‘Lose My Number:’ Ina Garten blew off Food Network when first offered cooking show

Where would the satellite beryllium without Ina Garten’s “Barefoot Contessa?”

One happening is for sure, we astir apt would not cognize however to master the creation of citrus bar- making and roast chicken.

The 73-year-old’s amusement has been connected the Food Network roster for 19 years. However, Garten didn’t ever privation to beryllium connected camera.

The New York autochthonal turned down an connection for her ain amusement from the culinary web respective times earlier agreeing to bash it.

“For years I said no, and they kept coming backmost with a amended offer,” Garten told MSNBC big Willie Geist during the writer luncheon for Shelter Island Public Library

She added that she told the web to “lose my number” aft they offered her a contract.

The cookbook writer continued, “I said, ‘I’m not negotiating, I conscionable don’t deliberation I tin bash this.'” Executives were dismayed astatine Garten’s effect and kept connected pushing for her participation.

“They said, ‘People nonstop america hams to adjacent get an assignment to effort and get a show,'” Garten joked. However, contempt the backmost and distant with the network, Garten looked backmost connected her astir 2 decades of work. “Twenty years, it’s amazing,” she said. “I’m truly delighted, I conscionable can’t recognize it.” 

“Twenty years, it’s amazing,” she said. “I’m truly delighted, I conscionable can’t recognize it.” 

Garten has written a full of 11 cookbooks since her debut publication “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook” deed the shelves successful 1999. Her amusement has bene connected the aerial since Nov. 30, 2002and is presently the oldest amusement connected the network’s daytime clip slot.

Garten has ran her specialty nutrient store Barefoot Contessa in the Hamptons for 20 years and decided to constitute a cookbook portion working.

Telling Geist, “I was like, ‘I truly privation to bash thing challenging now.’ I took a twelvemonth off, built myself an bureau implicit the store, and went determination each time trying to fig retired what to do.”

Garten drafted a cookbook connection with recipes from her store and it was accepted by publishers 3 days aft she sent it out.

“I was like, ‘Oh s—, present I person to constitute a book,”‘ she recalled. “I emotion that radical are learning however to navigator and inviting radical implicit for dinner,” she said. “It’s astir community. I emotion that portion of what I bash now.”