Be My Guest with Ina Garten — Tina Fey (October 19, 2025)

Podcast: Be My Guest with Ina Garten
Host: Ina Garten
Guest: Tina Fey
Date: October 19, 2025

Episode Overview

In this engaging and laughter-filled episode, Ina Garten welcomes comedian, writer, and producer Tina Fey to her East Hampton barn for a day of cooking, conversation, and heartfelt stories. Over breakfast panna cotta and a collaborative Greek-inspired dinner, Tina and Ina explore the intersections of comedy, cooking, career, friendship, and family. The episode is a warm, witty, and insightful glimpse into Fey’s life, creative philosophy, and her deep love of food.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. A Sweet Start: Breakfast Panna Cotta

• Ina prepares breakfast panna cotta with yogurt, cream, maple syrup, and berries for Tina, playing to Tina's fondness for custards.
  • "It's an option that you're allowed to eat custard for breakfast if you put fruit and granola on it." — Tina Fey (08:54)
• They discuss what panna cotta actually is and riff on its custardy, versatile nature.
  • "It's literally cooked cream... and what it is is cream and milk and vanilla or whatever the flavors are... and then it's a little bit of gelatin to thicken it. You can't overcook it, that's the good news. So that's basically custard without cooking it." — Ina Garten (09:18)

2. Food Stories from the Set

• Tina shares memorable (and sometimes gross) experiences eating for comedy.
  • Ate entire pizzas in one take and endured a "shrimp cocktail tower" on 30 Rock:
    "All the ones around them were getting kind of stinky under the lights." — Tina Fey (10:22)

3. The Hard Truths (and Joys) of Comedy

• Both acknowledge the challenge of comedy and surviving “bombing.”
  • "Once you've bombed, though, then you're free... Once you bomb and you realize you survived. Oh, now you should probably go do stand up. You freed yourself." — Tina Fey (10:57)
• Discussion of improv’s foundational lessons — high fun, low pay, big learning (11:13–11:50).

4. Friendship, Soulmates, and Life Connections

• A back-and-forth about what makes a true friend:
  • Humor and loving food are non-negotiables for both.
  • Tina on soulmates:
    "Colman [Domingo] says that he believes that there are such a thing as soulmates. And we have many of them, and you find them in different... Sometimes it's romantic, sometimes it's friendship." — Tina Fey (12:49)

5. Family Dynamics & Marriage Wisdom

• Tina discusses her relationship with her husband, composer Jeff Richmond—respect, humor, and having separate hobbies are key.
  • "Being respectful of each other and, you know, speaking kindly to each other [is important]... And I do think it's okay to also be like, sometimes we have hobbies that are separate, and my husband's becoming a gardener with each passing year." — Tina Fey (13:56)
• Their children roll their eyes at parent comedy; even the kids of Steve Carell do it (13:03–13:34).

6. Making it at SNL and Beyond

• Tina’s gratitude for her SNL years:
  "It's the only job in TV where you can write whatever you want every week and you can take risks." — Tina Fey (14:42)
• The creative rush and constant novelty of both SNL and Ina’s culinary world (15:03–15:09).

7. Advice for Women Breaking In

• Tina’s advice to aspiring writers and comedians:
  "If you want to make comedy, if you want to be a comedy writer, like, start writing, get it in front of an audience, make your friends read it... If they want to work in TV or film, to try to get any job on the set." (16:53)
• Ina reflects on the reality of earning your own cooking show — it’s the end of the line, not the beginning (16:36).

8. Cooking Up Memories: Greek Food & Family

• Tina recounts childhood Greek dishes, tweaks her mother made (“just a tiny bit of cinnamon” in pastizio), and the magic of church festivals.
  • "She'd do, like, a pan of spanakopita... just gets too much of a pain." — Tina Fey (19:52)
  • Funny anecdote about her great-aunt foraging dandelion greens — and her mom’s warning:
    "My mom finally told her, like, 'No, auntie, like, cats pee on those. We can't cook those.'" — Tina Fey (20:48)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tina’s Nervous Arrival:
  • "I'm not gonna cry and I'm not gonna kiss her on the mouth... We're gonna see if she is a real person or just something that middle aged women created with their minds." — Tina Fey (07:43)
• Ina’s Affection for Tina:
  • "Is there anybody who doesn't love Tina Fey? She's smart, she's funny, she's so much fun to spend time with." — Ina Garten (02:29)
• On Culinary Imperfection:
  • "You could put this on anything, really. You could [pour] this on a carton of cigarettes. If you poured this on and baked it, it'd be delicious." — Tina Fey, describing her Greek potatoes seasoning (24:20)
• The Rule of Threes in Comedy & Cooking:
  • "In my world, you know, I have to give you three potatoes because comedy — it's a rule of threes..." — Tina Fey (28:19)
  • "Design is three, too. You have to have an odd number of everything." — Ina Garten (28:29)
• On Cooking Together:
  • "We're like in an episode of The Bear now." — Ina Garten (27:24)
  • "I say these girls can cook." — Ina Garten (29:28)
• Tina’s Mock Critique:
  • "(Eating Ina’s chicken) Disgusting... Oh my God. I'm gonna kill myself. She hates it." (29:15)
  • "It's so good." (29:20)

Cooking Segments & Timestamps

08:54 – Breakfast panna cotta introduction
09:18–09:34 – What is panna cotta?
21:16–25:19 – Tina’s Greek Potatoes (Idaho potatoes, lemon juice, zest, chicken broth, dried oregano, olive oil, garlic; baked at 450°F for 50 min, finish with parsley and lemon slices)
25:40–27:44 – Ina’s Chicken with Mustard Sauce (bone-in thighs, salt/pepper, browned in olive oil, finished with onions, wine, Dijon and coarse mustard, crème fraiche)
28:07–28:41 – Plating, serving, and 'the rule of threes'

Tone and Feel

The conversation is authentic, witty, and warmly self-deprecating. Tina is at her clever, improvisational best, while Ina’s welcoming calm keeps things grounded. Their chemistry is palpable, mixing genuine admiration, playful humor, and practical wisdom, making the episode a delight — whether you love food, comedy, or the art of good conversation.

Useful for New Listeners?

Absolutely. You’ll feel as if you’ve shared the table with two great friends, walked away laughing, and learned both a life philosophy and a killer Greek potato recipe in the process.