I Met Giada!!!!

[Delanl]

And she is a DOLL! She is teeny-tiny and even more beautiful in person than on the show!! She was so sweet and gracious. There were a million people there and you could tell she was just so humbled by it.

It was at the Barnes & Noble in Freehold, NJ. She did a Q & A session for the first half-hour and then did signings. Some interesting things I learning during the Q&A were that:

-Its not her kitchen, they rent a house and then decorate that kitchen to look like hers.
-A 22 minute show takes 13-15 hours to shoot!
-She won't be cooking Easter dinner, but may bring a dessert!:p
-She started cooking when she was five.
-Those lovely porcelain measuring spoons she uses are from Anthropolgie (one of my favorite stores)!!

I was just so thrilled to meet her. I was shaking when I got up there! I asked her if her husband cooks and she said no, but he cleans! My friend thanked her for coming and she said "No, THANK YOU--I am so happy to be here" Such a sweetie. She promised she wouldn't leave until EVERYONE'S books were signed and when I left at 8:30, there was a line out the door, 3 people deep!

Rachel Ray is going to be there next week and then Tyler Florence and Mario Batali in May. I may have to go back to see that cutie Tyler!
;)

Leigh

[lindrusso]

That's cool!

Originally posted by Delanl
Tyler Florence in May.

I think I need to make a trip to Jersey! :D

Have fun with the other signings!

[Misconduct]

"Those lovely porcelain measuring spoons she uses are from Anthropolgie (one of my favorite stores)!! "

could you direct me to this store, do they have a website? did a search but could not find anything.

Cool you met her! I see Tyler frequently in town visiting his old culinary school (J&W)....

[Delanl]

Misconduct--their website is www.anthropolgie.com. I was just on there though and couldn't find the measuring spoons.:( It looks like they are carrying some stuff by Nigella now. Its still a great site though, they have the prettiest clothes! And their catalog is beautiful!

Leigh

[schuh]

Leigh,
I tried your link and it didn't work. I tried anthropologie and it worked.

I'm very jealous of all the foodies that come to your area! We have people come in for a cookbook author fund-raier each year, but at $50 (or so) a plate, I can't really afford it!

[Delanl]

Whoops! Forget the other "o". Thanks Schuh!

Leigh

[Wendy w]

Originally posted by schuh

I'm very jealous of all the foodies that come to your area! We have people come in for a cookbook author fund-raier each year, but at $50 (or so) a plate, I can't really afford it!

So am I. Wow, what a collection! Emeril and Julia Child came to one of my favorite restaurants (a few blocks away) a few years ago and it was only $500 a person.

Good for you Delanl, it sounded like lots of fun. Alton is coming to my fair again this year. :)

[schuh]

Originally posted by Wendy w


So am I. Wow, what a collection! Emeril and Julia Child came to one of my favorite restaurants (a few blocks away) a few years ago and it was only $500 a person.


Yikes! I guess $50 is a bargain (although it hasn't been Emeril and Julia). The only person I might pay $50 to see is Alton Brown.

[Misconduct]

Thanks Leigh for the site! I had found that one but I did not dig further into it because the fisrt page was about clothing and I thought I had the wrong one.
Interesting site nonetheless.

[Grace]

I found the measuring spoons here:

http://fantes.com/measuring_spoons.htm Scroll all the way down to the bottom - they're second to last.

As for meeting Giada, HOW COOL!!! I do love her! Thanks for the great report, too! So exciting.

[Delanl]

Thanks Grace!!!:)

[SusanMac]

This is the 2nd or 3rd thread I've read recently where people have thought the cooking show sets are real places, or maybe even the homes of the chefs. I always assumed the opposite (never figured they would actually, really film in a real, un-made-up place). Interesting.

That's very cool that Giada was sweet in person. She's so beautiful, it could have gone either way :-) Didn't know she was married. I'll have to break the news to DH!

[pattiarl]

Yeah, she's married. She did a show recently and she said that her husband and his friends go biking twice a week so she was going to fix them dinner for when they got back. I wasn't really focused on the show so I couldn't really figure out which one was husband vs. which ones were friends. :)

Patti

[lmenichel]

I'm so jealous!!! Maybe they'll all tour together someday and make it down to the south! One can dream....

[MISSINDI]

Originally posted by Delanl

Rachel Ray is going to be there next week and then Tyler Florence and Mario Batali in May. I may have to go back to see that cutie Tyler!
;)

Leigh

Which day for Rachael Ray? Freehold is a bit of a hike -- I'll have to mapquest it and see how far. We have a bookstore about an hour from here that gets great names as well ... had Jamie Oliver twice, Emeril, Sara Moulton and Suze Orman (financial). Only admission is the cost of one of their books. I've been hoping Rachael would hit this one with her new book out - our son (2-1/2) LOVES her, so if she's not coming here, then a trip down the shore might be in order.

We saw Giada in Philly last year and the FTVN Food Expo and agree - she's beautiful and super tiny, but oh so sweet. Paula Deen was there too and she's the same down-to-earth bubbly personality in real life. I love that ... when they're the same and it's not all an act.