Anne Burrell is a regular on the Food Network, known for her spiky hair and
equally funky personality. We're diving into the backstory of the celebrity chef.
Anne Burrell has always been known for her love of spiky, wild hair. It's a signature look that
embodies her bold personality, and one she's said to have favored since she was in high school.
Her typical color is an icy bleach blonde, but she's been known to mix it up with pink tips.
She even gave a step-by-step guide on how she creates her look on Rachael Ray's website with
a technique that includes dousing her damp hair with hair spray, combing it through,
hitting it with a blow dryer, and using her hands to finish off the signature spiky style.
According to the book "Anne Burrell" by Kathlyn Gay, the star has always been blonde,
whether naturally or by keeping it bright with bleach. Anne says she's always had
"wild hair" and attributes her love of the hairstyle to being a "child of the ‘80s."
According to Burrell, TV and cooking were heavy influences on her since she was a little girl.
Particularly, according to a Q&A with Total Food Service,
she watched Julia Child quite regularly during her childhood. She recalled,
"In my mom's words, I became a chef because I watched Julia when I was little."
She's said that when she was younger she would refer to Julia Child as more
than just a fun person to watch -- she called the beloved TV host her friend.
"Welcome! I'm Julia Child. We're gonna have a great onion soup supper today."
However, she doesn't give Julia Child all the credit for kickstarting her culinary career,
adding that her mom was a major influence on her future as a chef as well.
The Food Network personality explained in a 2019 interview with "Diabetes Self-Management,"
"Julia is a huge inspiration to me, but my mother was always a great cook and inspired me a lot."
While Anne Burrell has been fascinated with cooking since she was a child,
she didn't always think of being a chef as a potential full-time career.
In an interview with Food & Beverage magazine,
she said she decided that she would get a career in the hospitality industry. Burrell reflected,
"I was 23 and I had a rotten job. I had an epiphany and I remember
everything about that moment; what I was wearing,
what time of day it was and I told myself that I was way too young to be this miserable."
Burrell says she decided to try out culinary school and "never looked back." So while
the path of a chef wasn't her first option, it looks as though it was meant to be. Especially
because she particularly loves the hard work and creativity that is involved with being a chef.
After Burrell learned her culinary tricks and techniques in the classroom,
she decided to head into the field to get some hands-on training about Italian cuisine.
After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Burrell made the trip over to
Italy where she spent a year studying at the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners,
learning all about the "culinary landscape and traditions of Italy."
In addition to studying abroad, Burrell also worked at the restaurants La Taverna del Lupo
and La Bottega del' 30, the latter which is a one-Michelin star restaurant in Tuscany.
As a result of all that hard work, she got valuable hands-on experience in
Italian cuisine both in and out of the classroom.
So her beloved bolognese recipe, which is highly rated on the Food Network website,
is truly a labor of love.
"Oh! Exactly what I was expecting. I'm going back for more."
After upping her Italian culinary knowledge in Italy, Burrell returned to the U.S. ready to
show off her chops. According to Food Network, her first job was as a sous chef at New York
City's Felidia, which was owned by another Food Network regular — Lidia Bastianich.
That connection undoubtedly helped Burrell's career, as Bastianich has been a staple chef
in the Italian-American cuisine space since the '90s, when she first appeared on TV cooking shows.
"I bring the Italian culture,
sort of the traditional Italian culture, the regional Italian culture."
Since opening in the early 1980s, Bastinaich's Manhattan flagship restaurant has received
extremely high praise, becoming one of the city's most iconic fine-dining institutions.
So it definitely wasn't a bad place for Burrell to get her foot in the door and learn the ins
and outs of the New York City restaurant scene from someone who is not only an amazing chef
and respected restaurant owner, but who understood the world of TV cooking as well.
While Bastianich was instrumental in helping Burrell kickstart her career,
chef Mario Batali propelled it to new heights.
Burrell began working with Batali when she was appointed as a chef for Italian Wine Merchants,
his wine store/event space he owned with Lidia Bastianich's son Joseph. After that,
Batali was the first person to get Burrell cooking in front of a camera. She joined Batali as a sous
chef for the pilot taping of Food Network's "Iron Chef America" in 2005. And the rest was history.
In an interview with Canisius College Magazine,
Burrell expressed her shock at being selected. She said,
"Why he asked me, out of the hundreds of people who worked for him,
I never questioned it and I never looked back."
From then on, she's been a "Food Network" staple ever since,
thanks to Batali taking a chance on her.
Earlier in her career, Burrell took a sabbatical from the restaurant
world to teach at the Institute of Culinary Education for three years.
In a 2007 interview with Restaurant Girl, Burrell said being burnt out
from working in commercial kitchens led her to pursue teaching. She said,
"I needed a change of scenery,
but something still involved with cooking and it definitely made me a better cook."
The stint helped her perfect her techniques and figure out the next step she wanted
to take with her cooking career. In the interview with Food & Beverage magazine,
Burrell gave the advice to aspiring chefs to learn — and eat — as much as they possibly can.
As far as her personal life goes, Burrell celebrated getting engaged to her fiance
Stuart Claxton during April 2020 in her hometown of Cazenovia, New York.
According to People, the pair actually met on the dating app Bumble. According to Burrell,
the pair both immediately knew that they were meant to be together for the long haul.
While Burrell has never previously been married, she was previously engaged to a female chef,
Koren Grieveson. After speculation that she'd been outed in 2012 by "Chopped" host Ted Allen,
Burrell said that she has never made a "secret" of her sexuality. Her engagement
to Grieveson did not last, but hopefully she really has found love with her new beau.
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