NEED TO KNOW

  • Sunday Today with Willie Geist will air its second-ever Sunday Sitdown Live on June 1
  • Host Willie Geist interviewed Ina Garten in front of a live audience on May 19 at City Winery in New York City
  • “I’ve had a great relationship with Ina over the years,” Geist tells PEOPLE exclusively

Ina Garten knows a thing or two about a good dinner party.

The Food Network icon, 77, joined Sunday Today‘s Willie Geist for his second-ever Sunday Sitdown Live at City Winery in New York City on May 19. And while the interview itself will air June 1 on NBC, PEOPLE spoke exclusively to Geist, 50, ahead of the event.

“I’ve had a great relationship with Ina over the years. We have interviewed each other in one form or another I think five or six times. She’s been on this show twice. I’ve been on her show once, and so I think we’ve built a relationship and a rapport and a trust and we just get along well,” says Geist when asked why Garten made for a perfect second guest.

Ina Garten onstage for her Sunday Sitdown interview on May 19.

Marc J. Franklin


Sunday Today kicked off its first-of-a-kind live event in January, when Geist interviewed comedian Nate Bargatze. The tickets sold out in under 10 minutes.

For the second installment, the tickets sold even faster, and Geist remains earnestly surprised that people traveled from all over to attend the taping (though he admits he did get an extra perk this time around).

“We got branded cups and napkins, which I’m pretty sure we didn’t have last time,” he says with a laugh as he puts his own Sunday Today with Willie Geist cup down. “This is a new commitment, new level.”

Laura Jarrett introduced Geist and Garten ahead of the sit-down. Jarrett, who anchors Saturday Today and is NBC News’ senior legal correspondent, was uniquely qualified for the emcee job: She’s the biggest Garten fan the Today show has to offer.

“I think ‘big’ in [big fan] doesn’t quite capture the love and adoration that I have for this woman,” Jarret says. “I don’t want to be stalker-ish, but she’s my person! You meet so many amazing people at the Today show every single day. She is the only one that I am gobsmacked.”

Today’s Laura Jarrett introducing Willie Geist and Ina Garten on May 19.

Marc J. Franklin


Garten, for her part, was perfectly at home onstage with Geist, and the latter portion of the show even included Garten teaching Geist how to craft the perfect dessert plate for his next dinner party.

Pro tip: It’s all about using foods that come in different shapes and sizes, Garten says.

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The best piece of advice Geist has ever received from Garten, however, actually has to do with what to bring (or rather, what not to bring) as a guest to a dinner party.

“Don’t bring something that disrupts the plan that the host had. So in other words, I show up with chips and guacamole and [the host] is like, ‘Okay, I [already] had a plan for what we’re going to do before the dinner,’ ” Geist says. “Bring coasters or bring something that’s just a gift that they can use later.”

Ina Garten shows Willie Geist how to make the perfect dessert plate during their interview.

Marc J. Franklin


Garten previously told PEOPLE that this rule also means she never brings flowers without a vase nor does she bring chilled wine that the host will feel compelled to serve “even though it doesn’t go with the dinner at all.”

So, while Geist learns at the hands of the master (or shall we say, the Barefoot Contessa), Garten is actually quite content with her own dinner party history. As she told Geist during their interview, she’s already hosted her dream guest: Taylor Swift.

The pair’s friendship dates back years, and Garten recalled how honored she was when Swift, 35, first chose her as her favorite Food Network chef. Garten and Swift then spent time cooking together at Garten’s home, where they made pavlova.

“I thought, ‘That kind of looks like Taylor’ — it’s meringue and whipped cream and berries — and we just had a ball,” Garten told Geist. “We had such a good time.”

Sunday Today airs Sundays at 8 a.m. ET on NBC. Geist’s interview with Garten will air on June 1.

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