PEOPLE – Chef Andrew Zimmern is remembering his friend Anne Burrell.
Zimmern, 63, gave a touching speech honoring Burrell at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen on Thursday, June 19.
“This week we lost Anne,” Zimmern said, getting emotional. “And I know our entire community is beyond saddened.”
Calling Burrell “such a beautiful, gifted soul,” Zimmern added that she was a “trailblazer on the Food Network,” as well as “a brash, bold, loud New Yorker, and a woman who had a tremendous capacity for love.”
Noting that Burrell was “in the prime of life taken from us too soon,” Zimmern added that her death was “so difficult.” “How can we understand something that is incomprehensible?”
As those gathered prepared to celebrate the event, Zimmern added:
“Anne would want us to be laughing, to hunt down some late-night karaoke, to dance and belly up, to eat and drink and celebrate life this weekend. And while taken from us long before we would ever want to let her go, she is gone. May her memory be a blessing to her friends, her family, her fans and all who loved her.”
Prior to his speech, Zimmern shared a throwback photo of himself and Burrell laughing on Instagram.
“How I choose to remember people. Happy and laughing and believing that anything in life is possible,” he captioned the snap. “Sending all our love to her family, friends, and fans” …
