Ina Garten on Her Memoir, Marriage and Becoming Barefoot Contessa - Part 1

Summary

Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist
Episode: Ina Garten on Her Memoir, Marriage and Becoming Barefoot Contessa – Part 1
Date: December 21, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this special live episode recorded at City Winery in New York City, Willie Geist sits down with beloved chef, author, and television personality Ina Garten. The conversation traces Ina’s evolution from White House budget analyst to food icon—the Barefoot Contessa—delving into her newly-released memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens. Ina opens up about her childhood and marriage, her leap of faith into food, the growth of her brand, and the humble, relatable approach that continues to endear her to audiences and even celebrities around the world.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Live Audience & Ina’s Unique Celebrity

• Willie Geist sets the tone by highlighting the exceptional energy and affection from the live crowd for Ina.
  • “I thought for a minute, this must be what it was like when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan in ’64—leapt to their feet in the…” [03:22]
• Ina gently deflects the attention:
  • “It was you, Willie.” *[03:38]

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2. Transitioning from Cooking Shows to Conversations

• Be My Guest: Ina discusses her shift from cooking on camera to hosting in-depth interviews.
  • “When you’re doing a cooking show… I was doing something that I already know how to do again, to teach people… But all of a sudden, I’m sitting and talking to somebody who’s really interesting… it’s about starting a conversation.'' [04:30]
• She prepares meticulously and frames shows as intimate, dinner-party conversations that she's eavesdropping on as much as leading.

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3. Interview Dreams: Ina’s Wishlist

• Ina answers quickly and endearingly when asked who she'd most like to host:
  • Ina Garten: “Taylor Swift. That’s easy. She’s a little busy.” [05:54]
• Ina recounts Taylor Swift’s visit years earlier, breaking the ice with anecdotes about food, celebrity, and real connection:
  • “We asked her very famous publicist… what Taylor likes to eat… She likes my mustard roasted fish, roast beef… a friend said, that doesn’t sound like Taylor Swift, that sounds like a Ukrainian grandmother!” [06:13]

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4. Connecting through Food & Community

• Ina reflects on the ongoing shock at her influence and why people form such a strong bond with her work:
  • “I think that cooking creates a community around you... I’ve given [people] the tools to do something that makes them feel good about themselves… it’s like giving you the tools to do something for yourself.” [07:48]

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5. On Writing Her Memoir: Be Ready When the Luck Happens

• Willie asks Ina about sharing vulnerable and personal stories from her life:

  • “There’s a lot in this book that you didn’t have to tell the world… why go beyond the kitchen?” [08:36]

• Ina stresses hard work, resilience, and being defined by one’s choices rather than circumstances:

  • “I wanted people to know… it’s not easy, but the effort you put in is worthwhile… You can decide to do it differently.” [08:55]

• She candidly recounts a painful memory:

  • “I remember when I was probably 14, my father said to me, nobody will ever love you. Which is such a harsh thing to say to a child, especially a girl.” [10:41]
  • “Find somebody that believes in you and hang out. Don’t let them go.” [11:02]

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6. On Her Relationship with Jeffrey

• From early days at Dartmouth (where she was the only girl) to marriage, Ina describes living in the moment and deep partnership:
  • “I live in the moment. I don’t ever look ahead that much… I just had a wonderful time with him… he never proposed to me, he just said, so we’ll get married in December. I was like, what?” [11:41]

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7. The White House to Westhampton: A Leap of Faith

• Ina tells the story of leaving a prestigious position in the Office of Management and Budget:
  • “At the time…I worked in the White House for four years and I just remember thinking, no matter what happens, I’m never going to be the head of this organization. Some guy isn’t going to choose me to be the head of OMB… I need to be in a field… that I love… [where] the only limit to my success is my own imagination.” [14:33]
• She scanned the “Business Opportunities” section of the NYT for months before discovering a listing for the little shop that would become Barefoot Contessa.

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8. Early Barefoot Contessa Days

• The store’s first year was exhausting and overwhelming, but joyful:
  • “If I had known, I never would have done it… I’d go to work at 4 in the morning… go home at like midnight, sleep for a couple hours, come back at 4… It was intense, but I just was really happy doing it…” [17:05]
• There were moments of doubt:
  • “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” [17:44]
  • But she pressed on because she had invested everything, and the store became a place with a party-like atmosphere and community spirit.

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9. Balancing Marriage and Ambition

• The strain of those early years, with Jeffrey working in Washington, led to tough but ultimately growth-filled periods:
  • “We took a little time apart… I just kind of needed to do that. And he was great.” [19:25]
  • On working through issues: “He said, is there anything I can do to change your mind? And I said, yeah, you can go see a therapist… He went the next day, which was incredible.” [20:18]
  • “I think we both changed.” [20:48]

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10. The Iconic Relationship

• Willie jokes about Jeffrey’s unlikely fame:
  • “What does Jeffrey make of the fact that he is, like, a sex symbol, this guy?” [21:51]
  • Ina: “He’s so much more popular than I am… He loves watching me have a good time.” [22:08]
  • “Everybody needs one.” [22:23]

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11. Becoming a Cookbook Author

• Ina recounts taking a personal financial risk to self-direct her first Barefoot Contessa cookbook:
  • “The publisher would have paid for… the food stylist, the prop stylist… but I just decided I wanted to do it my way… If I’m right, they’ll think I’m a genius. If I’m wrong, they’ll never see me again.” [22:46]
  • “How many recipes do people really need? …like, 75. It’s a lot of recipes. And they were like roast chicken and roast carrots…” [23:51]
• The book’s unexpected, explosive success:
  • “The table was completely empty… we sold all 50 books. And I was like, oh, my God… whoa, something’s happening here.” [25:07]

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12. Breaking Into TV: Reluctant Stardom

• Food Network asked Ina for years before she considered TV:
  • “Not interested… I just don’t want to do it.” [26:29]
  • Only after seeing the style of Nigella Lawson’s show did she open the door, with the belief it wouldn’t last:
    • “I thought, OK, I’ll do 13 shows…they’ll know it’s not gonna work out, and we’ll be done with that. And that was, what, 25 years ago, I think.” [27:28]
• Ina’s on-air authenticity:
  • “I hired a media trainer to teach me how to be on tv. I hated everything she said… you have to be big and bold. I’m like, no, you don’t… I just knew. I just. I thought, no, I’m just gonna be myself.” [27:54]

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13. The Ina Garten Cooking Philosophy

• Ina’s signature style is honest, relatable, and based on accessibility:
  • “I like really familiar flavors, but things taste better than you expect them to… I’m always looking for something you might like anyway, but how can I make it even better? And how can I make it easier to cook?” [28:39]
  • She credits Julia Child as an influence and explains her rigorous recipe-testing process:
    • “I might make it five or ten times until I get the right balance of flavors… I’ll hand it to both [assistants]… and want to see what people at home will do… if it takes too long, I’m not going to put it in a book.” [30:14]
  • Cooking and entertaining, even for Ina, remain nerve-wracking:
    • “I’m always sure I’m going to overcook the meat… Jeffrey knows, when he comes to try and help, I’m like, don’t talk to me, don’t.” [32:20]
    • “It’s worse the other way because their expectations.” [32:40]

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14. Dinner Party Etiquette & Favorite Meals

• On what to bring as a guest:
  • “There are two things I don’t think you should ever bring to a dinner party… something the host feels like they should serve… don’t ever bring flowers that aren’t in a vase… What I do is bring things they can have for breakfast the next day, like homemade granola or coffee.” [35:11]
• On low-key dinners for friends:
  • “If you come over for dinner expecting like a really nice dinner party and it turns out it’s waffles and smoked salmon and mascarpone—it’s great.” [33:05]
• Favorite “quintessential” Ina dinner:
  • “It’s in Barefoot Contessa Parties. It’s mustard rack of lamb and orzo with roasted vegetables… And panna cotta for dessert.” [37:26]

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15. Staying True to Herself, Avoiding Lifestyle Branding

• Ina rejects the trappings of “lifestyle” celebrity:
  • “They want me to do things… so many offers… I wear the same thing every day, it’d be a very small line of clothing.” [39:46]
  • “I love saying, what do I feel like doing today… what I feel like doing is testing recipes and writing cookbooks and doing tv. And I just don’t like the distraction of other things.” [40:44]
  • She insists on only supporting what she uses and loves herself.

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16. Remarkable Anecdotes & Memorable Quotes

• On learning about her own impact:
  • “I had a woman…sat next to me. She’s going, oh, I just love your cookbooks. I go to Costco, I buy the book, I copy the whole thing, and then I return the book. I think that’s called plagiarism or something.” [41:45]
• On restaurant visits:
  • “When you walk into a restaurant, do you sense the scramble behind the scenes that Ina Garten is here?”
    “No, I don’t think so.”
    “Well, it’s happening.” [42:24]

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Notable Quotes

• “Find somebody that believes in you and hang out. Don’t let them go.” – Ina Garten [11:02]
• “Do what you love. If you love it, you’ll be really good at it.” – Jeffrey (Ina quoting) [16:29]
• “If I had known, I never would have done it.” – Ina on opening Barefoot Contessa [17:05]
• On dinner parties:
  “I make breakfast for dinner. And everybody loves it, like waffles and bacon…” – Ina Garten [32:55]
• On business offers:
  “Somebody wanted me to do a line of clothing. I wear the same thing every day. It’d be a very small line…” – Ina Garten [39:46]

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Segment Timestamps

• Opening energy, live audience reception: [03:09–03:44]
• Be My Guest & transitioning to interviews: [03:54–05:12]
• Taylor Swift, celebrity fan stories: [05:45–07:24]
• Connecting through cooking/community: [07:45–08:22]
• On writing her memoir/vulnerability: [08:32–11:14]
• Childhood experience, meeting Jeffrey: [10:19–11:41]
• Relationship development and humor: [11:14–12:23]
• Career leap: White House to Barefoot Contessa: [14:33–17:05]
• Early business struggles & joy: [17:05–18:44]
• Strain on marriage, communication: [19:12–20:48]
• Cookbook journey, self-funded risk: [22:46–25:07]
• Food Network, TV career resistance: [26:09–27:54]
• Philosophy on cooking/style/testing: [28:39–30:14]
• Anxiety about entertaining: [32:05–32:55]
• Guest etiquette & gifts: [34:42–36:05]
• Quintessential Ina dinner: [37:26–38:34]
• Celebrity & branding offers: [39:46–40:44]

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Tone and Closing

The episode is marked by warmth, wit, and humility, with Willie and Ina sharing laughter, candid stories, and practical wisdom. Ina continuously centers joy, determination, and relatability, both in her career reflections and her vision for what home cooking and hospitality can be.

Stay tuned for Part 2 for more hosting tips and audience questions.

Transcript

[Willie Geist]

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[Ina Garten]

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[Willie Geist]

Offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes if network's busy, taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com. Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. I am, I would say, unusually, I would say exceptionally excited to bring you my conversation this week with Ina Garten. Not just because she is one of my favorite people currently walking the earth, but also because it is our latest Sunday Sit Down Live. That means the conversation took place in front of a live audience at City Winery in New York City, the great spot right on the Hudson river that has been such a generous host and sponsor of our Sunday Sit Down Live series that began earlier this year with Nate Bargetze. So Ina and I got together. We've interviewed each other a million times. She on my show, me on hers, doing live events including one recently around her number one best selling memoir, be Ready when the Luck Happens. So the deal is our viewers of Sunday Today, you who listen to the podcast flew in from all over the place, and I do mean all over the place, from Canada, from Las Vegas, from Atlanta, from la, bought plane tickets, bought tickets to be in the room, got hotel rooms. I'm again so overwhelmed and humbled by the response. People bringing their mugs in the room, buying a mug at City Winery and sitting with me and Ina for this conversation. So just that live feel the reaction from the audience, seeing, meeting, hearing from our viewers, bringing Ina's fans into the room as well. It was such a special night and I'm so glad we get to share it with you. I will spare you the long wind up. You know who in Garten is she's the Barefoot Contessa, right? She is 13 cookbooks into her career, then this new memoir, which opened up her personal life more than any other piece of work she's done before. Anything she said on a show or put into a cookbook, talking about her childhood and her marriage and her journey from home cook to culinary icon. So I will get out of the way here, sit back, relax, and let you enjoy right now. Ina Garten on the Sunday Sit down podcast live from City Winery in New York. I've interviewed very famous actors and rock stars in settings like this, and I never hear the reception like the one Ina Garden gets.

[Ina Garten]

This is being nice.

[Willie Geist]

We did an event around her. Did you guys read her incredible memoir, be Ready when the Luck Happens? More on that in a moment. But I interviewed Ina up in Hartford in a theater with 3,000 or 4,000 people, and they introduced both of us, and we walked out on the stage, and I thought for a minute, this must be what it was like when the Beatles were on ed Sullivan in 64, leapt to their feet in the.

[Ina Garten]

Crowd screaming, it was you, Willie.

[Willie Geist]

Her deeply uncomfortable. So I'll move on from it. But she is amazing. I'm so happy to see you.

[Ina Garten]

Thank you for doing this.

[Willie Geist]

So we have a bit of a. I don't know, like a Frost Nixon thing going. You come on my show, I go on your show. We do various events.

[Ina Garten]

And the thing that amazes me for Be My Guest. You were my first guest.

[Willie Geist]

Yes. Which is.

[Ina Garten]

I mean, how crazy is that? You invite the best interviewer in the business to be your first guest. I'm like, I thought that was crazy.

[Willie Geist]

Well, I'm glad you brought that up. You guys watch Be My Guest. Of course. Yeah. She's had incredible guests over her many seasons. And I remember sitting down with you in the barn and you said, this is my first interview.

[Ina Garten]

It's my first interview.

[Willie Geist]

And I was struck by how well prepared you were. Oh, thank you. And how much you. What great questions you asked and all those. So what was the adjustment for you from doing, obviously, cooking shows to doing that kind of show?

[Ina Garten]

It was a totally different thing. I mean, it's just when you're doing a cooking show, you're doing something I always found I was doing something that I already know how to do again, to teach people how to do it. So it was really, I'm there by myself and talking to, as, you know, an inanimate object, a TV camera. But all of a sudden, I'm sitting and talking to somebody who's really interesting. And learning things and having a conversation. It's not about checking the boxes. Ask this question, ask that question. It's about starting a conversation. And I always think of it as, like, you. If you were at a dinner party and the people next to you were having a really interesting conversation, what would I want that to be? And I kind of think of it that way.

[Willie Geist]

And you've had Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci and Tina Fey. The list of people who sort of make the pilgrimage to your barn is amazing.

[Ina Garten]

It's so sweet. And literally, last time in the spring, I had, like, Yitzhak Perlman, the incredible violinist. And I thought, what am I going to talk to Yitzhak Perlman about? I don't know anything about a violin. And we just had a ball. He's funny and he's smart, and he loves to cook. And. And I just love the range of, you know, authors like Ann Patchett and interviewers like Willie Geiss. And, I mean, it was just. It's just an incredible experience.

[Willie Geist]

So a question I get all the time curious what you'd say about it, is, who's still on the dream list of people you want to have on the show who haven't been there yet?

[Ina Garten]

Taylor Swift. That's easy. She's a little busy.

[Willie Geist]

If anyone could get Taylor Swift on the show, I think it's Ina. She's a fan of Ina's as well.

[Ina Garten]

And she's a great cook.

[Willie Geist]

Is she a good cook?

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, she actually came. Do you know this? That she came to the barn?

[Willie Geist]

Yes.

[Ina Garten]

Maile Carpenter, who's the founder of Food Network magazine, did one issue where she asked rock stars who their favorite Food Network cooks were. And Taylor chose me, which was so sweet. So she came to the barn, and it was actually quite an. I mean, it was a long time ago. I think it was, like, 10 years ago. And so we asked her very famous publicist, Tree Tree pain, what Taylor likes to eat. And so we were going to cook something together. I didn't want to just stand there and take pictures with her. I wanted to cook with her. So we asked what she likes to eat, and it turns out she likes my mustard roasted fish, roast beef, I think my filet beef. And they were so. And date nut bread. And a friend of mine said, that doesn't sound like Taylor Swift. That sounds like a Ukrainian grandmother. I was like, okay, we're not gonna make any of those things. And I decided we would make a pavlova. Cause I thought, that kind of looks like Taylor. It's meringue and whipped cream and berries. And we just had a ball. We had such a good time.

[Willie Geist]

How do you grapple with the fact that. That Taylor Swift loves you, that Meghan Markle loves you, that you're on 30 Rock with Tina Fey.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, Tina.

[Willie Geist]

Because you are. You're such a humble and unassuming. You just go out and cook. And the way you've always known how to cook, how do you deal with that side of you being this sort of icon?

[Ina Garten]

It's very sweet.

[Willie Geist]

I don't know. It's true, right?

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, it's very sweet. I mean, I think in some way, I think that cooking creates a community around you. And when people bring me gifts, and in the beginning, I was like, why would people bring me gifts? And I thought it's because I've given them the tools to do something that makes them feel good about themselves. And when you cook, everybody shows up. And so I think in that sense, I've connected with people through cooking. And it's not like giving them something. It's like giving you the tools to do something for yourself, which I think is. Which is wonderful.

[Willie Geist]

So let's talk about this book that became an absolute sensation. Be Ready when the Luck Happens. Number one New York Times bestseller. It just went berserk.

[Ina Garten]

Went berserk. I thought, who would want to read My Man?

[Willie Geist]

Well, there she goes again. She doesn't get it. She doesn't get it. But you've done a million cookbooks. They're all successful bestsellers. There's a lot in this book that you didn't have to tell the world. What was the decision to sit down and open up well, beyond the kitchen and talk about your childhood and your marriage and all the things that you get into?

[Ina Garten]

Well, I just think, you know, I did 60 Minutes and Sharon Alfonsi said to me, everybody thinks you're just walking around with a big Cosmopolitan having a ball.

[Willie Geist]

Which is true.

[Ina Garten]

Of course I am. Yeah. But she said that. She said, but you worked really hard. And I thought, I don't know. I mean, I worked hard doing what I love to do. Didn't feel like hard work, but I started to think, actually, I did work really hard. And I wanted people to know. It's not easy, but the effort that you put into it is really worthwhile. And yes, I had a really tough childhood. A lot of people have tough childhoods. But I just wanted people to know that that doesn't have to define your life, that you can decide to do it differently. And I Remember when I was 15, I just made an absolute decision that if I was dating somebody who so much just raised his voice to me, I was gone. I was never going to go out with that person again. And then I met Jeffrey at 15, by the way. I was like, yeah, I was like 16. I mean, it was just incredible. So I think I just wanted people to know you could. That it's. It takes real determination and real clarity to make your life what you want it to be. And I had a good support system with somebody who really believed in me, which makes all the difference in the world.

[Willie Geist]

More on Jeffrey in just a moment. In the book, you describe your childhood as kind of dour, I think was the word you used, which was. It was at least dour, rightly, but just sort of. That for a young woman, you shouldn't have ambition. You shouldn't have all these thoughts in your head about dreams and the things that you wanted to do, that you should sort of know your role in some way.

[Ina Garten]

I think it was more that they didn't believe in me, that they didn't think I had any talent. They didn't think I had any drive. They thought I was. I mean, I remember when I was probably 14, my father said to me, nobody will ever love you. Which is such a harsh thing to say to a child, especially a girl, I think. And so I don't think it's that they didn't have ambition for me. They didn't think I was capable of it. And then I met Jeffrey, and he thought I could do anything I wanted to do. So, I mean, find somebody that believes in you and hang out. Don't let them go.

[Willie Geist]

The story is famous by now. It won't make you rehash the whole thing. But you go to Dartmouth, Jeffrey's there. You're still in high school. He says, who's that beautiful young woman walking across campus?

[Ina Garten]

I was the only girl walking around Dartmouth. It was all boys college, so that was a very low bar.

[Willie Geist]

So when does it become something more between the two of you, of a flirtation? When did you say, this is somebody I could see myself with, spend my life with?

[Ina Garten]

Well, I was so young. I don't think. I think. And also I just. I live in the moment. I don't ever look ahead that much. I just. And I did then, and I still do. I just. I think that I just had a wonderful time with him. I felt wonderful with him, and he was smart and funny and cared. Cared about me and took care of me, and I just you know, I love being with him. So we just kind of followed that along. And then when I think I must have been 20, he just, I mean, literally, he never proposed to me. He just said, so we'll get married in December. I was like, what? Already has his still waiting?

[Willie Geist]

Still hasn't asked you?

[Ina Garten]

Still hasn't asked.

[Willie Geist]

Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Ina Garten right after the break. This is a vacation with Chase Sapphire Reserve, the butler who knows your name. This is the robe, the view, the steam from your morning coffee. This is the complimentary breakfast on the balcony, the beach with no one else on it. This is the edit, a collection of handpicked luxury hotels you can access with Chase Sapphire Reserve and a $500 edit credit that gets you closer to all of it. Chase Sapphire Reserve now even more rewarding. Learn [e-mail] Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JPMorgan Chase bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval. Here's a quick podcast for all you true crime fans. The Case of the Missing Reese's it was me at the store with my mouth motive. They're Reese's. What was I going to do? Stop myself? Tune in next time to see if I do it again. Spoiler I will. Wow, that had everything. Reese's Suspense Reese's. The 2026 Chevy Equinox is more than an SUV. It's your Sunday tailgate and your parking lot snack bar. Your lucky jersey, your chairs and your big cooler fit perfectly in your even bigger cargo space. And when it's go time, your 11.3-inch diagonal touchscreen's got the playbook, the playlist and the tech to stay a step ahead. It's more than an suv. It's your Equinox Chevrolet. Together, let's drive. Welcome back. Now more my conversation with Ina Garten. Your career path is so interesting and you guys probably know a lot of it, but the fact that you worked in the White House, the Office of Management budget on nuclear energy policy. Ina Garten, True story. So what gave you besides Jeffrey Support the guts to make this leap from a solid job in Washington, but not something you were passionate about, I think it's fair to say.

[Ina Garten]

You know, I don't know how different it is now or if it is different, but I think at the time I worked in the White House for four years and I just remember thinking, no matter what happens, I'm never going to be the head of this organization. Some guy isn't going to choose me to be the head of omb. And I thought, well, then I'm not in the right field. I need to be in a place. I mean, this was in the 70s, and women weren't the heads of organizations. And I just thought, I need to be in a field a. That I love doing the work. It's something I really love to do. But also that the only limit to my success is my own imagination. That I don't have a boss who is either telling me what to do or limiting my abilities. And so I always thought it was either going to be in real estate or in food. And I kind of kept my eye open. And I saw an ad for a business for sale, which was especially Food Store in the Hamptons in the New York Times. And I thought, well, maybe I'll just look at that.

[Willie Geist]

Because the joy you were feeling and the passion you felt in Washington Was more the dinner parties, right. That you were throwing than it was the nuclear policy.

[Ina Garten]

It's fair to say. I mean, when I think about it now, it seems so amazing. Because I did a lot of things that I loved doing. I bought old houses and renovated them. I taught myself how to cook. I went to business school while I was at the White House. So when I look back now, I think, well, I was really searching for what I wanted to do.

[Willie Geist]

I mean, but the move to see the Business Opportunities, I believe was the name of the section of the New York Times.

[Ina Garten]

Opportunities. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

In 1978, you see this ad for a little shop in West Hampton Beach.

[Ina Garten]

It was, like, the size of this table, guys. It's really small.

[Willie Geist]

But I'm just thinking about, in that moment, the leap you made personally from a solid job in Washington to, I'm gonna just go out there and do this. What gave you the courage to make that leap?

[Ina Garten]

Ultimately, I think I felt that I don't have a choice. Cause what's behind me is not an option. And I don't think I ever said, this is where my life is going. I just said, okay, I'm gonna jump off a cliff and see where. Where I land. And this is certainly an option. And Jeffrey said, do what you love. If you love it, you'll be really good at it. And I think that's such good advice. It's like, do what you want to do and get out of bed in the morning and think, what do I feel like doing today? And that's what your business should be.

[Willie Geist]

And what were the early days? Barefoot, consumed. Like, was it the dream?

[Ina Garten]

If I had known I never would have done it. I mean, in the beginning I would literally work. I'd go to work at 4 in the morning. I'd work all day, and then most of the night I'd go home at like midnight, sleep for a couple of hours, and come back at 4 in the morning. And it was intense, but I just was really happy doing it. And I'd go. Some days I'd go, okay, you have to go home. You really have to go home. I'd go home at 10 o' clock and I'd go, okay, what do I want to do now? I don't think I want to test the chocolate cake. And I'd go back to the store.

[Willie Geist]

So did you have moments during those early days where you thought, I don't know, this is not what I dreamed of.

[Ina Garten]

This is the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

And what kept you going through those moments?

[Ina Garten]

I think it was a real challenge. First of all, we had invested. I mean, Jeffrey and I both had invested everything we had in this business. So I didn't have a choice. I had to make it a success. And I just. I think it was exhausting. But I loved being in the store. It was like a big sandbox. There was always something interesting to do. Customers were great, the food was great, the employees were fantastic. It was a small store and you could. There was a great. I always wanted the store to feel like a party because it was fun to be there for us and for the customers. So when you walked in, the door would slam. It would be like a screen door. And there was always great music, old fashioned music. And there were samples out and you could help yourself to coffee or in the winter, hot apple cider. It smelled good, it looked good. There were great displays. It was just fun.

[Willie Geist]

So when did ina did it become clear to you that this was working and this was something that you could do as a career, as a life, that you actually had made the right choice by leaving Washington and choosing this life?

[Ina Garten]

I think probably after about a year, I realized that it was just really. Yeah, it was great. I mean, I was making a living. And then I started expanding it and building it. And that's really fun for me. I love doing that. One of the things took over a.

[Willie Geist]

Big space you write about in the book is some of the strain that it put on your relationship with Jeffrey. Right. That you were so dialed in on that and he was in Washington and you thought, maybe, maybe I have to stay focused on this and not on our Relationship.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Difficult days.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, it was really difficult because I just. I mean, I think I don't have children, so I don't know, but I think it's like when you have a new baby, you just want to spend the time with a baby and want everybody else to leave you alone. And I. I just wanted to build the business. And Jeffrey was working at the State Department. He was in the Secretary of State's policy planning staff, and he would come on the weekends when I was really busy. And so I was like, I'm sorry, I just can't spend any time with you. So, I mean, he was great. But we took a little time apart. Figure I'd never lived on my own, and I just kind of needed to do that. And he was great.

[Willie Geist]

He was really great.

[Ina Garten]

Incredibly.

[Willie Geist]

In the book where you come to Washington and he meets you at the train station, and then you guys kind of sit on the steps. And what did he say to you? What was that conversation?

[Ina Garten]

Well, it's. You know, it's interesting. One of the things about writing the book is I had to go back to Washington and, you know, stand in front of those steps and think, what was that conversation like? And I'd forgotten about it. It was really distressing. And he said, is there anything I can do to change your mind? And I said, yeah, you can go see a therapist, and we'll work through these things. And he was like, okay, I'll go after I come back from my trip around the world, which was what he was about to embark on. And I said, it's going to be too late. And he went the next day, which was incredible. Wow. So. And I think we both changed. I think we really was just very supportive. And I think it's just if you admire each other and you support each other and you're on different tracks, you just have to give each other space to figure it out and then figure it out together. Like, you know, when there was a time when Jeffrey had an offer to go to Tokyo for a year, and I was like, how's this going to work? And he just said, look, we're not going to decide between your career and the specialty food store and my career, how about if we just try it for a while and see how it works? And so I would go to Tokyo for a week, a month, and he would come to New York for a week, a month. And, I mean, that was really hard, but we did it for a year. And at some point you just go, okay, that was fun. Let's try something else.

[Willie Geist]

And now 56 years of marriage in. Is that right? I think it worked out.

[Ina Garten]

It worked out.

[Willie Geist]

I think it worked. What. What is. I asked you about how you grapple with Taylor Swift loving you and all that. What does Jeffrey make of the fact that he is, like a sex symbol, this guy? I mean, people, he's so much more.

[Ina Garten]

Popular than I am.

[Willie Geist]

What does he make of all this?

[Ina Garten]

I just think he loves. He loves watching me have a good time. So I think he's. He's just very sweet about it.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, people love Jeffrey. They love that. They really do. They really do.

[Ina Garten]

Everybody needs one.

[Willie Geist]

So you've got this little shop in West Hampton. It grows out, you build it into something else. And then in 1999, you make a huge investment on your own to make your first cookbook. You spent your own money to get the stylist and the photographer and all the ingredients and the testing and all of that, and it just explodes.

[Ina Garten]

It was, you know, the important thing at the time. The publisher would have paid for all of those things, the food stylist, the prop stylist, the photography. But I just decided I wanted to do it my way, and I didn't want them to say, this is the way cookbooks are done. If I was going to do it, I wanted to do it differently. And fortunately, there was somebody at the publishing house that really supported me and just said to everybody else, let her do what she wants to do. And I thought, well, if I'm right, they'll think I'm a genius. If I'm wrong, they'll never have to see me again anyway. So I just wasn't willing to compromise. And it was really because I wrote a very simple book. It only had 75 recipes, but I thought, how many recipes do people really need? I mean, like, 75. It's a lot of recipes. And they were like roast chicken and roast carrots, but they were simple. And I knew from having a specialty food store that's how people want to eat at home. They don't want, like, veal with truffles, and they want simple food at home that's easy to make. So I think I kind of keyed in on something that. That really worked.

[Willie Geist]

You had to be shocked, though, by the response to it.

[Ina Garten]

Stunned.

[Willie Geist]

The fact that it was like they couldn't keep it on the tables at bookstores.

[Ina Garten]

Well, the deal I made with the publishers was that they were going to print 10,000 books, of which 5,000 I had to buy. And so they really didn't risk anything. And what I never did is figure out what those 5,000 books were going to cost. So when the. By the time the publication came, publication date came, they'd actually. I had hired a publicist, did an amazing amount of publicity, really great job. So they increased it to 25,000 books, but I still had to buy those 5,000 books. So when the publication day, they called me up and said, so we're going to be sending you 5,000 books. And I didn't know what it even looked like, and we'll need a check for $85,000. And I was like, whoa. I'd never even thought about it. And three days later, they said, you know, those 5,000 books, we need them back. Because they'd sold out the first printing.

[Willie Geist]

Wow.

[Ina Garten]

So I was like, phew. Talk about by the seat of my pants.

[Willie Geist]

But that's an amazing thing. Cause you're not a known person at that point. I mean, right? I mean, outside, you have a fabulous shop, but, like, you're not a national figure yet.

[Ina Garten]

There was a moment when I was in. I had to go to California for a publicity event, and. And sweet Jeffrey, he was like an investment banker, but he decided he was gonna take the week off and go with me so I wouldn't be alone. And we were driving around California, and he said, you know, there's a Barnes and Noble. Why don't you just go in and maybe sign some books? And I'm like, they don't know who I am in California. So I walked into this Barnes and Noble, and I found the manager, and I said to them, would you like me to. I wrote a book. Would you like me to sign it? And he's like, yeah, what's your book? I mean, he couldn't have been more bored with the whole thing. And I said, it's the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. And he goes, oh, we have a table in the middle of the store with 50 books on it. He said, you want to sign them? Great. Come with me. And we walked over, and the table was completely empty. He said, oh, I was gone yesterday. We sold all 50 books. And I was like, oh, my God. So the rest of the chef Jeffrey and I were going, whoa, something's happening here.

[Willie Geist]

Whoa.

[Ina Garten]

What happened there?

[Willie Geist]

And how quickly did they ask you to write another cookbook after that?

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, like a minute and a half.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, right. And then not long after, for obvious reasons, because it's the success of your cookbook. Here Comes the Food Network.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

And you get your first show in 2002. I think is the year when they.

[Ina Garten]

Pitched after saying no for, like, years. Oh, my God.

[Willie Geist]

When they pitched you the idea of being a TV personality, just forget it.

[Ina Garten]

Not interested.

[Willie Geist]

And so how did they twist your arm? How'd they get you there?

[Ina Garten]

You know, it was literally over, like, a year and a half. They kept coming back with a better offer. I'm like, I'm not negotiating. I just don't want to do it. And I think at some point, I had heard about a British show, and I asked if they could. It was Nigella Lawson show, and I asked Food Network if they could get me a copy of it, and they did. And I thought, well, it's a really lovely show, but that's Nigella. That's not me. And Food Network knew the producer of Nigella's show and went to her and said, would you do a show for Ina? So she called and said, just talk to the producer. Just talk to her. And I thought, I'll just talk to her, but I'm not gonna do this. And they ended up saying. I ended up agreeing to do, I think, 13 shows. And I thought, okay, I'll do 13 shows. They'll know it's not gonna work out, and we'll be done with that. And that was, what, 25 years ago, I think.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah. Yeah, just about.

[Ina Garten]

Thank goodness they kept coming back.

[Willie Geist]

The highest compliment I can pay somebody who's on television all the time is that they're the same on camera as they are off. And that is most certainly you. So it's like you didn't.

[Ina Garten]

Thank you.

[Willie Geist]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it feels like you didn't have to develop a Persona like, this is who I'll be in the kitchen. You were just you cooking the things you love to cook.

[Ina Garten]

When I first, before I did the first 13 shows, I actually hired a media trainer to teach me how to be on tv. I didn't know what I was doing, and I hated everything she said. She was like, you have to be big and you have to be bold. And I'm like, no, you don't. I don't know why I knew that, but I just knew. I just. I thought, no, I'm just gonna be myself.

[Willie Geist]

Trusted your gut again. And you were right again. Yeah. I mean, you've had such success on tv. Is there your style? People always. I mean, there's been described a million ways that it's accessible, that you're a home cook, you're not a chef. All the things you've never been professionally trained. How do you describe your style as a cook?

[Ina Garten]

I think I like really familiar flavors, but things taste better than you expect them to. I think seasoning is really important that roast carrots that aren't seasoned properly can just be pretty boring. You have to start out with good carrots and season them properly with good olive oil. And roasting is a great way to cook them. I'm always looking for something that you might like to eat anyway, but how can I make it even better? And how can I make it easier to cook? So that's kind of the sweet spot of what I'm looking for.

[Willie Geist]

And the foundation is a Not as Julia Child, which goes back to your trips to the.

[Ina Garten]

What a great teacher she was. I mean, if you just work through those books, you will learn everything you need to know about cooking. And yes, it's a French slant, but it's good for anything you've cooked your.

[Willie Geist]

Way through all of her cookbooks over the years, and that's how you've effectively trained yourself without that formal training.

[Ina Garten]

Right. And I love that she says, okay, here's how you make a hollandaise the traditional way with a whisk and a. What's it called? A double boiler. But then once you know how to do it, once you understand how it works, here's how you can make it in a food processor. So, I mean, I love that she made it easier.

[Willie Geist]

You do make it look easy. That's true, but it's not.

[Ina Garten]

It's not.

[Willie Geist]

It's not easy. Right. So when you're. Let's just take a favorite recipe of yours. How long are you working that recipe before you're prepared to put it in a cookbook or put it on your show? Is it a long process?

[Ina Garten]

It's a really long process. So say one of my favorite recipes is French apple tart, which is just very simple. You know, pastry, sliced apples, butter, sugar. Into the oven. I might make it five or ten times until I get the right balance of flavors. I'm looking for layers of flavor that support each other, that one isn't really strong and one isn't really mild, that they're all equal in flavor. And it's not complex. It's three flavors. Pastry, apples, butter, and sugar. That's four. And I'll make it several, you know, as many times as I need to until I get exactly what's in my head. And then I'll hand it to. I have two assistants. One's a better cook than the other. I'll hand it to both of them. And say, make this. And I want to watch you make it because I want to see what people at home will do with a printed page without any instructions at all. And, and every single recipe, somebody who's working on it goes, okay, just stop. I want to know what's your question and what didn't you understand? And then I'll write that either in a side note or write it into the recipe. And then the last thing I'll very often do is make it for a dinner party. Because it's one thing to make it if all I'm doing all day long is making an apple tart, okay, that's easy. But you can't just make an apple tart. You have to make appetizers and cocktails and dinner and side dishes and a salad and dessert. I mean, there's a lot to do for a dinner party. And so if it takes too long to make the dessert, I'm not going to put it in a book. It has to be something I'm going to make for a dinner party myself. And you know, cooking's hard, isn't it? It's really. And entertaining is even harder.

[Willie Geist]

You've said many times, and even recently, despite who you are, you still have terrible anxiety before every dinner party. Right. It's still a nerve wracking experience like it is for all of us. People are coming over, everything's gotta be ready at the right time.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, it's hard, it's complex. And I'm always sure I'm gonna overcook the meat, whatever it is, and I don't know why, but I'm always sure I'm gonna do it. And Jeffrey knows, when he comes to try and help, I'm like, don't talk to me, don't.

[Willie Geist]

And by the way, the expectations are through the roof. We're going to dinner at Eina Garten's house. Yeah, I mean, it is.

[Ina Garten]

People always say, well, they don't want to invite me for dinner because they'd be nervous cooking for me. It's worse the other way because their expectations.

[Willie Geist]

Are you ever tempted to just throw out some chicken tenders and honey mustard? I'll just say, didn't feel like it tonight, guys.

[Ina Garten]

Do you know what I do if I feel like making something simple is I make breakfast for dinner. And everybody loves it, like waffles and bacon and I mean, it's real. Isn't that great?

[Willie Geist]

Yes.

[Ina Garten]

If you come over for dinner expecting like a really nice dinner party and it turns out it's, it's waffles and smoked salmon and mascarpone. It's great.

[Willie Geist]

I love that.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

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[Ina Garten]

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[Willie Geist]

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[Ina Garten]

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Ina Garten. One of the great pieces of wisdom I picked up from you somewhere in one of our conversations, which I think is helpful for this audience, is this. When you're going to a dinner party as a guest, do not bring a gift that messes with the plan of the evening. In other words, don't show up with chips and guac to a dinner party. So what do you suggest as an alternative? If people are arriving at a dinner.

[Ina Garten]

Party, there are two things I don't think you should ever bring to a dinner party, and they're so common, is something that the host feels like they should serve. I mean starting with like jello salad.

[Willie Geist]

I like a jello salad.

[Ina Garten]

What are you going to do with that? And don't ever bring flowers that aren't in a vase because then you're there, you're like everybody's arriving and all of a sudden you've got these flowers and you have to figure out what to do. So what I do is I bring things that they can have for breakfast the next day, like homemade granola or I'll bring coffee or even, you know, store bought granola. Just the things that are, you know, that you'd want to serve for breakfast the next day.

[Willie Geist]

Is that good advice?

[Ina Garten]

Is that good. Okay, good. Thank you.

[Willie Geist]

Also, something I never thought. I have to stop bringing chips and guac for parties. You just rip open the bag of Tostitos.

[Ina Garten]

You can bring chips and guac to my house anytime. It goes with everything.

[Willie Geist]

We'Ve had. I mentioned we did a series of interviews and Ina, this is your third time on the Sunday show.

[Ina Garten]

Is it?

[Willie Geist]

It is wonderful. Come to your house once. And we had one during COVID where this tells me who Ina is. We were on a zoom and we spoke for a while and then Jeffrey slid into the frame, and then my wife Christina said into the frame and we kept talking. And then the interview was over. And then we just had a drink for half an hour. Speaking over Zoom, which was like a dream come true. We were just having drinks with Ina. And then one of my other favorite experiences was last year we were in Paris covering the Summer Olympics. Ina was there and we're out working, and I get a text from Ina, let's have lunch today at her favorite little place. So you're going to Ina Garten, favorite little restaurant in Paris. Sitting in a corner booth with Kate.

[Ina Garten]

Unlikely. An Italian place, right? Yeah, with my friend Kate Tyler.

[Willie Geist]

Kate, who's here tonight and is wonderful. So that was like dream come true stuff. And I felt like I was a stand in for all of you getting to have a beautiful lunch in Paris with Ina Garten. Do you have Ina a. I know this is like favorite child stuff. A favorite go to dish of yours. The Ina Garten dish that you might say is like the quintessential Ina Garten dish.

[Ina Garten]

If I have people coming for dinner that I don't know, I have this like, getting to know you dinner that I just know I can nail every time. And I don't. I don't. I'm not so anxious about. And it's. It's in barefoot contestant parties. It's mustard rack of lamb and orzo with roasted vegetables. And it's just, it's so great together. I mean, it never fails. And so that's. And recently I've been doing panna cotta, which is like a. Like a custard Italian custard that you can do with salted caramel on top or with raspberry sauce and raspberries. And you can make it in advance and it's ready whenever you're ready to serve it. So that I just. I know I can do that. No stress.

[Willie Geist]

We do the Christina, the chicken with the orzo. What's the one we have once A week? Yeah. Which one is it? Crispy chicken with the orzo.

[Ina Garten]

Thank you, Christina. Yes.

[Willie Geist]

From the Queen's balcony. Yes.

[Ina Garten]

Yep. The other one that's really great is the Tuscan lemon chicken, which is a flattened chicken with onions. Do you guys make it? It's really. I love that one. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

So do you have things Ina that you haven't done that you like? When you think about the scope of your career, you've done TV shows, you've done cookbooks. Are there other things out there that you'd like to do? A new kind of food to discover or something?

[Ina Garten]

It's funny, I really don't have a long term plan because if I had made a plan, it never would have been what happened. So I literally kind of. I do the best job I can on what I have in front of me today. And before I go to sleep, I know what I'm going to do tomorrow. So I don't worry about, like, what am I gonna do tomorrow. I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow and I'm gonna do the best job I can on that and just see what comes along. I literally don't even have a plan for more than like, I have a book due in December. That's the biggest plan I have.

[Willie Geist]

We'll get a paperback of this, right? I assume.

[Ina Garten]

I don't know.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, there's gotta be. It's a huge bestseller. Yeah, we need a paperback.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. Okay.

[Willie Geist]

Okay, let's get that out. The other thing I love about you, which I find fascinating, is you have had endless offers to endorse products to create a lifestyle brand. And she's like, nope, core business. We're doing the crispy chicken with the orzo. That's what I do.

[Ina Garten]

They want me to do things. That's why I don't know. And I mean the craziest. I mean, somebody wanted me to do a line of clothing. I'm like, I wear the same thing every day. It'd be a very small line of.

[Willie Geist]

Clothing, by the way. Would be a home run. Wasn't there a line of fertilizer?

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, somebody wanted me to do a line of fertilizer. I'm like, let me put my name on your. I'm like, no, that's not happening.

[Willie Geist]

So aside, surely they've asked you to have pans and spatulas and spoons and all that. And you've just said, I just.

[Ina Garten]

I don't want to do it. I want to get up in the morning. And I just love saying, what do I feel like doing today. And what I feel like doing is testing recipes and writing cookbooks and doing tv. And I just don't like the distraction of other things. And I also love that when I recommend Nielsen Massey Vanilla in a recipe, it's not because I'm paid to recommend it, it's because I really like it. And I think people know that about me that I'm not. You know what? I just don't get paid for that. I mean, I've had some products on my own, like Gold Belly. We make coconut cake and Beedi's chocolate cake, and you can order it and have it shipped, but that's my product. I'm not putting my name on somebody else's cakes.

[Willie Geist]

I was just remembering you're gonna see a video for our next segment. A little video we shot on at Eli's on the Upper east side. We were shopping and a woman came up to Ina and said, I get your recipes on the New York Times app every day. And she says, great. And then she walks away. She says, my recipes are on the New York Times app. Should we talk to somebody about that? Just, you're everywhere. You're everywhere.

[Ina Garten]

I had a woman sitting next to me once a while ago, sat next to me. She's going, oh, I just love your cookbooks. I go to Costco, I buy the book, I copy the whole thing, and then I return the book. I think that's called plagiarism or something. Really? Oh, yeah.

[Willie Geist]

So we're gonna get out of the way for just a moment and they're gonna set up a little display while they do that. Before. One question I've always wondered, when you walk into a restaurant, do you sense the scramble behind the scenes that Ina.

[Ina Garten]

No.

[Willie Geist]

That Ina Garten is here?

[Ina Garten]

No, I don't think so.

[Willie Geist]

Get your together. Yeah. You can't feel that.

[Ina Garten]

What?

[Willie Geist]

You can't feel that when you walk in.

[Ina Garten]

Good.

[Willie Geist]

Well, it's happening. It's happening. So we're gonna take a quick break. We're gonna come back in like 10 minutes, one of. Just to give you a little tease ahead, we're gonna be making a Kier Royale, which is a beautiful, beautiful.

[Ina Garten]

We could all use a Kia Royale, right?

[Willie Geist]

And so they have Kia Royale at the bar for you guys, for sale. So we're gonna take about a 10 minute break. We're going to step off and we'll see you back here in about 10 minutes. More with Ina Garten in just a minute. My huge thanks to Ina for a great conversation to the audience. In the room that night. It was so special. And of course, to City Winery for hosting and sponsoring our Sunday Sit Down Live. Stay tuned in episode two of this conversation for more hosting tips and audience questions with Ina. You also can get Ina's memoir Be ready when the luck happens wherever you buy your books. My thanks to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of these conversations with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday Today every weekend on NBC where you can see these conversations with your own two eyes. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit down podcast. This is a vacation with Chase Sapphire Reserve. The butler, the spa. This is the Edit, a collection of handpicked luxury hotels and a $500 Edit Credit Chase Sapphire Reserve now even more rewarding. Learn [e-mail] Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan, Chase bank and a member FDIC, subject to credit approval.