Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Ina Garten on Her Rise from Home Cook to Culinary Icon - Part 1

Episode Date: June 1, 2025

Willie sits down with Ina Garten for an all-new "Sunday Sitdown Live." They talk about her journey to culinary fame, the support from her husband Jeffery, and her New York Times Best Selling Memoir, "Be Ready When the Luck Happens.” Venue sponsored by City Winery. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 bringing 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, 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 Bargetse. 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 bestselling 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 L.A., 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 Eindgarten 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's 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.

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 Garten gets. We did an event around her. Did you guys read her incredible memoir? Be ready when the lock happens. More on that in a moment.

But I interviewed Eine 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, just left to their feet

in the crowd screen, which makes her deeply uncomfortable. So I'll move on from it. But she is amazing. I'm so happy to see you. Thank you for doing this. So we have to. a bit of a, like a

Frost Nixon thing going. You come on my show, I go on your show, we do various events. And the thing that amazes me for Be My Guest, you were my first guest. Yes. 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. 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. Here we go.

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

back to 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, if you were at a dinner party and the people next year are having a really interesting conversation, what would I want that to be? And I kind of think of it that way.

And you've had Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci and Tina Faye, the list of people who sort of make the pilgrimage to your barn is amazing. It's just 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 Frommon 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 I just love the range of, you know, authors like Aunt Patchett and interviewers like Willie Geist. And, I mean, it's just an incredible experience. So a question I get all the time, I'm 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? Taylor Swift. That's easy. She's a little busy. If anyone could get Taylor Swift on the show, I think it's Ina.

She's a fan of Ina's as well. And she's a great cook. Is she a good cook? Yeah. She actually came. Do you know this that she came to the barn? Yes. that Miley 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... It was a long time ago. I think it was like 10 years ago. And so we asked her very famous publicist 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 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 going to make any of those things. And I decided we would make it Pavlova because 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. How do you grapple with the fact that Taylor Swift loves you, that Megan Markle loves you, that you're on 30 Rock with Tina Faye?

I love Tina. I just adore her. 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? That's very sweet. I don't know. It's true, right?

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.

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. Went berserk. Right? I thought, who would want to read my memoir? 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? Well, I just think, you know, I did 16 minutes and Sharon Alfonzi said to me, everybody thinks you're just walking around with a big cosmopolitan having a ball.

Which is true. Of course, I am. Yeah, that's what you are. But she said that, she said, but you worked really hard. And I thought, I don't know. I mean, I did, I worked hard doing what I love to do. It didn't feel like hard work. But I started to think, actually, it 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 someone 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. It was just incredible. So I think I just wanted people to know that it, 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. More on Jeffrey in just a moment. In the book, you describe your childhood as kind of dower, I think, was the word you used, which was... It was at least doubt. At least, right, right. That's to put it mildly. 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.

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. 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. 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? I was the only girl walking around. I thought there was all boys college. That was a very low bar. 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? Well, I was so young. I don't think I think I, 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. And I was like, what? I'm still waiting. Still hasn't asked you? Still hasn't asked. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from I, Garten right after the break.

Welcome back now more, my conversation with Ina Garten. You guys, so 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's support the guts, to make this leap from a solid job in Washington, but not something you were passionate about? It's fair to say? 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 play. 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 is 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. 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, if 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 I was when I look back now, I think, well, I was really searching for what I wanted to do.

I mean, but the move to see the business opportunities, I believe, was the name of the section of the New York Times. In 1978, you see this ad for a little shop in West Hampton Beach. It was like the size of this table, guys. It's really small. But I'm just thinking about in that moment, the leap you made personally from a solid job in Washington to go, I'm going to just go out there and do this. what gave you the courage to make that leap ultimately? I think I felt that I don't have a choice because 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 going to jump off a cliff and see 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. And what were the early days, barefootkins has alike? Was it the dream? 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. I just was really happy doing it. And 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 go, okay, what do I want to do now? I want to test the chocolate cake and I'd go back to the store.

So did you have moments during those early days where you thought, I don't know, this is not what I dreamed of. This is the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life, yeah. And what kept you going through those moments? I think it was a real challenge. First of all, we had invested, I mean, Jeffrey and I, both, I'd 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 love 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 was just, it smelled good, it looked good. There were great displays. It was just fun. So when did, Anna, 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. I think probably after about a year, I realized that it was just really, yeah, it was great. I mean, it was, 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. Took over a big space. You write about in the book is some of the strain that had 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. Yeah. Difficult days? 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 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, you know, we took a little time apart, figure, I need, you know, I'd never lived on my own. And I just kind of needed to do that. And he was great. There's a great scene in the book where you come to Washington and he meets you at the train station. Yeah. And then you guys kind of sit on the steps.

And what did he say to you? What was that conversation? 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, you know, go see a therapist and, you know, 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. And I think we both changed. I think we're really, it was just very supportive. Yeah.

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

I think it worked out. 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 go free. He's so much more popular than I am. What does he make of all this? I just think he loves, he loves,

watching me have a good time. So I think he's just very sweet about it. Yeah. People love Jeffrey. They love that. They really do. They really do. Everybody needs one. 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, the ingredients and the testing and all of that. And it just explodes. It was, you know, it was, I mean, 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. 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 on on something that really worked. You had to be shocked, though, by the response to it.

Stunned. The fact that it was like they couldn't keep it on the tables at bookstores. Well, the deal I made with the publisher 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 by the time the 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 sold out the first printing. Wow. So I was like, whew! Talk about by the seat of my pants. But that's an amazing thing because 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.

There was a moment when I was in kitchen. I had to go to California for a publicity event. And sweet Jeffrey, he was like an investment banker, but he decided he was going to 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 & 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 & Noble, and I found the manager, and I said to them, would you like me to sign it? Would you like me to sign it? And he's like, yeah, what's your book? I mean, you couldn't have been more bored with the whole thing. And I said, it's the Belfarekintess a cookbook.

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 trip, Jeffrey and I were going, whoa. Something's happening here. Whoa, what happened there? And how quickly did they ask you to write another cookbook after that? Yeah, like a minute and a half. Yeah, right? And then not long after, for obvious reasons, because of the success of your cookbook, here comes the Food Network.

And you get your first show in 2002, I think, is the year. After saying no for like years. Oh, my God. When they pitched you the idea of being a TV personality? I said, forget it. Not interested. And so how did they twist your arm? How did they get you there?

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 going to 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 going to work out. And we'll be done with that. And that was, what, 25 years ago, I think. Yeah, yeah.

about it. Thank goodness they kept coming back. The thing, 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 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. 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. Right. I don't know why I knew that, but I just knew. I thought, no, I'm just going to be myself. 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? 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 what I'm the sweet spot of what I'm looking for. And the foundation is a nod is Julia Child, which goes back to your trip to parents. 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, it's good for anything. You've cooked your way through all of her cookbooks

over the year. That's how you've effectively trained yourself without that formal training, right? And I love that she says, okay, here's how you make a Hollandez the traditional way with a whisk and a, you know, 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 a new food processor. So, I mean, I love that she made it easier. You do make it look easy. that's true, but it's not. It's not.

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? It's a really long process. So one of my favorite recipes is the 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. 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 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 dinner party myself. Cooking's hard, isn't it? And entertaining is even harder.

You've said many times and even recently, despite who you are, you still have terrible anxiety before every dinner party. It's still a nerve-wracking experience like it is for all of us. People are coming over. everything's got to be ready at the right time. Yeah, it's hard. It's complex. And I'm always sure I'm going to overcook the meat, whatever it is. I don't know why, but I'm always sure I'm going to do it. And Jeffrey knows

when he comes to try and help, I'm like, don't, don't talk to me. Don't. And by the way, the expectations are through the roof. You're going to dinner and Ina Garden's house. Yeah, I mean... It is true. Right. 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 are really hard. Are you ever tempted to just throw out some chicken tenders and honey mustard? No. I'll just say, didn't feel like it tonight, guys. 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. I love that. Isn't that great? Yes. If you come over for dinner expecting like a really nice dinner party and it turns out it's waffles and smoke salmon and moscarpone, it's great. I love that. Yeah. Stick around for more of my conversation.

with Ina Garten right after a quick break. 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 of people are arriving at a dinner 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. I like a jell salad salad. What are you going to do with that? And don't ever bring flowers that aren't in a vase. Oh, that's the worst.

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, storebought granola, just the things

that are, you know, that you'd want to serve for breakfast the next day. Isn't that good advice? Is that good? Okay, good. Also, something I never thought, I have to stop bringing chips and guac to parties. I just rip open the bag of tostitos. You can bring chips and guac to my

house any time. It goes with everything. We've had, I mentioned we did a series of interviews and Ina, this is your third time on the Sunday show. Is it? It is, yes. Come to your house once. And then we had one during COVID where this tells you 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, slid 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're 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 Garden's favorite little restaurant in Paris sitting in a corner booth with Kate, unlike an Italian place. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With my friend, my friend Kate. 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 Garden. Do you have, I know this is like favorite child stuff, a favorite go-to dish of yours? The Inagarden dish that you might say is like the quintessential Ina-garten dish. If I have people coming for dinner that I don't know, I have this like getting to know you dinner that I don't know that I do. that I just know I can nail every time. And I don't, I don't, I'm not so anxious about it. And it's, it's in bear fruit contested parties.

It's a rack of, mustard rack of lamb and orzo with roasted vegetables. And it's just, it's so great together. It's, I mean, it's, it never fails. And so that's, and recently I've been doing panacotta, which is like a, like a custard, Italian custard that I can, you can do with some 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. We do the, um, Christina the chicken with the orzo. What's the one we have once a week?

Yeah, the chicken order. Which one is it? Crispy chicken with the orzo. Thank you, Christina. Yes. From the Queens balcony. Yes. The other one that's really great is the Tuscan lemon chicken, which is a flattened chicken with onions. Do you guys make it? Do you guys make it? I like it. It's really, I love that one. Yeah. So do you have things, I know, 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?

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. Right. 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 going to do tomorrow. I know what I'm going to do tomorrow. And I'm going to 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. We'll get a paperback of this, right, I assume. I don't know. I don't. There's got to be. It's a huge bestseller. Yeah, we need a paperback. Oh, okay. 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.

They want me to do things. That's why. I don't know. 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 would be a very small line of clothing. By the way, it would be a home run. Wasn't there a line of fertilizer? Yes, somebody wanted me to do a line of fertilizer. I'm like, why?

Why? I'm like, I'm like, no. That's not happening. Yeah. So, shit aside. Surely they've asked you to have pans and spatulas and spoons and all that. And you've just said...

I just, 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. Right. And I think people know that about me, that I'm not, you know, I just don't get paid for that. I mean, I've had some products on my own, like Goldbelly. We make coconut cake and Beattie's chocolate cake, and you can order it and have it shipped. But that's my product, that I'm not putting my name on somebody else's cakes. I was just remembering, you're going to see a video for our next segment,

a little video we shot 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 said, great. And then she walks away. She's, my recipes are on the New York Times app? Should we talk to somebody about that?

Just you're everywhere. You're everywhere. 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. turn the pug me up my back.

I think that's called plagiarism or something. I was like, really? Oh, yeah. We're going to get out of the way for just a moment and they're going to 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 I'm? that Ina Garden is here? No, I don't think so.

Give your shit together. Yeah. They do. You can't feel that. What? You can't feel that when you walk in. Well, it's happening. It's happening.

So we're going to take a quick break. We're going to come back in like 10 minutes. One of just to give you a little tease ahead, we're going to be making a cure royale, which is a beautiful, beautiful drink. We could all use a cure royale, right? And so they have Keer Royale at the bar for you guys, for sale. So we're going to 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. Thank you. My huge thanks to 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.