chefs Making Waves cruise, where she crushed the karaoke nights.
“Anne’s appeal was broad, because if you loved food she was an admirable technician who knew how to cook,” he said. “If you loved someone who was funny and at times outrageous, she was for you. ”
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Kim Severson is an Atlanta-based reporter who covers the nation’s food culture and contributes to NYT Cooking.
The post For Food Network Fans, Anne Burrell Was the Fun-Loving Aunt appeared first on New York Times.
