The Three People Ina Garten Calls Her ‘Dream Dinner Guests'

The Three People Ina Garten Calls Her 'Dream Dinner Guests' originally appeared on Parade.
The right group of people seated at your table can make or break a dinner party, whether you're a regular old person like you and me or a TV star like Ina Garten. The Barefoot Contessa has built a career around recipes that are perfect for entertaining, so she knows a thing or two about having people over. She recently opened up about her 'dream dinner guests,' and it's an interesting mix.
Garten shared her ideal guest list during the most recent "Sunday Sitdown Live" hosted by Today's Willie Geist. The session was done onstage in front of a live audience in New York City. The dynamic duo sipped cocktails and arranged a dessert platter while they answered questions from the crowd. 'Who are the three people, living or dead, you would like to have dinner with?' wondered one audience member.
Garten didn't hesitate with her response. Here's what she shared.
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For the record, Ina Garten says she has already hosted one dream dinner guest:. As Garten told Geist and the audience earlier in the interview, Taylor Swift came to Garten's East Hampton barn 10 years and the two of them made pavlova.
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But three people still remain on Garten's dream dinner guest list. In answer to Geist's question, Ina responded: 'How about Julia Child, Eric Ripert from Le Bernardin, and Jacques Pépin?'
In case you're not familiar with Garten's guest list, just know they're not your average Joes. Julia Child is a legendary American chef, TV personality and cookbook author who is known for introducing French cuisine to the American public. (And not to make it all about us, but Julia Child was Parade's very first food editor.)
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Eric Ripertis a French chef and cookbook author who is the executive chef and co-owner of New York City's famed Le Bernardin restaurant, where he and his team turn out exquisite seafood dishes.
Jacques Pépin is a celebrated French chef and author, TV star and the winner of many awards, including several James Beard Awards. He's another food personality who is loved around these parts. (You have to try his French toast, scrambled eggs and quiche recipes.)
For his dream dinner guests, Geist listed off Dolly Parton, Martin Short and Geist's great-great grandfather, who played in the National Hockey League. If Geist and Garten brought their dream guests together, it would be one epic dinner party.
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During the conversation with Geist, Garten also shared her advice on things to avoid at a dinner party. 'There are two things that I don't think you should ever bring to a dinner party—and they're so common—is something that the host feels like they should serve," she said, calling out Jell-O salad. "What are you going to do with that?" she adds.
Garten also recommends against bringing loose flowers. 'Don't ever bring flowers that aren't in a vase,' she said. 'You're there. You're like, everyone's arriving, and then all of a sudden you've got these flowers and you have to figure out what to do."The Three People Ina Garten Calls Her 'Dream Dinner Guests' first appeared on Parade on Jun 2, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.

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