From a New York Times obit by Kim Severson headlined “Michael Chiarello, Chef and Food Network Star, Dies at 61”:

Michael Chiarello, a hard-working, TV-ready chef from California’s Central Valley whose culinary prowess and intuitive knack for marketing helped define a chapter of Italian-influenced Northern California cuisine and the rural escapism of the Napa Valley lifestyle, died on Friday in Napa. He was 61.

His death resulted from an acute allergic reaction that led to anaphylactic shock, said Giana O’Shaughnessy, his daughter. The cause of the allergic reaction has not been identified.