Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus sits down at Ina’s kitchen table for a Cosmopolitan and a hilarious conversation about how she and Ina became friends, attending a fashion show in Paris together, making her Broadway debut in "Other Desert Cities," and why they both get stressed out about throwing dinner parties. Beloved hostess Ina Garten welcomes listeners into her New York City apartment for Happy Hour with Ina Garten. Every Wednesday, she sits down with people she’d like to meet from the worlds of culture, food, art, sports, and entertainment for the kinds of conversations you would love to overhear at a great dinner party. Warm, funny, personal, and often unexpected, Happy Hour mixes in-depth conversation with stories, recipes, and, of course, cocktails. Pull up a chair, pour yourself a drink, and join the conversation. SUBSCRIBE ► Subscribe to Happy Hour with Ina Garten for new episodes every Wednesday: https://www.youtube.com/@HappyHourwithIna?sub_confirmation=1 FOLLOW THE SHOW ► Happy Hour on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappyHourwithIna?sub_confirmation=1 ► Happy Hour on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happyhourwithina ► Happy Hour on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@happyhourwithina ► Happy Hour on Substack: https://happyhourwithinagarten.substack.com/welcome ► Happy Hour on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589319634655 Host: Ina Garten Executive Producers: Jenna Weiss-Berman, Ali Jaffe Ramis, and Deborah Davis Contributing Producer: Kate Tyler Producer: Jules Natt Video Editor: Tim Fernandez Associate Producer: Mica Pollan Bahn Sound Recording: Joe Plourde Audio Mixing: Eleanor Osborne Camera Operators: Joe Valenzuela and Leo Gallagher Music by Pink Martini Special Thanks to Cinematographer Dion Beebe Happy Hour with Ina is a Vox Media podcast. For recipes featured in this episode, visit barefootcontessa.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Ina Garten?

  I'm Ina Garten and this is Happy Hour. Today, I'm sitting down with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. We're having a huge argument.

• 0:11Ina Garten?

  Julia is an 11-time Emmy Award-winning actress, comedian, and producer. I'm gonna need six more of these.

• 0:21Ina Garten?

  She's best known for Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Veep, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Now, she's about to make her Broadway debut in the play Other Desert Cities.

• 0:43Ina Garten?

  Support for the show comes from Whole Foods Market. When I'm hosting a fall dinner, I always choose recipes that I know my guests will love. The ones that are made with really good cheddar, crisp apples, roasted sweet peppers, fresh herbs, and flaky pastry. When you start with high-quality ingredients, you don't have to do much to make the simplest dishes absolutely delicious. For whatever party you're planning, Whole Foods Market has beautiful ingredients to make your cooking shine. Gather your friends and family around the table and have a wonderful time. For your fall entertaining, shop Whole Foods Market in-store or online.

• 1:23Ina Garten?

  Support for the show comes from Talbotz. You know me, I'm all about big impact without overcomplicating it. And I believe the best things in life are simple, effortless, and classic for a reason. That's why Talbotz is my daily uniform and why I'm wearing it right now. I used to go into my closet and look at everything, and I'd always wear the Talbotz shirt anyway. So I thought, how about get rid of everything else? Why chase trends when I can dress in timeless pieces that feel good and always look right? Discover the pieces you'll reach for again and again. Shop talbotz.com/ina today.

• 2:02Ina Garten?

  Julia Louis-Dreyfus, welcome to Happy Hour.

• 2:05Speaker 01

  Hey, Ina Garten, thanks a million.

• 2:07Ina Garten?

  And when you're here, it's always a happy hour.

• 2:09Speaker 01

  What are we drinking? Is this what I think it is?

• 2:11Ina Garten?

  It's exactly what you think it is. I thought you've come to New York, you've always talked about it. What's the...

• 2:17Speaker 01

  That's very tasty.

• 2:18Ina Garten?

  ...New York drink.

• 2:19Speaker 01

  I'm drinking it right.

• 2:20Ina Garten?

  A Cosma.

• 2:21Speaker 01

  I know, it's divine.

• 2:22Ina Garten?

  Is it big enough? Should we get bigger ones?

• 2:24Speaker 01

  We need bigger ones.

• 2:25Ina Garten?

  I think we do. I'm so happy to see you.

• 2:28Speaker 01

  I'm so happy to see you too. Here we are, but it's like, now I feel like, because we're friends...

• 2:33Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 2:33Speaker 01

  ...in real life.

• 2:34Ina Garten?

  In real life.

• 2:34Speaker 01

  I feel like now we're two friends pretending to be on a TV show together.

• 2:38Ina Garten?

  Okay, we'll just pretend, how's that? Make-believe.

• 2:41Speaker 01

  When I was little, I used to play this game with a friend of mine, and we would pretend we were on a talk show together and interview each other.

• 2:48Ina Garten?

  No.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  So now I feel like we're...

• 2:52Ina Garten?

  We can be like six-year-olds having a talk show.

• 2:54Speaker 01

  Exactly, exactly.

• 2:55Ina Garten?

  I love, you know, the first time we ever met was on your podcast, Wiser Than Me.

• 2:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:59Ina Garten?

  Which was so much fun.

• 3:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:01Ina Garten?

  I love that you started with this personal story.

• 3:04Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 3:04Ina Garten?

  And then the interview, and how do you wrap it up is just genius.

• 3:08Speaker 01

  Oh, thank you.

• 3:09Ina Garten?

  You call your mother.

• 3:09Speaker 01

  I do.

• 3:10Ina Garten?

  And you tell her about the podcast.

• 3:11Speaker 01

  I do.

• 3:11Ina Garten?

  And does she tell you things that surprise you?

• 3:13Speaker 01

  Always, yeah, she always has, yeah. There's a, my mother's very intelligent and intellectual, and so she always has insights that I find interesting. Or sometimes she doesn't understand what I said, and then we just have a huge laugh because she, what was it, when I talked to Nina Totenberg and, oh, yeah, and Nina Totenberg, Nina Totenberg had talked about how she felt sort of like a fraud when she was younger.

• 3:46Ina Garten?

  Oh.

• 3:47Speaker 01

  But my mother misunderstood when I said, and so she goes, "Why did she think she was a frog?"

• 3:57Ina Garten?

  So that took up a number of minutes of the podcast, laughing about that. So you were talking to your mother about our, when we were talking, she and I are closer to the same age, so she and I are on the cutting edge, really, of the women's movement. So it was interesting to you that it was very unusual that I was like, had a career and I was doing that.

• 4:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:18Ina Garten?

  And not many women were doing that.

• 4:19Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 4:20Ina Garten?

  And I just love that she gave context to it. It was just great.

• 4:23Speaker 01

  Totally, yeah.

• 4:23Ina Garten?

  So did you learn a lot from, I mean, the podcast is called Wiser Than Me, did you get wiser? Did you learn anything that was really interesting?

• 4:30Speaker 01

  Yes, I've learned tons from it. I mean, now you're gonna ask me what I've learned, I can't...

• 4:36Ina Garten?

  Because you're serving me alcohol. I'll drink to that, how's that? Here's to not learning anything and just having a good time.

• 4:42Speaker 01

  Just to being a stupid ass. I'm all for it.

• 4:46Ina Garten?

  At the end of the day, if you're not having fun, what is the point?

• 4:48Speaker 01

  What is the point?

• 4:50Ina Garten?

  Right? What's the point?

• 4:50Speaker 01

  What is the point?

• 4:51Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 4:51Speaker 01

  I know, it's absolutely true.

• 4:55Ina Garten?

  I will so drink to that. And I think one of my favorite times that we ever had together was in Paris. So here we are at lunch, and your friend from Hermes said, "So how little do you like to come to Paris to go to the fashion show?"

• 5:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:07Ina Garten?

  And we just looked at each other and went, "Yeah." I don't even think we looked at our calendars, we just said, "Oh, yeah, we could do that."

• 5:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, we can come, we're absolutely coming.

• 5:16Ina Garten?

  Was that, wasn't that fun?

• 5:18Speaker 01

  Wasn't that fun?

• 5:19Ina Garten?

  That was amazing.

• 5:19Speaker 01

  Wasn't it amazing? Hey, by the way, you are a viral sensation from that, you know that, right?

• 5:23Ina Garten?

  I don't understand it.

• 5:25Speaker 01

  Frankly, I don't either, but there was something about the icon Ina Garten sitting there, watching all these models go by in their fabulous looks.

• 5:36Ina Garten?

  And the girl who only wears Talbotz shirts.

• 5:39Speaker 01

  With a beautiful Hermes scarf, if you don't mind my pointing that out.

• 5:43Ina Garten?

  So here we are, you and I are in the front row, I don't know what I'm doing in the front row, you certainly are involved in fashion.

• 5:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, but it was, and anyway, there was that footage of you that went viral, of you just sitting there watching everything, it was so much fun.

• 5:57Ina Garten?

  Wasn't it fun? It was really?

• 5:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was very exotic.

• 6:00Ina Garten?

  I remember you texting me going, "What am I doing here?" Do you remember that?

• 6:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, because I thought...

• 6:05Ina Garten?

  And I'm like, "Do you feel comfortable at a fashion show?"

• 6:07Speaker 01

  Never.

• 6:08Ina Garten?

  I felt like, I felt like I'd kind of dropped in from the moon, and I didn't know what I was doing there.

• 6:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, I know, it's a very...

• 6:15Ina Garten?

  Really?

• 6:15Speaker 01

  Yes, I've been to a few, and I never, I feel like an impostor, for sure. Yeah, I do, you know?

• 6:23Ina Garten?

  And you love fashion, and you wear it so well, and you're...

• 6:25Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 6:26Ina Garten?

  But, do you feel like everybody in the front row feels like they're an impostor?

• 6:30Speaker 01

  That's a good question. I don't know, I mean, everybody's insecure, aren't they? At the end of the day.

• 6:36Ina Garten?

  Basically, I have to say, my favorite part of that, that trip was going to our particularly celebratory dinner, which is caviar Caspia.

• 6:45Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 6:46Ina Garten?

  Isn't that, isn't that place just, you had never been, right?

• 6:49Speaker 01

  I had never been, nor had my husband Brad, and you treated us to that lovely meal. And it was so, what's the word? It felt so ebulliently sophisticated and...

• 7:03Ina Garten?

  And what I love about it is so simple, it's two courses.

• 7:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:07Ina Garten?

  The first one's a bolognese with smoked salmon, that's it. And they bring a little, they'll bring a little champagne, or they'll bring vodka or something like that. And the second course is a baked potato piled high with caviar.

• 7:19Speaker 01

  It's unbelievable.

• 7:21Ina Garten?

  I love seeing Brad, Brad was like, "Caviar on a baked potato," which to me is heaven because it's both low and high at the same time.

• 7:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:28Ina Garten?

  And he dipped his fork in and he tasted it, and to absolutely nobody but himself, he went, "Oh, my God."

• 7:37Ina Garten?

  To me, that was the highlight of the whole trip.

• 7:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, he was really happy. He was really, really happy.

• 7:43Ina Garten?

  It was just so much fun.

• 7:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was, thank you for that great experience, I loved it.

• 7:48Ina Garten?

  But you spent a lot of time in Paris when you were a kid. Your father's family is French, right?

• 7:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, they are.

• 7:54Ina Garten?

  So what did, what did France feel like when you were a kid? Were you just, it was just another place?

• 7:59Speaker 01

  Oh, no, no, no, it felt exotic, it felt mysterious. Because, you know, I, my dad was sort of, you know, I, how can I say this exactly? My father's French life was very separate from the life he had in the States.

• 8:20Ina Garten?

  In what way?

• 8:21Speaker 01

  He sort of, he kept them separate. We didn't, we as a family didn't spend a lot of time in France growing up. He had a pretty tough childhood, and so he, he bifurcated things, and...

• 8:38Ina Garten?

  So would he visit them separately, or would he...

• 8:40Speaker 01

  He would go, well, see, he had to work there, so he would go there a lot for work.

• 8:44Ina Garten?

  And his family was in commodities trading, is that right?

• 8:47Speaker 01

  Correct, yeah. So our sort of connection to it felt a little bit removed, mysterious, and, speaking for myself, it felt very, it had an allure that I felt a connection to. And of course, I am connected to it because half my family is from that country. And so, so, I mean, I remember being with my dad in Paris, took me to some restaurant, and I had never, and I was a teenager, and they served a hot salad.

• 9:27Ina Garten?

  Oh, interesting.

• 9:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, hot, warm.

• 9:29Ina Garten?

  Yeah, like a, like a...

• 9:31Speaker 01

  Like a frise.

• 9:31Ina Garten?

  A frise with...

• 9:32Speaker 01

  But I had never had that. And I had never, I couldn't believe what an incredible sort of mouth...

• 9:41Speaker 01

  Experience that was.

• 9:43Ina Garten?

  Well, starting with it, it's mostly bacon and a little frise.

• 9:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, but the frise is crunchy. And so it's warm, but it's not wilted.

• 9:51Ina Garten?

  The shallots are warm, and yeah, exactly. Isn't it the best?

• 9:54Speaker 01

  It was so tasty.

• 9:55Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 9:56Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I remember coming upon my first farmer's market there, also when I was a teenager, and they had these chocolate croissants, and I was like, I have to eat four of these in a row. And I did.

• 10:09Ina Garten?

  And there's something about the French style that is so simple.

• 10:15Speaker 01

  Simple.

• 10:16Ina Garten?

  But incredibly elegant at the same time.

• 10:19Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 10:20Ina Garten?

  And it's very hard to define, but it's in everything. It's in the fashion, it's in the food. Isn't that true? Like a frise salad, it's a perfectly simple salad.

• 10:30Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 10:31Ina Garten?

  But it's both elegant and simple at the same time.

• 10:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's funny, isn't it? There's a confidence.

• 10:37Ina Garten?

  That's what it is. That's a really good word.

• 10:39Speaker 01

  I think it is. I think there's a confidence in French cooking, French style, that is felt.

• 10:46Ina Garten?

  It's the way a woman wraps a scarf.

• 10:50Speaker 01

  Without question.

• 10:51Ina Garten?

  Forget it.

• 10:52Speaker 01

  And you know, it's interesting, because when you're in France and you're just walking down the street, and you'll see men and women, but I'm thinking of women particularly, and you know, she may not be the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, but boy, she's chic.

• 11:05Ina Garten?

  Yeah, so chic. And they don't have a million clothes. I mean, this is sort of what people say. They don't have a million different outfits, they have like four, but they're totally put together.

• 11:16Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 11:17Ina Garten?

  And it's, I think, I love it.

• 11:18Speaker 01

  I do too.

• 11:19Ina Garten?

  I just adore it.

• 11:20Speaker 01

  Love.

• 11:21Ina Garten?

  Love it. So you've just bought an apartment in New York.

• 11:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:24Ina Garten?

  And tell me about, you were looking for a certain kind of apartment.

• 11:27Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 11:28Ina Garten?

  And I think you found it, right? So tell me that story.

• 11:30Speaker 01

  Okay, so we lost our house in the Palisades fire, which you know.

• 11:34Ina Garten?

  I know. I saw you right afterwards.

• 11:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's right. You did, the next week.

• 11:39Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 11:40Speaker 01

  And I'm gonna need six more of these. We have to tell the crew, but anyway.

• 11:46Ina Garten?

  We have six more.

• 11:47Speaker 01

  Yeah. But anyway, so, and shortly after losing, then this home, by the way, is the home where we raised our children, we had it for 30-plus years.

• 11:58Ina Garten?

  You had all your art.

• 12:00Speaker 01

  We had everything in it. We were obviously fairly undone by that, as were so many other people. And I realized, when I came to New York, we had a trip planned to come to New York the following week, and we stuck with it, and.

• 12:15Ina Garten?

  That was your birthday, right?

• 12:16Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I said to Brad, my husband, I said, you know, I think we need a home-home in New York now, because I can't start over in LA. So I began the search, which you were a part of.

• 12:28Ina Garten?

  I love shopping for apartments with you.

• 12:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, we went shopping.

• 12:32Ina Garten?

  It was really fun. We saw some pretty horrible things, and some pretty great things.

• 12:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, we did. This is one of the ones that we saw early on, and I opted, I thought it was, but my, well, I should say this, we went into this place, and the owners had two dogs, you can include this or not, but it really makes me laugh.

• 12:53Ina Garten?

  This is hilarious.

• 12:54Speaker 01

  You know what I'm gonna say?

• 12:55Ina Garten?

  I do.

• 12:56Speaker 01

  And the owners had two dogs, I'm telling the whole group here, and the owners had two dogs, and they were very jumpy. And we were, and you couldn't wear shoes in this apartment, so Ina was sitting on the couch putting her shoes on, and these dogs came, and they were small, but they were like jumping, jumping on her knees, and she goes, oh my God, I feel like I'm on safari, she said. It was just.

• 13:21Ina Garten?

  It's unbelievable. There were wild animals in that apartment.

• 13:25Speaker 01

  There were wild animals, she was being attacked. Yeah, she was out in the bush. Anyway.

• 13:32Ina Garten?

  But you were looking for an apartment like your father's apartment, because that had the glamour of coming to New York and visiting him.

• 13:38Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 13:39Ina Garten?

  And what did you end up with?

• 13:41Speaker 01

  And I, yes, and I ended up buying an apartment in the very same building where my dad.

• 13:47Ina Garten?

  The apartment above, right?

• 13:48Speaker 01

  The apartment above.

• 13:49Ina Garten?

  Isn't that incredible?

• 13:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:51Ina Garten?

  So it was, how many people come to New York and get their dream apartment? And you did.

• 13:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:55Ina Garten?

  Right?

• 13:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly.

• 13:57Ina Garten?

  One thing I love that I think you do too, I feel, I love spaces that feel collected. It doesn't feel decorated.

• 14:02Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 14:03Ina Garten?

  Like, everything doesn't match.

• 14:04Speaker 01

  No, no, at all.

• 14:06Ina Garten?

  Yeah. Don't you feel that way?

• 14:08Speaker 01

  Absolutely. You mix some modern with some very traditional, all of it.

• 14:12Ina Garten?

  Yeah, prints and solids and the whole thing.

• 14:15Speaker 01

  That's right, all of it.

• 14:16Ina Garten?

  And. I kinda like that style a lot.

• 14:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, me too, me too. And in this apartment, which is, we're still working on it, but, speaking of booze, we're building a little bar in there.

• 14:26Ina Garten?

  Oh, good.

• 14:27Speaker 01

  I know.

• 14:28Ina Garten?

  We'll need it.

• 14:29Speaker 01

  Yes, exactly.

• 14:30Ina Garten?

  So you're set. You know, I remember asking my architect once, what's the most important thing when you're designing an apartment? And he said, well, it's actually two things. The first one is choosing a style, and the second one is getting every other style out of your head.

• 14:44Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 14:45Ina Garten?

  And I thought that's really, really smart, because, you know, it's very easy to have like a board, like, do you have a board on Pinterest of things that you love?

• 14:53Speaker 01

  No, I don't know how to do that.

• 14:54Ina Garten?

  Or a collection of magazine articles?

• 14:55Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 14:56Ina Garten?

  You can't do that anymore.

• 14:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:58Ina Garten?

  But like, you like this particular window, and you like that sofa, and you like something else, and they don't go together, because they're totally different styles.

• 15:05Speaker 01

  Right, right.

• 15:06Ina Garten?

  So it's, that's part, I think that's part of the process, is editing.

• 15:09Speaker 01

  It is editing, and, but the other part of the process is defining what feels like home to you.

• 15:17Ina Garten?

  Yeah, that's, yeah.

• 15:18Speaker 01

  Yeah. And, which is a part of the edit, of course, but I'm a Nestor, and as you are.

• 15:24Ina Garten?

  I am, I'm totally a Nestor.

• 15:25Speaker 01

  Yeah. So that is what we're talking about. In fact, some of my, I have, occasionally I have these dreams, these recurring dreams that are very happy, in which I find more rooms in my house.

• 15:38Ina Garten?

  Isn't that great?

• 15:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, they're really good.

• 15:41Ina Garten?

  I love that.

• 15:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, like little secret areas and stuff. It's really cool.

• 15:44Ina Garten?

  Wow.

• 15:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, but I think that's about creating home and spaces, and feeling comfortable with maybe who you are, or maybe what you're creating, I don't know, something.

• 15:53Ina Garten?

  I love that you have happy dreams, you find new spaces. I have dreams driving over a bridge, and I can't see, and I think to myself, just stop the car, and I just keep driving.

• 16:02Speaker 01

  Oh, that's interesting.

• 16:04Ina Garten?

  So what's that about? I have no idea. Anxiety.

• 16:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's anxiety. But I like that you say, just keep driving.

• 16:11Ina Garten?

  No, I keep, I keep saying to myself, stop the car.

• 16:14Speaker 01

  But you don't stop the car.

• 16:15Ina Garten?

  But I don't stop the car, I keep driving. Well, maybe that's what it is.

• 16:18Speaker 01

  You don't stop the car.

• 16:19Ina Garten?

  I work through the anxiety.

• 16:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 16:21Ina Garten?

  And keep going.

• 16:22Speaker 01

  Maybe that's, it's called making a podcast.

• 16:24Ina Garten?

  I think, it is totally making a podcast.

• 16:27Speaker 01

  We're on the bridge. We're on the bridge, Ina.

• 16:30Ina Garten?

  I'm on the bridge. So I remember the kitchen in the apartment.

• 16:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 16:35Ina Garten?

  Because I think there's a, there's like a banquet.

• 16:38Speaker 01

  No, no. You had a big problem with the kitchen.

• 16:40Ina Garten?

  Well, yes, you did.

• 16:42Speaker 01

  I did. Because, yeah, the layout of the kitchen, and you're right to have a problem with that layout.

• 16:46Ina Garten?

  Yeah, but who cares? You're never gonna cook in it anyway, right?

• 16:49Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 16:50Ina Garten?

  I mean, is there a banquet with two, with a table and two banquets?

• 16:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. We didn't really change that space, other than making a tile decision, which I'm gonna show you when we're done here.

• 17:01Ina Garten?

  Okay.

• 17:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's not grouted, but I'll show it to you.

• 17:03Ina Garten?

  So how do you, you're gonna entertain differently in New York than you did in Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara's all outside, right?

• 17:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's also inside, but we, our home in Santa Barbara is set up in such a way so that we can really have a lot of people over.

• 17:15Ina Garten?

  So what's the Santa Barbara kitchen like? Can you have people in the kitchen?

• 17:18Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 17:19Ina Garten?

  Oh, so it's a kitchen and a dining room to get all together?

• 17:22Speaker 01

  It's all one, yes, that all, and it's really set up for people to hang out and help me cook.

• 17:30Ina Garten?

  And do they?

• 17:31Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 17:32Ina Garten?

  Really?

• 17:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, particularly if it's my sister and my brother-in-law.

• 17:35Ina Garten?

  They know how to cook.

• 17:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:37Ina Garten?

  So, so do you like big parties, or like small parties?

• 17:40Speaker 01

  Or any party? I like, I like medium-sized parties, but only with people I like.

• 17:49Ina Garten?

  Wait a minute, let's just stop. I only invite people I love.

• 17:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:54Ina Garten?

  Because cooking's hard.

• 17:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's hard. I remember you told me that you can't stand it, because you get so anxious.

• 18:01Ina Garten?

  I get so anxious, I know.

• 18:02Speaker 01

  Do you still, Ina?

• 18:03Ina Garten?

  I do, I do. I don't know, I just can't get rid of it, it's that voice in my head. And I've been doing it for, what, 50 years professionally, and I've still, I've never gone to culinary school, I've never worked on a line, so I think you really get comfortable when you do that, but I'm still totally, I'm sure whatever I'm working on is gonna come out really badly.

• 18:24Speaker 01

  Let me ask you something, have you had an entertaining, have you had, in like recent years, any kind of a disaster? Or has it always worked out?

• 18:35Ina Garten?

  Well, disasters, no, I've never had a disaster.

• 18:39Speaker 01

  No, disasters, that's too hyperbolic.

• 18:42Ina Garten?

  Something didn't have enough salt, and I said to myself, next time I'll make sure it's right, but, no, I've never had it.

• 18:48Speaker 01

  Nothing massive.

• 18:49Ina Garten?

  Have you ever had a disaster?

• 18:51Speaker 01

  Um, yes.

• 18:53Ina Garten?

  What happened?

• 18:54Speaker 01

  Uh, I was, I, it was a Christmas dinner.

• 19:00Speaker 01

  And it was... I want to say...

• 19:02Ina Garten?

  And I'm sure you're looking forward to revisiting that, right?

• 19:05Speaker 01

  No, it's fine. I don't... I mean, I don't care. I mean, but it was... It was meat that was not cooked properly. I got...

• 19:12Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 19:12Speaker 01

  I was... And in my defense, I was given a recipe, and it was the incorrect recipe.

• 19:19Ina Garten?

  Was it mine?

• 19:20Speaker 01

  No.

• 19:20Ina Garten?

  Oh, good. Phew.

• 19:21Speaker 01

  It was not. And it was given to me by someone whom I admire and love and is a very good cook. But she called me the next day and she goes, "Oh, my God, I think I gave you the wrong thing."

• 19:31Ina Garten?

  Oh, my God.

• 19:33Speaker 01

  You did.

• 19:33Ina Garten?

  Yeah, you did.

• 19:34Speaker 01

  Yeah. And because this did not get cooked.

• 19:37Ina Garten?

  Oh, my God.

• 19:37Speaker 01

  So we just forwent the meat portion of the meal.

• 19:41Ina Garten?

  Well, that's okay.

• 19:42Speaker 01

  Whatever. Who cares?

• 19:43Ina Garten?

  See, that's what you do. I went to a dinner party once and everybody's standing around in the living room having cocktails, and it went on and on. And the hostess was in the kitchen. And we're like... It was like now 10 o'clock. And it was getting later and later. And everybody's going, "You find out what's going on." And I'm like, "Why me?" So finally, I went into the kitchen. I said, "Can I help with anything?" And she had put all of the first courses on the table, all the way down the table. There had to be 10, 15 people there.

• 20:13Speaker 01

  Oh, this poor woman.

• 20:14Ina Garten?

  Put all the first... And the dogs jumped on the table and ate everybody's first course.

• 20:19Speaker 01

  No.

• 20:19Ina Garten?

  And I said to her, "Just what you said, just what you did. Just forget the first course. Just serve the second course." She was trying to make another first course.

• 20:26Speaker 01

  Oh, bless her heart.

• 20:28Ina Garten?

  Just get past it. And you did exactly the right thing.

• 20:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, right, right. So it wasn't the best Christmas dinner we ever had, but who cares?

• 20:35Ina Garten?

  No, but you remember it. You remember, right? And it was... And it doesn't matter because it's about the people. It's not about the food.

• 20:40Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 20:40Ina Garten?

  And everybody remembers that was the... I know somebody that had so many disastrous Christmas parties that she finally invited everybody to the disaster Christmas party.

• 20:51Speaker 01

  What a great idea.

• 20:52Ina Garten?

  One year, the sofa caught on fire. The next year, the caterer didn't show up. I mean, it was like really bad.

• 20:58Speaker 01

  Oh, that's so good.

• 21:00Ina Garten?

  And she just had a sense of humor about it, which is really what you need to do.

• 21:04Speaker 01

  That's really good. That's really good.

• 21:06Ina Garten?

  I think the hardest thing in entertaining is actually putting a menu together. And you and I have talked about that.

• 21:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:12Ina Garten?

  Where do you start? Where do you go? How do you figure out what goes with what? And it's really hard.

• 21:19Speaker 01

  It's very difficult.

• 21:20Ina Garten?

  Because it has to be texture and flavor and color and...

• 21:24Speaker 01

  And it also has to be something you've tried before. And in your case, I know you do try it. But in my case, I don't. I'll read it, and then I'll think, "I think I could do this." And then I try it.

• 21:35Ina Garten?

  You're not going to test something and then throw it out and then make it for a dinner party.

• 21:38Speaker 01

  No.

• 21:39Ina Garten?

  So it's worth trying.

• 21:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's worth trying. By the way, you gave me some advice. Were you talking about lemon sorbet, I think?

• 21:46Ina Garten?

  You know, I still have that on my list. Did you?

• 21:49Speaker 01

  I figured it out.

• 21:50Ina Garten?

  Oh, what is it?

• 21:51Speaker 01

  I put in whipped egg white.

• 21:55Ina Garten?

  And that did it?

• 21:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, binds it. I made a really good sorbet.

• 21:59Ina Garten?

  Oh, and I made a really good sorbet, and I made a really good coffee ice cream.

• 22:02Speaker 01

  But the sorbet was exciting because I did that thing like they do and it'll...

• 22:06Ina Garten?

  Yeah, they put it in a lemon cup, and it was really good. And you have lemon trees, so...

• 22:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, so I use my lemons. So it looks... It's very elegant.

• 22:14Ina Garten?

  And so you did the sorbet, and then you add whipped egg white into it?

• 22:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:17Ina Garten?

  And then freeze the whole thing?

• 22:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, in the cups.

• 22:20Ina Garten?

  In the cup, yeah.

• 22:21Speaker 01

  And it's very pretty.

• 22:22Ina Garten?

  What's the coffee ice cream?

• 22:24Speaker 01

  The coffee ice cream, I'm going to tell you, just got it out of the New York Times, but I did a little zhuzh with it. And it's just simple, Simon, and very coffee-y.

• 22:34Ina Garten?

  That's the key.

• 22:35Speaker 01

  Very.

• 22:36Ina Garten?

  I love when something like coffee ice cream, it's clearly coffee. It's not like, kind of like, "Oh, what's that flavor?"

• 22:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's not like just really sweet latte. It's like straight up, like really espresso.

• 22:49Ina Garten?

  Espresso.

• 22:50Speaker 01

  Yummy.

• 23:03Ina Garten?

  Support for the show comes from Whole Foods Market. I love hosting parties in the fall. As the weather cools down, it's the perfect time for friends to drop by for a warm drink, a cozy meal, or maybe casual dishes while we watch the game. For these type of get-togethers, I like serving dishes that feel special but that are easy to prepare. When I'm putting a meal together, I always look for ingredients that are full of flavor on their own. If the ingredients are wonderful, it's easy to cook simply and have delicious things to serve your friends. Whole Foods Market has an incredible selection of seasonal ingredients for every recipe. They prioritize organic, sustainable, and premium grocery items.

• 23:46Ina Garten?

  And they ban over 575 ingredients from the food they sell, including hydrogenated fats and high-fructose corn syrup, so you can feel confident about what goes into your cart and onto your plate. For your next fall gathering, shop Whole Foods Market in-store or online.

• 24:15Ina Garten?

  You're doing everything. You're doing comedy, you're doing drama, you're doing film, you're doing Broadway. You're doing... I mean, I think people want you to stay in your lane. And you're like, blew up the lanes. You don't even care about the lanes. Is it that you just love doing something new? Or is it just what's coming along? Because in the beginning, people wanted you to do comedy, right?

• 24:37Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 24:38Ina Garten?

  And then you just...

• 24:39Speaker 01

  I mean, these are the jobs I've gotten primarily, right?

• 24:44Speaker 01

  And this show that I'm doing now on Broadway...

• 24:49Ina Garten?

  Okay, so this is the scariest thing you've ever done because...

• 24:52Speaker 01

  Well, it's one of them.

• 24:52Ina Garten?

  Did you do Broadway between...

• 24:55Speaker 01

  No, I've never done Broadway.

• 24:56Ina Garten?

  You've never done Broadway at all? Didn't... When you came back to New York after SNL, did you do Broadway a little bit?

• 25:01Speaker 01

  No.

• 25:01Ina Garten?

  Not at all? Oh, so it really is your first time on Broadway?

• 25:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:04Ina Garten?

  Wow.

• 25:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:05Ina Garten?

  So...

• 25:06Speaker 01

  It's a play. I'm doing a play.

• 25:08Ina Garten?

  So you're doing Other Desert Cities?

• 25:09Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 25:10Ina Garten?

  What does the name refer to?

• 25:11Speaker 01

  Well, it's a play that... The play is written by a marvelous playwright named John Robin Bates.

• 25:19Ina Garten?

  Oh, I know. Yeah.

• 25:19Speaker 01

  And it... The play takes place in Palm Springs. And there is... I believe it's no longer there, but there used to be a sign on the freeway driving towards Palm Springs that says... That said, "Other Desert Cities."

• 25:37Ina Garten?

  That's what it is.

• 25:38Speaker 01

  And it's a family drama slash comedy, because it is also funny, that takes place on Christmas Eve day and evening 2004. And it's a small cast. It's only five of us.

• 25:56Ina Garten?

  Amazing cast. So it's you, Alison Janney, Ed Harris,

• 26:00Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 26:00Ina Garten?

  Lily Ray,

• 26:01Speaker 01

  Yes, and Joe Keery.

• 26:02Ina Garten?

  And Joe... Unbelievable.

• 26:03Speaker 01

  Unbelievable cast, being directed by John Benjamin Hickey, who you...

• 26:08Ina Garten?

  I did meet. We had dinner with Alison Janney.

• 26:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, who is divine. And it's just... It's thrilling because it's so well-written, to be honest. And also, to be able to play with these actors.

• 26:23Ina Garten?

  Against these other people.

• 26:25Speaker 01

  We open October 18th. And... But previews are wild, man, because

• 26:36Speaker 01

  prior to moving actually into the theater, we were in a rehearsal space where they sort of fabricate a facsimile of the set.

• 26:45Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 26:45Speaker 01

  And we worked there for a number of weeks. And then from there, we moved into the real set, designed by Scott Pask, who's an amazing set designer. And we work on the show, rehearse it all day, and then we have an audience at night.

• 27:03Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 27:04Speaker 01

  And the audience, it's really interesting because they tell you so much. But what's... About what works, what doesn't work. And they just tell you a lot. It's not even about what doesn't work or does work. You're sharing this experience of the story. And I have to say, that experience, Ina, is unsurpassed.

• 27:25Ina Garten?

  Isn't that great?

• 27:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, because it's a really communal feeling.

• 27:30Ina Garten?

  And when you're doing something that they're feeling, or laughing, or feeling the drama of it, you feel that back.

• 27:38Speaker 01

  Oh, my God, yes.

• 27:38Ina Garten?

  Isn't that incredible?

• 27:39Speaker 01

  In spades.

• 27:40Ina Garten?

  And is it different with every audience?

• 27:42Speaker 01

  Every audience is different.

• 27:43Ina Garten?

  So it's not like doing the same thing over and over and over again?

• 27:46Speaker 01

  No.

• 27:47Ina Garten?

  It's a different experience?

• 27:47Speaker 01

  It's every performance... Yes. It is an organ... It's a living organism, the telling of this story. So it really does change performance to performance.

• 27:58Ina Garten?

  Wow.

• 27:58Speaker 01

  And... But to be able to tell this very important story, in my view, but deeply... I mean, it takes hold of your heart. I mean, it's certainly taken hold of mine. And my mom, my mom has read the play now a number of times, and she said something so interesting, which I think applies to any good art or good story. And it is this. At the beginning of the play, you think you know who these people are. And at the end of the play... They're different people than you thought.

• 28:38Ina Garten?

  Oh, you get to like them more?

• 28:40Speaker 01

  I'm not sure you get to like them more.

• 28:42Ina Garten?

  But you understand them more.

• 28:43Speaker 01

  You understand them more.

• 28:44Ina Garten?

  And what role do you play?

• 28:47Speaker 01

  I play the mother in the family who's married to Ed Harris. And we have these two adult children. And then my sister is played by the extraordinary Allison Janney.

• 29:03Ina Garten?

  Allison Janney.

• 29:04Speaker 01

  And we've all come together after not being all together for a period of time.

• 29:11Ina Garten?

  Have you worked with Allison before?

• 29:13Speaker 01

  I have, yeah.

• 29:14Ina Garten?

  In what?

• 29:15Speaker 01

  She was on Veep. She came on to Veep and did a couple of episodes.

• 29:18Ina Garten?

  Oh, did she really?

• 29:19Speaker 01

  And we hit it off right away. I feel like I've known Allison all my life. I just had dinner with her last night and I said, I feel as if we grew up together.

• 29:26Ina Garten?

  Isn't that great to meet somebody? I mean, when we met, I felt that way. It's like, how is it we didn't know each other before?

• 29:33Speaker 01

  Tell me about it, right?

• 29:34Ina Garten?

  She's extraordinary.

• 29:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:35Ina Garten?

  So you and Brad go on incredible vacations, don't you? I think it's just, weren't you like hiking in Norway or something?

• 29:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:43Ina Garten?

  So what was that like?

• 29:45Speaker 01

  Well, it was fantastic. But you know what was really weird?

• 29:50Ina Garten?

  What?

• 29:51Speaker 01

  We were there in summertime and there's no, there's virtually no night.

• 29:57Ina Garten?

  Night. That's really weird, isn't it?

• 30:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:00Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 30:01Speaker 01

  That's really weird. That part of it, I love Norway. I love, the people are divine and the natural world.

• 30:08Ina Garten?

  And the food is incredible, right?

• 30:09Speaker 01

  Oh, the food is unbelievable. I know. And the natural world is gorgeous. Hiking in these incredible mountains and so on. However, that nighttime thing is hard for me to handle. And they don't seem bothered by it.

• 30:25Ina Garten?

  Does your hotel have like blackout curtains?

• 30:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, but they didn't work particularly well. And so, you know, I had one of those eye things, but you know, I get up at night and, you know, go pee and stuff and it's bright sun out and it's 2 o'clock in the morning. And I'm like, this, it messes with my brain. I actually would like to go back when it's dark almost the whole day. I'm interested in that. Yeah, I would love that.

• 30:47Ina Garten?

  When can you see the northern lights?

• 30:49Speaker 01

  Then, I think if you were to go during the wintertime, you might be able to see it.

• 30:53Ina Garten?

  I'm dying to see the northern lights.

• 30:54Speaker 01

  Dying.

• 30:54Ina Garten?

  Yeah. Aren't you?

• 30:56Speaker 01

  Yes. What trips have you taken?

• 30:57Ina Garten?

  Like Paris and back?

• 30:59Speaker 01

  Paris and back. That's kind of it, right?

• 31:02Ina Garten?

  We have friends who live in Normandy, so we've gone to Normandy. I mean, we've traveled around France. And we actually, you would have loved this. We went to, some friends and I went to a cooking school outside in Honne.

• 31:13Speaker 01

  Yes, I know, the cook atelier.

• 31:16Ina Garten?

  Do you know this? Did I tell you about it?

• 31:19Speaker 01

  I saw you posted on Instagram and then I texted you about it, which you don't remember, but I did text you about it because I had wanted to go there the prior year.

• 31:29Ina Garten?

  Oh, yeah, I do remember that.

• 31:31Speaker 01

  And then, actually, you told me you were going. And I said, "Report back, is it good?" And it was good, right?

• 31:36Ina Garten?

  It was stunning.

• 31:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, I gotta get that hooked up.

• 31:40Ina Garten?

  It's just stunning.

• 31:40Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 31:42Ina Garten?

  It was so interesting because it turns out it's two American women. It's a young woman who's, when she was growing up, always wanted to live in France. And as soon as she graduated from college, moved there, married a French guy, and called her mother, who had a restaurant in Arizona, and said, "Sell the house, sell the restaurant, come here and we're gonna start a cooking class." They have more style than anybody I've ever met in my life. And the cooking class was both appropriate for somebody who's an okay cook and for somebody who's been in the food business for a long time. It was extraordinary. It's called the Cook's Atelier.

• 32:17Speaker 01

  So what'd you learn?

• 32:19Ina Garten?

  I remember one thing, we made lemon tarts. And I know how to make a lemon tart, but I didn't know how to make it look like it came from a French bataille. And they showed us how to cut the pastry so that it came out perfectly.

• 32:34Speaker 01

  Really?

• 32:35Ina Garten?

  And another thing I thought was actually really interesting is a filet of beef, when you do a filet of beef and you tie it, it's kind of thick on one side and thin on the other. What they do is they cut off the thin side and then they took the thick one and cut it in half and tied all three pieces so they were exactly the same thickness. And they cooked it exactly the same amount of time. And now, instead of having a big slice of filet of beef on your plate, you had little medallions, which was so elegant.

• 33:03Speaker 01

  Oh, how pretty.

• 33:04Ina Garten?

  And it was such a simple thing to do.

• 33:06Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 33:06Ina Garten?

  It's stuff like that that was just extraordinary.

• 33:08Speaker 01

  It makes a real difference.

• 33:10Ina Garten?

  And there was this thing everybody wanted that was like a rotisserie that they designed that you put in front of your fireplace. Of course, doesn't that sound great? And you just wind it up and it just turns the rotisserie in front of the wood burning fire.

• 33:22Speaker 01

  Do you have a fireplace here?

• 33:24Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 33:25Speaker 01

  Did you get it?

• 33:25Ina Garten?

  No, I didn't. Because I knew I would buy it and never use it. But it was just so appealing.

• 33:31Speaker 01

  So did you, how did it work during the day? Did you cook all day and then you ate it or what?

• 33:35Ina Garten?

  We cooked in the morning. And then we had it for lunch. And then you were off to whatever you wanted to do in the afternoon.

• 33:40Speaker 01

  Oh, I know. I have to go here so badly.

• 33:42Ina Garten?

  Okay. Yeah.

• 33:44Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 33:44Ina Garten?

  We'll talk.

• 33:45Speaker 01

  We're gonna talk about that.

• 33:46Ina Garten?

  It's just extraordinary.

• 33:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:48Ina Garten?

  So you have a 40th anniversary coming up, don't you?

• 33:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:51Ina Garten?

  Such children.

• 33:54Ina Garten?

  58.

• 33:54Speaker 01

  You do?

• 33:55Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 33:56Speaker 01

  So when is your anniversary?

• 33:58Ina Garten?

  In December.

• 33:58Speaker 01

  December what?

• 33:59Ina Garten?

  22nd. When's yours?

• 34:02Speaker 01

  June 25th.

• 34:04Ina Garten?

  June 25th, so it's next year. So it's 39 now. Do you have a plan for what you're gonna do?

• 34:09Speaker 01

  No.

• 34:10Ina Garten?

  Do you have one?

• 34:11Speaker 01

  No. We did have a party once at our, I think, our 35th, which was fun. We did a square dancing party.

• 34:20Ina Garten?

  Oh, how great.

• 34:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was fun. Yeah, because we had done a square dancing, we had done square dancing for our rehearsal dinner when we got married, which was really fun. It's a great icebreaker.

• 34:31Ina Garten?

  It is. Yeah, because everybody's dancing with everybody else.

• 34:34Speaker 01

  Totally. But I don't really know about 40. I don't know how we're gonna do it. Maybe we'll just go away. I haven't thought it through.

• 34:41Ina Garten?

  Jeffrey and I, for one of our anniversaries, I can't even remember which one it was, went to, we were in Paris and we decided we weren't gonna do anything except go to a little wine bar. And we ordered like a flight of incredible Bordeaux's. Like, you know, like four glasses of Bordeaux and a fruit and cheese platter. And a chocolate cake for dessert. And we were like, this is like the best anniversary ever.

• 35:04Speaker 01

  Oh, that sounds so nice.

• 35:05Ina Garten?

  It was really fun.

• 35:06Speaker 01

  Oh, that sounds really lovely.

• 35:07Ina Garten?

  There was one year, actually, I think it was our 20th. I woke up in the morning and Jeffrey said, the next morning, and he said, "Is there something wrong?" I said, "I've been making a home for you for 20 years and you didn't buy me a present for our anniversary?" And he felt so terrible that he called me. I was working in the store and he called me and said, "I forgot I have an appointment. I had a meeting in New York." It was Saturday. "I have a meeting in New York I completely forgot about. And I'm gonna go into New York, I'll see you when I get back." And he went in and bought me the gorgeous earrings, which I still wear. But on the 21st, I came home from, I was running Bedford Contessa, and there were these books strewn all over the floor. And one was about gardens in Italy, one was about gardens in France, one was about gardens in England.

• 35:52Ina Garten?

  And at the end, there were tickets to see all of these private gardens. So he was good for the rest of his life. It was the most incredible, incredible gift.

• 36:01Speaker 01

  Oh, that's so nice.

• 36:02Ina Garten?

  And he had to climb out of that hole.

• 36:05Speaker 01

  And what do you do for him for your anniversary?

• 36:07Ina Garten?

  Well, I used to do these outrageous things, which made him crazy, I'm sure, because he hates gifts.

• 36:13Speaker 01

  He does?

• 36:14Ina Garten?

  Hates them, just hates them. And so, one year, I decided I was gonna buy him a convertible.

• 36:21Ina Garten?

  I bought him a Fiat convertible.

• 36:22Speaker 01

  No, you didn't.

• 36:23Ina Garten?

  And I said to him, "Can you go to the parking garage, we live in Washington? Can you go to the parking garage? Here's the ticket and get the car." And the car came up, it was a Fiat convertible. He's like, "That's not mine." I said, "Yeah, it is."

• 36:35Speaker 01

  I know. Did he like that or he hated it?

• 36:39Ina Garten?

  You know, he got over it, yeah, he loved it.

• 36:40Speaker 01

  Oh, he did love it?

• 36:42Ina Garten?

  Yeah, yeah. But I mean, there's something about presents he doesn't love.

• 36:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, Brad Hall, my husband, doesn't like them either.

• 36:47Ina Garten?

  Really?

• 36:47Speaker 01

  He really doesn't.

• 36:48Ina Garten?

  I would just assume, like, we have like a quiet dinner that's just the two of us.

• 36:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 36:54Ina Garten?

  And Brad's the same way?

• 36:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, he really, I mean, I have found, I've gotten him some good presents.

• 37:00Ina Garten?

  Do you do the same thing? I love to get great presents.

• 37:03Speaker 01

  Oh, it's my favorite.

• 37:05Ina Garten?

  Where'd you get them?

• 37:07Speaker 01

  Well, I was able to get...

• 37:08Ina Garten?

  Am I the only one getting drunk here?

• 37:09Speaker 01

  What? Yeah, you're not even getting drunk.

• 37:12Ina Garten?

  No, are you kidding me?

• 37:15Speaker 01

  He's a Beatles fanatic.

• 37:17Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 37:18Speaker 01

  Fanatic.

• 37:19Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 37:20Speaker 01

  And he had some Beatles memorabilia that, of course, we lost in the fire.

• 37:24Ina Garten?

  Oh.

• 37:25Speaker 01

  And I was able to find these Beatle bobbleheads in their original packaging.

• 37:32Ina Garten?

  In the original packaging?

• 37:34Speaker 01

  Yes, yes.

• 37:35Ina Garten?

  Wow.

• 37:35Speaker 01

  I'll take a picture, I'll send it to you.

• 37:36Ina Garten?

  Okay.

• 37:36Speaker 01

  And that was a big, big fucking hit. Yeah, I was really happy to give him that.

• 37:43Ina Garten?

  I love that, I just love that.

• 37:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:45Ina Garten?

  So, people walk by me and always, you know, they see things like pan-fried onion dip, which of all the things.

• 37:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:52Ina Garten?

  What if, people recognize you all the time, what do they say to you?

• 37:55Speaker 01

  Oh gosh, what do they say?

• 37:58Ina Garten?

  I know they love you.

• 37:59Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, it sort of depends where you are and what's the demographic and stuff like that.

• 38:04Ina Garten?

  Like walking around New York, do people talk to you?

• 38:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, people do. And, you know, I mean, I'm very surprised, but this podcast that I did, it hasn't taken hold and people want to talk about it.

• 38:19Ina Garten?

  Wow.

• 38:20Speaker 01

  Which is interesting, actually.

• 38:21Ina Garten?

  Well, I didn't know whether they would, they would see you as Veep or Seinfeld or a movie.

• 38:26Speaker 01

  All of it, I get all of it. It's a real, it is in fact, a real mix. You know, obviously, earlier on in my career, it was, it was only Seinfeld and it was like, you know, no soup for you or whatever, but, but, but now it's all of it.

• 38:42Ina Garten?

  People would lean and say, no soup for you?

• 38:44Speaker 01

  All of that, yeah, exactly, totally. Or they asked me to dance, because you know, I did that crazy ass dance.

• 38:51Ina Garten?

  Tell that story, that was such an incredible story, because it was in the, in the script.

• 38:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:57Ina Garten?

  And then you went home and figured out how to do some crazy ass dance?

• 39:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, because it was in the script that she was a bad dancer. And so then I went home and I just stood in front of the mirror without music.

• 39:10Ina Garten?

  Yeah.

• 39:11Speaker 01

  To try to figure out how, how to do it badly, how to move really badly. And I nailed it. And I nailed it. I came, I had two different ideas and I remember coming down to the kitchen and my mom was, was staying with us at the time and I said, you guys, which one of these looks worse?

• 39:30Ina Garten?

  It's an unusual question.

• 39:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly.

• 39:32Ina Garten?

  How bad can I be?

• 39:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, and so, so they chose that one.

• 39:36Ina Garten?

  And that was it?

• 39:37Speaker 01

  And that was it.

• 39:38Ina Garten?

  So, everybody has some kind of a sliding doors moment when, kind of in the moment, everything changes, like you, you're in one direction and then all of a sudden, something comes along and you're going in another direction. What was that moment for you? And maybe you've had many of them.

• 39:55Speaker 01

  Well, I think, um, hmm, I think honestly, when I met my husband, that was the, the biggest sliding door moment. And I didn't even, I remember he, um, he was, at the time, we, we weren't even dating, I just, this is what I remember, I remember he was with, he had another girlfriend at the time and they were having an argument and they were on, standing on the street and...

• 40:30Ina Garten?

  Did you know him at this time?

• 40:31Speaker 01

  I kind of knew him through a friend, a mutual friend. And as I'm walking by, he sees me and he goes, we're having a huge argument. And I thought, how unusual that was for him to announce it. And it's not like I fell in love in that moment, but I remember it vividly.

• 40:53Ina Garten?

  Well, he was doing it with humor too, right?

• 40:55Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 40:56Ina Garten?

  Which you really would appreciate.

• 40:57Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it was a very awkward moment, because it was a real argument that was happening. And somehow, he sort of punctured the tension, just for my benefit, as I was walking by, you know, do your thing, have your argument, but anyway. So that, I would say that was sort of a moment.

• 41:14Ina Garten?

  I would say that was a moment.

• 41:15Speaker 01

  That's a moment.

• 41:16Ina Garten?

  Because, I mean, you, first of all, you've been together for almost 40 years, but also, you sometimes work together.

• 41:21Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 41:22Ina Garten?

  Right?

• 41:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:23Ina Garten?

  And, and you have two boys together.

• 41:24Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 41:25Ina Garten?

  I mean, your whole life changed. I mean, I certainly could say that about Jeffrey. My God, my whole life changed when, when I met him, holy shit.

• 41:32Speaker 01

  And what, and was that, I mean, what was that moment for you, Ina?

• 41:36Ina Garten?

  I didn't even know what happened. He was, he was in the library at Dartmouth and he saw me walking down the street.

• 41:43Speaker 01

  And he fell in love with you?

• 41:44Ina Garten?

  He said, he, he said to the guy, he was with his roommate, he said, look at that girl. Of course, I was the only girl on the campus of Dartmouth at the time, so it could have been anybody. He said, look at that girl. And his roommate said, I know her, I play tennis with her and I have a date with her tonight. And Jeffrey was like, I need to know who she is. And so he, he wrote to me. I mean, I remember when he used to write letters and he wrote to me.

• 42:06Speaker 01

  What did he say, Ina?

• 42:07Ina Garten?

  He said, if, um, well, it was kind of, it was a funny situation, because I thought the roommate was forcing me on somebody else. I didn't, I hadn't met him. So he said, if dating a Jewish boy from Florida doesn't, doesn't interest you, then just tear up this letter and forget about it. And I thought, it was so cheeky, that I wrote back. And he showed up in Connecticut and took me out on a disastrous date. I was in high school, I was like 17 years old, I'd never been to a bar. He shows up and he said, what should we do? And I said, well, you know, it's a guy from Dartmouth, probably wants to go to a bar. But I had no idea where a bar was or that you needed ID to get into a bar.

• 42:48Ina Garten?

  And somehow, I found my way to this bar and I walked in the door and the bouncer said, do you have ID? And I'm like, what's that? Jeffrey goes, how do you think you were going to get in here? You're not old enough to get into a bar. I was like, I didn't know. And many years later, I said to him, what were you thinking? Why would you want to see me again? He said, I thought you needed taken care of. And I was really so Jeffrey. So, anyway, that was, that was our first date.

• 43:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's really so sweet.

• 43:17Ina Garten?

  And you guys were in a show together, right?

• 43:19Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 43:20Ina Garten?

  When you were in college?

• 43:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, because my husband and his writing partner started a theater company together.

• 43:28Ina Garten?

  Oh, they started a company?

• 43:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:30Ina Garten?

  And then he hired you to be in the...

• 43:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 43:32Ina Garten?

  Not, not a bad idea.

• 43:34Speaker 01

  Yeah. And so, we did a show and that's when we started, that's when we first fell in love.

• 43:40Ina Garten?

  Can I, can I make a toast?

• 43:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, you may.

• 43:42Ina Garten?

  To our sliding doors moment being our husbands.

• 43:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:45Ina Garten?

  Really?

• 43:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:46Ina Garten?

  That's wonderful.

• 43:47Speaker 01

  It is nice.

• 43:48Ina Garten?

  And you got a good one.

• 43:48Speaker 01

  You got a good one too. You did.

• 43:53Ina Garten?

  Happy Hour is hosted by me, Ina Garten. Our executive producers are Jenna Weiss-Berman, Ally Jaffe Ramis, and Deborah Davis. Kate Tyler is a contributing producer and Jules Knapp, a producer. Mika Paulanbon is our associate producer. Tim Fernandez is the video editor, with sound recording by Joe Plord and audio mixing by Eleanor Osborne. Our camera operators for this episode are Joel Valenzuela and Leo Gallagher. Music for the show is by Pink Martini. Special thanks to cinematographer, Dion Beebe. Happy Hour with Ina is a Vox Media podcast.

• 44:34Ina Garten?

  Support for the show comes from Whole Foods Market. When I host parties in the fall, I like to cook with ingredients that have lots of flavor and texture. I'll have something creamy, something crisp, something savory, and something sweet. It keeps you coming back for one more bite. And when you begin with high-quality, fresh ingredients, you don't have to do much to make them shine. From pomegranates and pears to thoughtfully curated cheeses from around the globe, Whole Foods Market has beautiful seasonal ingredients that you'll love serving. For your next fall gathering, shop Whole Foods Market in-store or online.