The Contessa is Coming

Beloved Food Network star Ina Garten cooks up intimate Austin appearance

Ina Garten is swooping into Austin for a chat at the Long Center.

Photo courtesy of BarefootContessa.com

In what is likely to be a highlight of local foodies' 2019 culinary calendar, The Long Center announced on November 12 that iconic TV host and cookbook author Ina Garten is coming to Austin February 5 for an intimate chat.

According to a release, the appearance will take guests behind the scenes of the Barefoot Contessa’s remarkable life, which includes a stint as a White House budget analyst, running a specialty food store in the Hamptons, and her current role as one of the world’s most beloved culinary personalities. (We’re sure there will also be some charming anecdotes about her marriage to her husband, Jeffrey.)

Garten will be in town promoting her latest cookbook, Cook Like a Pro: Recipes and Tips for Home Cook. The newest edition to her bibliography is a collection of 85 previously unpublished recipes like panna cotta with fresh raspberry sauce, chicken thighs with a creamy mustard sauce, and fried chicken sandwiches. It follows 10 consecutive New York Times bestsellers.

The approachable cookbook is a companion to the latest iteration of The Barefoot Contessa series on the Food Network, which feaures approachable entertainment tips and recipe tricks. Of course for Garten, approachable is a relative term. With recipes like potato and celery root puree with truffle butter, the show is still very much a taste of the good life.

Following a moderated discussion, Garten will take questions from the audience. If you have ever wanted to find out if store bought really is fine, here’s your chance.

Pre-sale tickets, starting at $49.50, go on sale for Long Center members beginning November 13. Tickets for the general public are available starting at 10 am on November 16 and are available online, at the box office, or by calling 512-474-5664. How easy is that?

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Editor's note: As 2024 comes to a close, we're looking back at the stories that defined Austin this year, and that includes our delicious, if ever-changing, restaurant scene. This year, Austinites devoured news about unique barbecue joints, classic Tex-Mex chains, a meme-y brewery, and an award-winning Hill Country winery. Here are Austin's top 10 restaurant stories of 2024.

1. Unique Austin barbecue joint makes USA Today's first 'Restaurants of the Year' list. Mum Foods Smokehouse and Delicatessen was the only Texas restaurant on the list.

2. Hill Country winery makes prestigious World's Best Vineyards list for 2024. Out of the more than 100 wineries in the Hill Country, William Chris Vineyards was the only one to make the list.

3. Austin's favorite taco chain takes top honors on USA Today 10-best list. Austin-born Torchy's once again found itself on this list of the best fast casual restaurants in the U.S.

4. Austin's beloved Tex-Mex chain Chuy's gets acquired by a new owner. The chain has been acquired by Darden Restaurants, Inc., the Florida-based hospitality company that also owns Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, and more.

5. 13 Austin coffee shops join in on action day honoring Daniel Johnston. In January, locals gathered for "Hi, How Are You Day" — to honor Johnston's lasting legacy and build community.

6. Beautiful West Coast sushi restaurant rolls into downtown Austin. Sushi Roku, an alluring newcomer from California, stepped onto the less coastal scene by opening its first Texas restaurant in the Capital City.

Sushi Roku Austin interior By now, most Austin diners know what to expect from an upscale sushi restaurant. Sushi Roku combines "Western influences with internationally inspired accents." Photo by Richard Casteel, courtesy of IDG

7. Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant in South Austin closes after 35 years. Hao-Hao Restaurant on William Cannon is now closed. Austin foodies can still visit the Round Rock spot with the same name, but the restaurants' lineages are only distantly connected now.

8. New Braunfels sausage and beer extravaganza Wurstfest returns for 2024. Austinites love any excuse to get out to the Hill Country, especially if it involves German brews, fried food and sausage, and lederhosen.

9. Brewery named after famous character Old Gregg debuts in Austin suburb. You ever drunk Bailey's from a shoe? Well, now you can order it on the menu at Pflugerville's newest brewery. But the real focus is the signature beers, plus house-made hard seltzers, cocktails, and a rotating menu for frozen drinks.

10. Both Austin finalists win H-E-B competition to sell products statewide. Birria Queen won the grand prize in the Quest for Texas Best, earning $25,000 for its birria seasoning bombs; and Certified Country Lemonade won second place and $15,000 for its frozen iced teas and lemonades.