A celebrity chef and cookbook author, Ina Garten’s known for making entertaining easier. Her tips and tricks are thanks, at least in part, to what she learned owning a specialty food store. Garten’s Barefoot Contessa store, a Hamptons staple for many decades, closed for good in 2003. Although the Food Network star still utilizes the valuable entertaining lessons she learned.
1. Ina Garten’s learned to cook simple food at Barefoot Contessa
Most, if not all, of Garten’s Barefoot Contessa recipes are simple. Why? Partly because the 73-year-old doesn’t consider herself a very good cook but also because of what she learned running Barefoot Contessa.
“Having a food store taught me three important things about giving parties,” she wrote in a Martha Stewart column. “First, I learned how to make delicious food very simply.”
“If we spent all day making rosemary roast leg of lamb, we wouldn’t have anything to sell! So I’ve taught myself how to use good, fresh ingredients and to prepare them as simply as possible by cooking only to enhance their intrinsic flavors,” she explained.
2. Running the specialty food store also taught the Food Network star the importance of making food ahead
Another hallmark of Barefoot Contessa cooking is making food in advance. One of Garten’s many cookbooks, Make It Ahead, is filled with recipes that can be prepared ahead. Once again, it goes back to what Garten learned at her store.
“The second thing I learned is how to make dishes that can be prepared in advance. Lemon pound cake is not only OK to make a day ahead, it actually gets better as the flavors develop overnight,” she said.
“All I have to do the day of the party is arrange it on a beautiful plate with fresh raspberries, she added. “What could be easier than that?”
3. Garten learned she doesn’t like to host Saturday night dinner
Lastly, Garten’s Barefoot Contessa store taught her to avoid having a get-together on a Saturday night. Why? Because, as the longtime Barefoot Contessa host said, “the hardest party to pull off successfully is Saturday night dinner.”
She continued, saying, “This meal is expected to be elaborate: appetizers, first course, dinner, dessert, and coffee. People arrive at 7:30 or 8 p.m. and stay for hours — definitely past my bedtime — and they all go home exhausted.”
Not only that but “you always know exactly what to expect,” she added, noting that drinks are served in the living room and dinner’s in the dining room. Garten’s aim with any party is “surprising your friends,” which is why she likes entertaining “almost any time except Saturday night.” Her preferred time to host is Sunday afternoon because of the relaxed atmosphere.
“Everybody has finished their chores from Saturday, they have lots of energy during the day, we hang out for a few hours at the kitchen table, and then my friends are off to enjoy the rest of their day,” Garten said. “And all the food can be prepared in advance.”
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