Anne Burrell

Infobox Chef
name = Anne Burrell

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birthdate = March 6, 1971
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education = Culinary Institute of America
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Anne W. Burrell born March 6, 1971 is an American celebrity chef and instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. Burrell is best known as one of Iron Chef Mario Batali's assistants in the American television spin-off series Iron Chef America.

Burrell is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has studied at the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners and in various restaurants in Italy.

Burrell is currently the executive chef of Centro Vinoteca, an Italian restaurant in New York City's West Village area which opened in 2007.

With her trademark spiky blond hair, Chef Anne Burrell has always been recognizable to people who follow the restaurant business. She has worked at some of the top restaurants in New York and has been Mario Batali’s right hand in all of his Food Network Iron Chef America battles. With the opening of Centro Vinoteca, Anne finally has a stage all her own.

Growing up in Cazenovia, a small town in upstate New York, Anne has had a connection to food from a young age, helping in the garden, picking lettuces for dinner and watching her mom use the fresh ingredients to make the family’s meals. It was only in college that she realized this was not a common experience. With the memories of food from home still fresh in her mind, she started cooking for herself and found great enjoyment in the process.

Shortly after graduating with a degree in Communications, Anne decided her future lay in the restaurant business and enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, at the same time working to gain as much experience as possible. Following graduation, she spent a year in Italy attending the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners in Piedmont. She also worked at La Taverna del Lupo in Umbria and La Bottega del' 30, a one-Michelin star restaurant in Tuscany. During this year, she came to understand the Italian philosophy of food and her experiences set her on the path that she remains on today.

Upon her return to the United States, Anne was hired as a sous chef at Felidia Restaurant, working with Lidia Bastianich, which was a tremendous learning experience and made her realize that what she had experienced in Italy could be produced here in New York.

From Felidia, she went on to Savoy in Soho as the chef of the prix fixe upstairs dining room. There Anne got to cook over an open wood fire and create menus that explored flavors from countries around the Mediterranean, while still applying the Italian philosophy ingrained in her. At Savoy, Anne came to develop her own personal style as a chef, one that reminds of her childhood and time in Italy—a real love of peasant food, pure, simple ingredients with intense flavors.

It was these feelings that directed Anne towards teaching. She taught at the Institute of Culinary Education for three years, taking the opportunity to share her excitement for cooking with people who felt the same passion. Though she enjoyed the time spent teaching, she realized that her true love was working in restaurants and she took over the Executive Chef position at Lumi Restaurant on the Upper East Side.

When a unique position became available at the Italian Wine Merchants, Anne jumped at the chance to be a part of the Batali/Bastianich empire. The position involved overseeing the private tasting room, where large high-end dinners took place accompanied by wine tastings. Anne handled everything from booking the events and coordinating client contacts to the cooking. The job also included salumi production and traveling to offsite events with Mario Batali. When Mario was offered a spot as one of America’s Iron Chef’s, he knew exactly who to enlist as a sous chef.

At Centro Vinoteca, Anne offers her “creative-authentic” Italian menu of small plates (piccolini), appetizers, pastas and main courses accented by the bold, pure flavors she is known for.

Burrell's Food Network show, "Secrets Of a Restaurant Chef" debuts June 29, 2008.

External links

* [http://www.iceculinary.com/news/people_10.shtml Burrell's Biography at the Institute for Culinary Education]
* [http://www.centrovinoteca.com/index.html Burrell's New York restaurant, Centro Vinoteca]