Ina Garten Announces Career First After More Than 20 Years on Food Network

After more than two decades welcoming viewers into her iconic Hamptons kitchen, Ina Garten is opening another door.

The beloved Barefoot Contessa star is launching her first-ever podcast, Happy Hour With Ina Garten, this fall, according to The New York Times. The new video and audio series will stream on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, giving fans a chance to see a more relaxed side of the longtime Food Network personality.

Rather than preparing elaborate meals, Garten will mix cocktails and mocktails while sitting down for candid conversations with celebrity guests inside her New York City apartment.

“It’s happening in real time; it’s not overedited, so it feels authentic in a way that nothing else does,” Garten told the outlet. “I’m always in pursuit of that messiness of real life.”

The project marks another chapter for Garten, whose career began far from television. According to her official biography, Garten was working in the White House Office of Management and Budget in 1978 when she spotted a New York Times classified ad for a specialty food store called Barefoot Contessa in Westhampton Beach, N.Y. Despite having no experience in the food business, she purchased the shop, transformed it into a beloved gourmet destination over the next 18 years, and later launched a second career as a bestselling cookbook author before bringing Barefoot Contessa to Food Network in 2002.

The podcast format also gives Garten something television couldn’t.

“It was kind of younger and cooler, and it was the thing that was moving fast,” she told the newspaper. “I thought it would be really fun to be in that stream.”

Now, instead of inviting audiences into her kitchen, Garten is inviting them to pull up a chair, pour a drink, and join the conversation. Already, she’s longing to welcome an A-list guest. If her podcast’s producers have their way, Tom Holland will soon enough be in her hot seat to discuss whether he cooks for his brand-new wife, Zendaya.

This story was originally published by Parade on Jul 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.