Chef Andy Baraghani

Happy Hour with Ina Garten

Ina Garten sits down with award-winning chef Andy Baraghini to discuss his journey from working at legendary restaurants like Chez Panisse t

Key takeaways

• Andy Baraghani's career was significantly accelerated by his role in developing recipes for Bon Appétit videos.
• His new restaurant, Ditto, is inspired by accessible dining models like City Bakery and focuses on high-quality, simple foods.

Main topics

• Culinary career evolution
• Opening the restaurant Ditto

Notable quotes

When you open it, it lies flat.

Conclusion

A nostalgic and inspiring look at how passion, heritage, and a willing

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:02) I'm Ina Garten, and this is Happy Hour. Today, I'm sitting down with Andy Baraghani. Andy is a James Beard award-winning and New York Times bestselling cookbook writer. Can I start with the first thing that I love about your cookbook? Absolutely. When you open it, it lies flat. Speaker 1 (0:20) I think about this constantly. Speaker 3 (0:22) He's also worked in some of the greatest restaurants in the country, including Chez Panisse Speaker 1 (0:27) in Berkeley and Estella Speaker 2 (0:29) in New York. Speaker 3 (0:30) You just walked in with your resume and said, hi, I'm Andy. Well, the resume was Speaker 1 (0:33) really not more of like a sticky note more than anything. There wasn't much of a resume. Speaker 3 (0:54) Andy Baraghani, welcome to Happy Hour. So glad you're here. Thank you for having me. So it's a chilled red Sancerre. I thought it'd be good with the chipotle and rosemary roasted nuts. Speaker 1 (1:04) This is delicious. It's Speaker 3 (1:05) good, isn't it? Speaker 3 (1:08) So you've worked in great restaurants, developed recipes for Bon Appetit. Yes. Been the heartthrob of YouTube videos. Written a James Beard Award winning cookbook, which I adore. Thank you. And now you're about to open a restaurant. Is there anything you haven't Speaker 2 (1:25) done? Speaker 1 (1:26) Well, I don't think I'll ever be able to do as many cookbooks as you, but I will. You have a couple Speaker 3 (1:32) of years to go. Did Speaker 1 (1:33) the YouTube Speaker 3 (1:34) videos like... catapult your career into the stratosphere? It Speaker 1 (1:38) did. And it was never, you know, I went into this industry because I love food and I love cooking and grew up in a family that, you know, loved to eat. But I didn't plan to ever be on camera. And then it just accidentally happened. Tell Speaker 2 (1:50) me Speaker 1 (1:50) about it. Speaker 2 (1:51) But Speaker 1 (1:51) I kept going. It's a great way to kind of communicate. How Speaker 3 (1:56) did it happen? Did somebody come and say, you'd be great on film? Speaker 1 (2:00) Pretty much. It was like when I was working in food media and developing recipes, writing stories, and then someone at Bon Appetit was just like, we're putting you on camera. And it wasn't really a question. It was more like, you're going to do a Speaker 3 (2:13) cooking video. Speaker 1 (2:13) This is your job. And I tried it, and I just saw how it really connected people to the food. And people engaged with the dish and my food in a way that... I never experienced before. Speaker 3 (2:26) It's true. People ask me for, I mean, Food Network asked me for like two years to do film. And I was like, who would want to watch me cook on film? Just couldn't even imagine. But it's because you're in their homes and you're on their computer and they feel like they know you. Absolutely. And it's just, what do I think? You've got comments about the food, but also like marriage proposals. It Speaker 1 (2:46) was more than a few, beyond food questions. It was like, but it was exciting. It was such a different time. And then. Speaker 1 (2:54) I was so open to it. But now I think everybody knows that I'm very happily married. Speaker 3 (2:59) What were some of the really funny comments that you got? I love reading the comments because I remember being in Paris for New Year's Eve. Jeffrey and I were there, and I usually write, you know, I'm doing this and I'm doing that, and this is what I'm making for New Year's Eve, and here's the recipe, you can make it too. And somebody commented, now why would I give a rat's ass what you're doing for New Speaker 1 (3:18) Year's Eve? And I was like, Speaker 3 (3:20) you Speaker 1 (3:20) are on my Instagram, right? You're putting the effort, actually. Speaker 3 (3:23) But then for the rest of the trip, Jeffrey and I, he would say, I'm going to go get some milk, and I would go, now why would I give a rat's ass where you're going? I always wanted to tell this guy how much. pleasure he gave us. Speaker 1 (3:35) People would comment on my outfits, which I never really, I just dressed the way I did, but I guess a few of my shirts had some tiny, maybe medium-sized rips. And so it was, you're like, can he afford a wardrobe? Can he afford even, how can he come to an office like that? But then that was, you know, a handful. And then there was a good handful that were like very into the kind of... somewhat revealing t-shirts. What Speaker 3 (3:58) I actually love too is when somebody makes a negative comment and all your supporters just pile on, they pile on, go somewhere else, leave him alone. He's fabulous. Speaker 1 (4:08) That's amazing because for a while I did not look at the comments and then my colleagues would just say like, oh, you have to read the comments, you have to. And then I was like, all right, this feels a little indulgent, but I will. Speaker 3 (4:18) So in 2022, I think you said, I'll never open a restaurant. I've worked in restaurants. I Speaker 1 (4:26) did say that. What changed? I think what changed was I felt like I've been in New York for 18 years, and I felt like this concept, this restaurant I'm opening, we don't really have in New York. But I thought of places in Europe that I love, in California where I grew up, and I wanted a place that was really a highly dependable place where people can get a great food that's easy. Something that I hear a lot from... friends of mine who are in food, out of food, would say how hard it is to get into restaurants right now, how expensive it is. And I thought, okay, I want to be able to create a restaurant where it's mostly affordable and people can have it be an anchor of sorts, where they can come and get breakfast, lunch, and early dinner. I thought of a restaurant, City Bakery, back in the day. And I loved it. I loved it because, you know, the food was good enough. It was this kind of industrial fun space, but you had this range of characters. You had construction workers, you had students, professors, people in marketing. You had all these characters come together for a meal. And I loved that. So I thought, you know, I wanted to open a restaurant. It's called Ditto. And what's Ditto about? Oh, my God. Ditto was, it's this word that people kept on saying to me, texting me, emailing me, and I just was more open to it. And then one night, my husband and I, we were watching, I can't believe I'm saying this, we were watching the movie Ghost. And there's that scene with Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Swayze, and Patrick Swayze says, tell her, Demi Moore, that I love her. And Whoopi tells Demi, he says, I love you. And she's like, he would never say that. And then he says, I'll always say ditto to, and then Whoopi says ditto to me. Like, he says ditto. So it means I love you. Speaker 3 (6:11) Yeah, so it feels like. What a great title. It feels so Speaker 1 (6:13) sweet. It feels, you know, on repeat. And I want it to be a part of people's life, you know, every day. So Speaker 3 (6:19) what kind of food is it? What's the feeling of it? I think Speaker 1 (6:21) lots of herbs, lots of acid. We're going to be doing rotisserie program sandwiches, soups, salads. So it really is Speaker 3 (6:32) accessible. Yeah, it is. I thought, well, what are the Speaker 1 (6:34) very kind of best versions of simple things? Yeah, that's how I felt. Love that. Speaker 3 (6:39) And I actually love restaurants that are about home food, home cooking. And actually, in a funny way, right where you're opening is in the village. Or I guess it's kind of lower Fifth Avenue, right? Speaker 1 (6:52) I Speaker 3 (6:52) think that was the secret of Union Square Cafe at the time. It was roast chicken. It was just ice cream sundae in a... sort of a little fancy form, but still it was home cooking. So you travel for inspiration. Speaker 1 (7:06) Absolutely. Speaker 3 (7:07) What's your favorite place to travel? Speaker 1 (7:08) Well, I think we both love Paris. I mean, it's truly, I hope to have a little tiny little place there eventually one day because it is always a form of inspiration. It will change your life. I never want to go anywhere else. I believe that I will have this kind of sense of sigh of relief when that day comes. And I tell my husband, Not every few weeks, but every month I just kind of gently am like, we will eventually have a place in Paris that manifests. It is Speaker 3 (7:34) worth the dream. It is so worth the dream. It's just shopping there. Speaker 1 (7:39) Oh, absolutely. Like Speaker 3 (7:40) where do Speaker 1 (7:40) you go when you shop in Paris? You know, the thing that I need to do more is cook in Paris. Yeah. Because I eat. If you don't have a Speaker 3 (7:45) kitchen, you can't. Speaker 1 (7:47) I eat out a lot. But I think Paris is a huge form of inspiration. I love Vietnam. I loved going to Vietnam. I loved Malaysia. I just came back from London, and I hadn't been to London in, I can't believe, over 10 years. And it was very inspiring. All the bakeries, incredible Italian food, all the pubs. I think I grew up in a very specific place, Berkeley, California, which loves food, and I grew up in a first-generation Persian household. also great food. But to be able to travel has just completely shaped the way I cook. And so I kind of am able to be inspired and pick and choose what feels right. Speaker 3 (8:29) I think there was a moment when I had, Jeffrey and I went on a camping trip in France when we were first married. So I must have been 22. And we pulled into Mont Saint-Michel to the campsite. And the woman who owned the campsite said, I just made cacao van for my husband. Speaker 2 (8:50) Would you like some? And I don't Speaker 3 (8:51) even know if I Speaker 2 (8:52) knew what it Speaker 3 (8:52) was. Speaker 1 (8:53) I said, sure. Speaker 3 (8:54) And I took it back to the tent and heated it up. And