Ina Garten on Her Rise from Home Cook to Culinary Icon - Part 2

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Ina Garten on Her Rise from Home Cook to Culinary Icon - Part 2"

Podcast Information

• Title: Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist
• Host: Willie Geist
• Episode: Ina Garten on Her Rise from Home Cook to Culinary Icon - Part 2
• Release Date: June 1, 2025
• Description: In this second installment of his conversation with Ina Garten, Willie Geist delves deeper into Garten's culinary expertise, focusing on dessert preparation and entertaining. Filmed live at City Winery in New York City, the episode features a hands-on demonstration of creating an elegant dessert platter and a Kir Royale cocktail, followed by an engaging Q&A session with the audience.

---

1. Building the Perfect Dessert Platter

Timestamp: [01:02] – [12:20]

Willie Geist introduces the second part of his conversation with Ina Garten, highlighting the live demonstration where Garten showcases her skills in assembling a visually appealing and delicious dessert platter.

• Dessert Tray Assembly:

  • Variety is Key: Garten emphasizes the importance of diversity in shapes, sizes, colors, and textures to create an enticing dessert tray.
    • "You want a mix of shapes, you want a mix of sizes, you want a mix of colors, you want some greenery on that platter, you want some fruit on that platter." ([01:40])
  • Selection of Desserts: The platter includes an assortment of strawberries, blueberries, lemon loaves, raspberry bars, brownies, chocolate-dipped macaroons, and coconut macaroons, arranged thoughtfully to ensure visual appeal and accessibility.
    • "It's about texture and flavor to make it really interesting. And everything is accessible." ([10:03])
  • Use of Greenery: Adding green leaves not only enhances the aesthetic but also provides a fresh contrast to the vibrant colors of the desserts.
    • "It's gonna be part of the platter. It just makes everything pop, pop a little better." ([02:47])

• Creating Balance: Garten demonstrates how to balance different shapes and textures, avoiding a monotonous look by grouping similar items and interspersing various forms.

  • "If you have things that are rectangular, you want things that are round next to it." ([09:02])

Notable Quote:

"When you're having a dinner party, everybody thinks they have to do some over the top dessert, which takes so much time to make. I have a way to make a dessert that's equally over the top but really simple, requires no cooking at all." — Ina Garten [02:04]

2. Crafting the Perfect Kir Royale

• Ingredients and Preparation:

  • Garten explains the simplicity of preparing a Kir Royale, a classic cocktail that pairs perfectly with the dessert platter.
    • "Do you ever have one of those nights where you just want to order takeout? If so, what is your go-to Takeout?" ([14:18])
  • The cocktail consists of two main ingredients: cassis (black currant liqueur) and champagne.
    • "It's just these two ingredients. You put a little cassis in the bottom of the glass and then you pour in cold champagne." ([04:55])

• Presentation Tips:

  • Using flute glasses enhances the elegant presentation, though Garten mentions that tumblers can also be used effectively.
    • "It's very simple. We had a great time with with the demo in front of the audience and then fielding audience questions as they came in." ([01:02])

• Practical Demonstration:

  • Garten guides Willie through the mixing process, ensuring the proper proportions and technique are followed.
    • "The cassis. The cassis." ([05:52])

Notable Quote:

"You just put it right in the middle of the table. Let everybody help themselves." — Ina Garten [11:36]

3. Audience Q&A Session

Timestamp: [13:48] – [20:44]

Following the demonstration, Willie Geist and Ina Garten engage with the live audience, addressing various culinary questions and sharing personal insights.

• Takeout Preferences:

  • Ina Garten: Prefers simple takeout options like souvlaki from a Greek restaurant or meatloaf from a favorite local spot.
    • "I like really simple takeout things like a souvlaki from the Greek restaurant or... I love Greek food." ([14:21])
  • Willie Geist: Recommends fast food favorites like In-N-Out Burger, adding a touch of humor to the exchange.
    • "Highly recommend. It's the Big Mac meal. If you supersize it, the fries are big and the drink, it's fantastic." ([14:51])

• Timing Multiple Dishes:

  • Nicole from Katona, NY: Seeks advice on coordinating multiple dishes for a meal.
  • Ina Garten: Suggests creating a "battle plan" by working backward from the serving time, meticulously scheduling each cooking step to ensure everything is ready simultaneously.
    • "I make a literally a battle plan. I figure out if I have four things I have to make and I want to serve everything at 7:30, I work my way backwards." ([15:31])

• Music and Cooking:

  • Susan from Amarillo, TX: Inquires about music preferences while cooking.
  • Ina Garten: Utilizes curated playlists on Spotify and Apple Music tailored to different occasions like French playlists, dinner parties, and road trips.
    • "I have like a French playlist and a dinner party playlist and road trip playlist." ([16:38])

• Dining in Paris:

  • Ina Garten: Shares her love for simple dining experiences in Paris, favoring brasseries and uncomplicated meals like omelettes and champagne.
    • "It's the best omelet in the world. And it's just the simplest meal. And that's kind of what I'd like to do." ([17:15])

• Dinner Party Guests:

  • Ina Garten: Dreams of having culinary legends like Julia Child, Eric Ripert, and Jacques Pépin for an inspiring dinner party.
    • "Julia Childs, Eric Ripert from Laverna Davis, who's the other food person. That would be really fun. And Jacques Pepin, who's so much fun." ([18:03])

• Advice for Novice Cooks:

  • Mike from Haddonfield, NJ: Seeks guidance on starting to cook.
  • Ina Garten: Recommends starting with simple recipes like roast chicken and pasta Bolognese, emphasizing repetition to build confidence.
    • "Just keep making it over and over and over again until you feel comfortable with it." ([19:45])

Notable Quote:

"When it's over." — Ina Garten [16:02]

"I have playlists that I have on Spotify and Apple, like... Oh, you do? Oh, good." — Ina Garten [16:38]

4. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

• Mug Shot Fun: The episode concludes with a lighthearted mug shot session featuring Willie, Ina, and the audience, fostering a sense of community and camaraderie.

  • "One more time for Ina Gorman. Thank you, guys." ([20:44])

• Closing Remarks:

  • Willie expresses gratitude to Ina Garten for her insightful conversation and to City Winery for hosting the live event. Listeners are encouraged to follow the podcast for more engaging discussions.
    • "Ina's best selling memoir, Be Ready when the Luck Happens, is available wherever you get your books." ([20:35])

Notable Quote:

"Who wouldn't want that for dessert?" — Ina Garten [11:14]

---

Key Takeaways:

• Simplicity in Elegance: Ina Garten demonstrates that creating stunning desserts doesn't require complex recipes—diversity in selection and thoughtful presentation are paramount.
• Strategic Planning: Effective meal preparation, especially for multiple dishes, hinges on meticulous planning and timing.
• Personal Touch: Garten emphasizes the importance of personal preferences and touches, whether in music selection or guest lists, to enhance the dining experience.
• Encouragement for Novices: Aspiring cooks are encouraged to start simple, practice consistently, and build confidence through repetition.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "You want a mix of shapes, you want a mix of sizes, you want a mix of colors, you want some greenery on that platter, you want some fruit on that platter." — Ina Garten [01:40]
• "It's just these two ingredients. You put a little cassis in the bottom of the glass and then you pour in cold champagne." — Ina Garten [04:55]
• "I have playlists that I have on Spotify and Apple, like... Oh, you do? Oh, good." — Ina Garten [16:38]
• "When it's over." — Ina Garten [16:02]

This episode offers valuable insights into Ina Garten's approach to entertaining, highlighting her philosophy that elegance lies in simplicity and thoughtful presentation. Whether you're a seasoned host or just beginning your culinary journey, Garten's tips and personal anecdotes provide both inspiration and practical advice.

Transcript

[Almond Joy Ad]

This episode is brought to you by Almond Joy. With its perfect blend of real creamy coconut, rich chocolatey taste and a satisfying almond crunch, Almond Joy is the taste that simply takes you away. Blissful tropical flavors will have you feeling sunny vibes in ocean breezes in every bite. Almond Joy is the ticket to a sweet, indulgent, laid back escape. One you'll want to return to again and again. Grab the creamy coconut and chocolatey crunch of Almond Joy today and taste paradise.

[Ina Garten]

Nothing brings us together like Eglin's best eggs. Always so fresh and delicious. Plus superior nutrition. Like 6 times more vitamin D, 10 times more vitamin E, and 25% less saturated fat compared to ordinary eggs. For us, it's eggs any style as long as they're the best egglins. Best Better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. Visit eglansbest.com to learn more.

[Willie Geist]

Hey guys. Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit down podcast. My thanks as always for tuning in again this week for a special episode two with Ina Garten. In episode one, we brought you my sit down conversation with Ina in front of a live audience at City Winery in New York City. Now in part two, in front of that same audience at City Winery in New York City, we we popped up and built a proper dessert tray. I didn't know how to build a dessert tray. Guess who does? Ina Garten. Turns out you want a mix of shapes, you want a mix of sizes, you want a mix of colors, you want some greenery on that platter, you want some fruit on that platter. We also poured a proper cocktail, which was a Kir royale. She will explain that to you, how you mix it. It's actually two ingredients. It's very simple. We had a great time with with the demo in front of the audience and then fielding audience questions as they came in. So sit back, relax now, and enjoy part two of my conversation with Ina Garten. Right now on the Sunday Sit Down Podcast.

[Ina Garten]

When you're having a dinner party, everybody thinks they have to do some over the top dessert, which takes so much time to make. I have a way to make a dessert that's equally over the top but really simple, requires no cooking at all.

[Willie Geist]

Did I hear dessert?

[Ina Garten]

Dessert in the right place at the right time.

[Willie Geist]

See the streets of New York. So I understand dessert starts with flour.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, unusually, it does. Okay, let's go shopping.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, this is a beautiful shop, isn't it?

[Ina Garten]

A fabulous shop? So we're not doing flowers on food, we're doing flowers on the table.

[Willie Geist]

Well, I think these people die right away.

[Ina Garten]

I believe in picking one flower and just doing a lot of them. So look how gorgeous that is. Isn't that fabulous? And the other thing I always get at a flower shop is some kind of green leaves.

[Willie Geist]

So that will be part of the plate.

[Ina Garten]

It's gonna be part of the platter. It just makes everything pop, pop a little better.

[Willie Geist]

You think of everything.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. Here we go. Let's go shopping for dessert. So what I'm going to do is a big platter, and I'll show you how to make it look gorgeous.

[Willie Geist]

You know, none of my other interview subjects have ever brought a dessert platter. This is why I love Ina.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, I'm so glad. And then we can eat it.

[Willie Geist]

Let's go.

[Ina Garten]

You're looking for color, texture, shape, and flavor. So you want some things that are round, some. Some things that are natural, like fruit. These are beautiful. Look how gorgeous. These big, beautiful strawberries.

[Willie Geist]

Is it me or have strawberries and blueberries gotten bigger since I was a child?

[Ina Garten]

I don't think it's gotten bigger. I mean, not necessarily better, but definitely bigger. Okay, let's go to the bakery. Eli has the best cookies. And nobody know you never turned the oven on.

[Willie Geist]

We have landed in heaven.

[Ina Garten]

Heaven. Right.

[Willie Geist]

Well, these look good.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, these look great. I love these little lemon loaves. Maybe instead of lemon bars we'll have lemon loaves. Right. And then we'll just slice this and let's see where else. Oh, you know what I love? I love these raspberry bars. They're fabulous.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, that's great.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, I know. We have to have brownies. Do we like marshmallows?

[Willie Geist]

I like a marshmallow.

[Ina Garten]

You like a marshmallow?

[Willie Geist]

Oh, my gosh.

[Ina Garten]

Chocolate dipped macaroons.

[Willie Geist]

I love it.

[Ina Garten]

And raspberry jam from Francesco. Raspberry jam. We have enough?

[Willie Geist]

I mean, yeah, I think we do. Boy, it's hard to resist some of this stuff.

[Ina Garten]

I know.

[Willie Geist]

I think we are well stocked for dessert.

[Ina Garten]

I think we're in good shape. But we have one last stop. Champagne. Because it's a celebration, right? So this is my friend Eli's wine shop, and he picks out every bottle personally. I mean, they're really extraordinary wines. So if I was going to get champagne anywhere, this would be the place.

[Willie Geist]

We've come to the right place. And there's Eli, the legend himself.

[Ina Garten]

Pleasure to meet you.

[Willie Geist]

Hi, Eli. So great to meet you.

[Ina Garten]

I'm honored. Thank you, sweetie. So we want to make kir royale good. And I know you know Champagne.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Ina Garten]

This coquiet is a grand Cru, Highest level of champagne. Yeah. Good. And why we chose it because it has a certain amount of acidity to cut through the sweetness. Because you're adding the cassis. The cassis, which is a sweet dessert wine. Exactly. And cassis, you know, it's black currants. Fabulous.

[Willie Geist]

So for people who don't know Kir Royale, it's just these two ingredients.

[Ina Garten]

It's just these two. You put a little cassis in the bottom of the glass and then you pour in cold champagne and usually a.

[Willie Geist]

Flute glass of some kind.

[Ina Garten]

A flute, which. And you know what? If you want to drink it out of a tumbler, knock yourself out. It'll still be delicious.

[Willie Geist]

Whatever makes you happy. So I think we've made our choices.

[Ina Garten]

Yes.

[Willie Geist]

Okay, great.

[Ina Garten]

Yep. Okay, you take that, I'll take this.

[Willie Geist]

Thank you. Hila. Well, Ina, I think we've got everything we need.

[Ina Garten]

Did we clean the place out? I think we did.

[Willie Geist]

Let's go make dessert.

[Ina Garten]

Okay, good. Everybody at Keer Royale. Excellent.

[Willie Geist]

Did you get the Kir Royale? We should have a Kir Royale.

[Ina Garten]

I think it's in tumblers.

[Willie Geist]

That is. Wait, I've got.

[Ina Garten]

I think we need some.

[Willie Geist]

Let's make a little cure.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. Perfect. Okay, wonderful.

[Willie Geist]

Not tumblers, but we'll do it.

[Ina Garten]

I like. I like a recipe. That's two ingredients. That's it. And one of them champagne.

[Willie Geist]

Now which go, remind me, which goes in first?

[Ina Garten]

The cassis. The cassis.

[Willie Geist]

Okay, you're gonna have to walk me through the.

[Ina Garten]

Just. Just portions first. Perfect. Perfect.

[Willie Geist]

Okay.

[Ina Garten]

Yep. Perfect. I love these old fashioned champagne glasses. That's great.

[Willie Geist]

Isn't that nice, guys? I don't like to brag, but I was the co valedictorian of the 1993 Metropolitan Bartending School.

[Ina Garten]

He was. It's true.

[Willie Geist]

I was a senior in high school looking for something to do with my free time, so I went to bartending school, which I think was illegal. I was 17. All right, heads up now.

[Ina Garten]

And Willie knows the way to do it is you turn the bottle, not the cork. That's the key. Thank you.

[Willie Geist]

And then just top that off.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, yeah. Keep going.

[Willie Geist]

Still got it. Wow.

[Ina Garten]

Perfect.

[Willie Geist]

Look at this. Well, that's a beauty.

[Ina Garten]

How gorgeous is that?

[Willie Geist]

Cheers, everyone.

[Ina Garten]

Cheers, everyone. Cheers. Cheers.

[Willie Geist]

Okay, so here are all the things we bought at Eli's the other day. By the way, how great to see Eli, your old friend.

[Ina Garten]

I know. Isn't he wonderful?

[Willie Geist]

He's amazing.

[Ina Garten]

He's fabulous.

[Willie Geist]

So what do we have here? I know let's walk through it.

[Ina Garten]

You know, if you have so much to make for a dinner party, I always like to try and think of something that you can make for dessert that's just assembled. And I was in the south of France at a restaurant, and there's this. They walked in with like a six foot board filled with strawberries and little tarts and chocolates and all kinds of dessert things, and just put it down in the middle of the table. And I thought, why would you ever want to cook if you could do that? I mean, it was so, so gorgeous and so appealing. So that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna make a dessert platter. Not a six foot one, but just a little one. And green leaves are really important because they really make everything look so much better. So I'm just gonna.

[Willie Geist]

So you get like a little bed of leaves?

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, just a couple of leaves so that you can put things on top of it. Okay. So you want something in the middle to give it. Focus on these gorgeous strawberries.

[Willie Geist]

Look at the size of these things.

[Ina Garten]

Just absolutely gorgeous. And some grapes, because green is a really important color.

[Willie Geist]

Have you guys noticed that about strawberries and blueberries getting bigger? There's some like, mutant thing happening on farms.

[Ina Garten]

It's crazy. It's just crazy, you know, Grapes too. The first time I did a cheese platter, when I was at the store, I had a chef and I thought, well, a cheese platter. Somebody asked me for a cheese platter and I thought, well, I can do it myself. It doesn't require cooking. So I got a platter and I did the whole thing. And the chef came over to me and said, okay, so this is what you want to do. You want to take everything off that platter. I said, okay. And she said, you want to put a big bunch of grapes in the middle of the platter, and then you put the cheese around and some strawberries and some apricots and then stop. And she was right. I mean, it's really about keeping the focus of, like, groupings of colors and flavors and things like that, but make them interesting. So what I always do is I take these squares. Do you want to help me with this?

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, of course.

[Ina Garten]

And I cut them in half in fingers. And then take these little muffin cups. White muffin cups. Just white ones, not fancy ones.

[Willie Geist]

Rectangle shape.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, I like kind of that. Like the finger of. So these are the raspberry crumble bars. Just do two of these.

[Willie Geist]

Okay. You want me get those?

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. You want to and then you want to cut more for them. A brownier or more of these guys? Yeah, more of these guys. You want to put a large group of each one. You don't want, like. You don't want it to look like a bowl of M and Ms. Like a grouping of each one.

[Willie Geist]

Okay.

[Ina Garten]

And then, so if you have things that are rectangular, you want things that are round next to it. That's perfect. Actually. We can even just put it on. How's that? We don't even need the paper cups. We'll just put it on like that.

[Willie Geist]

That's nice.

[Ina Garten]

Really? And brownies.

[Willie Geist]

Don't worry. We'll pass this around in a minute.

[Ina Garten]

And actually, I'm not going to put the brownies next to the crumble bars because they're the same shape.

[Willie Geist]

Too much rectangle.

[Ina Garten]

How about if we do too much?

[Willie Geist]

Is that good?

[Ina Garten]

You got the message.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

So. So if we do round cookies. These are raspberry. These are great jam thumbprints. You have to make sure they're good. It's very important. Extremely important.

[Willie Geist]

They're good. Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

And then something rectangular, like a lemon cake. I'm just gonna put this on and then slice it.

[Willie Geist]

Come on. Oohs and ahs. M. Wow.

[Ina Garten]

So it's about texture and flavor to make it really interesting. And everything is accessible. So if you put this in the middle of a table, everybody would just go, oh, that looks so fabulous.

[Willie Geist]

Do you want one of these, or is it too much? Should we run out of room?

[Ina Garten]

I think it's too much right now. How about the macaroons?

[Willie Geist]

Okay.

[Ina Garten]

You want to make sure they're good?

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, I should.

[Ina Garten]

It's important. It's a public service, right? It's very important. Okay, so big groupings. You just want big groupings of things everywhere. Coconut macaroons. Aren't they great? Yeah, I know.

[Willie Geist]

Delicious.

[Ina Garten]

And then what should we put in this corner? What do you think? All right, so we got a little sweet. Maybe more strawberries.

[Willie Geist]

We haven't done the brownies yet. Do we want to do that?

[Ina Garten]

Oh, yeah. We need brownies. Exactly. Okay, perfect. Got to have brownies.

[Willie Geist]

Want a couple more?

[Ina Garten]

Is it too much? Yeah, perfect.

[Willie Geist]

Look at this.

[Ina Garten]

Just kind of piled them up. I think we need one more brownie. How's that?

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Mmm.

[Ina Garten]

I mean, who wouldn't want that for dessert?

[Willie Geist]

Look at that.

[Ina Garten]

Right? And then one more thing. What do we have? Maybe the chocolate, the chocolate loaf.

[Willie Geist]

A rectangle of that one, too?

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, Perfect.

[Willie Geist]

Like a slice.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. Okay. Well done.

[Willie Geist]

Now where do you Put that like you just put this out after dinner.

[Ina Garten]

You just put it right in the middle of the table. Let everybody help themselves.

[Willie Geist]

Okay?

[Ina Garten]

I mean, like, who wouldn't want that?

[Willie Geist]

Guys, that's.

[Ina Garten]

And you know, there was no cooking at all. How's that?

[Willie Geist]

That's gorgeous.

[Ina Garten]

Isn't that pretty? Really pretty. Look at a little strawberries around.

[Willie Geist]

Look at that.

[Ina Garten]

And dessert is served.

[Willie Geist]

Well, what was fun when we were shopping at Eli's was Ina already had the vision. She's going to need those to cut into the rectangular shapes. We need round of these. We need these fruits and these colors. Like you already kind of saw it when we were walking.

[Ina Garten]

I think you have to have a plan. And you don't want all things that rectangular or all things that are round. And you want a variety of flavors and things that are delicious. Always chocolate. Something chocolate.

[Willie Geist]

How about it guys?

[Ina Garten]

Cheers.

[Willie Geist]

Okay, stick around for more of my conversation with Ina Garten. Right after a quick break from director Wes Anderson. Focus Features and Indian Paintbrush present the Phoenician Scheme.

[Ina Garten]

It's my most important project of my lifetime.

[Willie Geist]

Meet Zsa Jsa Gorda. They keep getting assassinated unsuccessfully.

[Ina Garten]

So far.

[Willie Geist]

He's the most bold, most elusive, most wanted man on the planet.

[Ina Garten]

Help yourself to a hangar neck. You're very kind.

[Willie Geist]

Starring Benicio Del Toro, Mia Thrapleton, Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Jeffrey Wright. The PhoEnician scheme, rated PG13, may be inappropriate for children under 13. In theaters everywhere June 6.

[Almond Joy Ad]

This episode is brought to you by Almond Joy. With its perfect blend of real creamy coconut, rich chocolatey taste and a satisfying almond crunch, Almond Joy is the taste that simply takes you away. Blissful tropical flavors will have you feeling sunny vibes and ocean breezes in every bite. Almond Joy is the ticket to a sweet, indulgent, laid back escape. One you'll want to return to again and again. Grab the creamy coconut and chocolatey crunch of Almond Joy today and taste paradise.

[Willie Geist]

How many discounts does USAA Auto Insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi vehicle discount, Safe driver discount, new vehicle discount, storage discount. How many discounts will you stack up?

[Ina Garten]

Tap the banner or visit usaa.com autodisco restrictions apply.

[Willie Geist]

Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Ina Garten. Now before we let you go, Ina, we're going to do some audience questions you guys have submitted.

[Ina Garten]

Uh oh.

[Willie Geist]

We're going to get through as many as we can in the next few minutes. Okay. Where's Faye Evans of Philadelphia? Faye, are you here somewhere? Hi, Faye. Okay, I love this question. Ina, do you ever have one of those nights where you just want to order takeout? If so, what is your go to Takeout?

[Ina Garten]

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

[Willie Geist]

Every day. Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

What's my go to? I like really simple takeout things like a souvlaki from the Greek restaurant or. Right. I love Greek food. Just simple. There's a restaurant near us called 1770 house that has great meatloaf. So on a cold winter night it's wonderful. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Do you ever do like a fast food drive through on a web of catch in there?

[Ina Garten]

Not so. Not so much, no.

[Willie Geist]

Do you not get into super size number one?

[Ina Garten]

I don't even know what that is.

[Willie Geist]

Highly recommend. It's the Big Mac meal. If you supersize it, the fries are big and the drink, it's fantastic. I mean it's not this, but it's close.

[Ina Garten]

I have been known to go to In n Out Burger when I'm in California.

[Willie Geist]

There you go. In and out burger. In and out burger. Okay, how about Nicole from Katona, New York? Where's Nicole? She's here somewhere or she submitted a question. Anyway, this is for Ina. I am a self over here. Oh great. Hi Nicole. I'm a self taught cook. I've always struggled with the timing for a meal with multiple dishes. What's the secret to getting all the dishes to the table at the same time? I grill and I struggle with that too.

[Ina Garten]

It's the hardest thing. And what I do is I make a literally a battle plan. I figure out if I have four things I have to make and I want to serve everything at 7:30, I work my way backwards and literally right, turn on the oven to 400 degrees. When I have to turn the oven on and then put in the meat for 25 minutes, take it out, put the string beans in. I mean literally have the whole thing organized. Otherwise I'm always going, oh my God, do I have to put the string beans in now?

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Ina Garten]

It's really hard.

[Willie Geist]

At what point do you start to enjoy a dinner party? Because it is.

[Ina Garten]

When it's over.

[Willie Geist]

Because it is. It's stressful. All day is stressful.

[Ina Garten]

From the time that I lived in Washington when I was like in 24, I would, every single Saturday I would give a dinner party and every single Sunday I would go, oh, I'm so tired. I'm never giving another dinner party again. And then on Monday I'd start inviting people for the next weekend.

[Willie Geist]

There you go.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah, go figure.

[Willie Geist]

Can't help yourself. Thank You, Nicole. Okay. This is from Susan. Amarillo, Texas. Thank you, Susan.

[Ina Garten]

Oh.

[Willie Geist]

Oh, this is a good one. Do you play music while you cook? And if so, what do you play always?

[Ina Garten]

I actually have playlists that I have on Spotify and Apple, like. Oh, you do? Oh, good. That's wonderful. I have like a French playlist and a dinner party playlist and road trip playlist.

[Willie Geist]

Any favorite artists that pop? Is it like Edith Peele?

[Ina Garten]

Taylor Swift. What happened? I'm really a teenage at heart.

[Willie Geist]

She's working that booking hard tonight. Taylor Swift. Get that out to the press. Okay. We mentioned our lunch in Paris. How often do you get to Paris and what is your favorite restaurant there?

[Ina Garten]

You know, Jeffrey and I go to Paris certainly twice a year, but usually like three or four times a year. And you know, the thing I love about Paris is not the fancy restaurants, it's the brasseries and the really simple places. And one of the things we love to do, if we, like, go to Belgium for the day and then come back late at night and go to Flor and have an omelette and a glass of champagne, I mean, it's the best omelet in the world. And it's just the simplest meal. And that's kind of what I'd like to do.

[Willie Geist]

Simple and delicious.

[Ina Garten]

Simple.

[Willie Geist]

Sort of the Ina Garten way. Okay, here's one for both of us. This is hard. Who are the three people, living or dead, you would like to have dinner with? Todd from Huntsville writes this question. Yeah, Todd and Todd. Todd points out Ina is always on our list of three.

[Ina Garten]

Thank you, Todd.

[Willie Geist]

So you're kind of having that today.

[Ina Garten]

How about Julia Childs? Eric Ripert from Laverna Davis, who's the other food person. That would be really fun. And Jacques Pepin, who's so much fun. Wow. Wouldn't that dinner party be fabulous? Yes, that'd be great.

[Willie Geist]

Talk about stress making that dinner.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, God. I actually had Eric Ripert as a guest. And afterwards I remember thinking, oh my God, I have to cook something for him. I was in a full panic. And then I thought, I remember that when he was a little boy, his mother used to make literally get up at five o' clock in the morning and make a two course breakfast, a three course lunch, and a three course dinner for them. And she would make. And she worked, she was in the fashion business and she would make him a tarte tin every day. So when he came home from school and she was away at work, he would eat the entire tarte tatin. So I made him a French apple tart when he came and he was just adorable. Yeah, it was really nice.

[Willie Geist]

This is impossible. You can go historical figure. I went Dolly Parton, our greatest living American.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, yeah, that's good.

[Willie Geist]

You want some energy and comedy. At the party, I went Marty Short. I thought it would be a fun.

[Ina Garten]

Can you imagine martyrs?

[Willie Geist]

And then if we're doing living or dead, I went a little family. My great grandfather Herbie Lewis, Mom's grandfather, played in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings and was this huge, huge figure in our family. And I would love to now sit and talk and get to know him a little bit.

[Ina Garten]

That sounds like a good party.

[Willie Geist]

Sounds like a good party. Marty Short's running that party, though, let's be honest. Okay, time for a couple more. For those of us that do not cook, this is from Mike in Haddonfield, New Jersey. How do you recommend we start? Where do you begin? If you're not good in the kitchen, but you kind of want to get.

[Ina Garten]

There, I would say get a really simple cookbook and learn to make. You don't have to make a million things. Make a roast chicken and some kind of pasta, like a pasta Bolognese. If you just follow the recipe and you don't have to nail it on the first try. Just keep making it over and over and over again until you feel comfortable with it and then you've got two great dinners. You don't have to make a million things.

[Willie Geist]

Good advice, right? Good advice. Yeah. Okay, before we say goodnight to you guys, we want to do a mug shot with everybody in the mug shot. So Mark is our photographer. He's going to be out here and Ayn and I will stand here. You guys will be in the background. He's got a wide angle lens and we're going to take the mug shot and get everybody on the show when this interview airs next Sunday, June 1st with Ina. So we'll get in position. Okay, if you have a mug, lift it up. Ready?

[Ina Garten]

Cheers.

[Willie Geist]

Cheers. Thank you.

[Ina Garten]

Thank you guys.

[Willie Geist]

One more time for Ina Gorman. Thank you, guys. My big thanks again to Ina for that conversation and of course to City Winery for hosting and sponsoring our Sunday Sit down live event. Stay tuned for the next one. Ina's best selling memoir, Be Ready when the Luck Happens, is available wherever you get your books. My thanks again to all of you for listening this week. If you want to hear more of my 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. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit down podcast. How many discounts does USAA Auto Insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi vehicle discount, Safe driver discount, new vehicle discount, Storage discount. How many discounts will you stack up?

[Ina Garten]

Tap the banner or visit usaa.com autodiscounts restrictions apply.