Foodnetwork last night about Giada...did anyone watch?

[petitechef]

did anyone watch Chefography on the foodnetwork last night?

I caught the tail end of it ... it was about Giada...

I have a questions about her if you saw it.
Did I understand it correctly that she dated her husband for 13 years before they got engaged?

[Hammster]

Yes she and her, then boyfriend, dated for a looong time. I believe it was something like 13 years. Then he popped the question out of the blue. Of course she said yes. Darn it, there goes my chance.
I have such a crush on her. :o

[mbrogier]

I saw the whole thing. It was pretty amazing. Her family tried to push her into acting since her grandfather is the famous Dino De Laurentis. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0209569/
She was more interested in food, and her grandfather had opened a gourmet food emporium in LA and NYC in the 80s that folded. Giada loved going there and watching the chefs. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, so she knows her stuff. She worked at Spago as a pastry chef and then started her own caterer. The Greenspan family hired her as a personal chef, but she left when their children went to college to go to the Food Network. She didn't want to go into television because she's really shy, but Food Network encouraged her. Most of her recipes are family recipes, and a lot of her family comes on the show and some have cooked with her.

Her husband is a designer with Anthropologie. He encouraged her to go to Paris and pursue her dreams because he had pursued his.

[MusicMom]

I caught it about half way through. Did they say anything about her father? I just saw bits from her mother, sister, aunt, grandfather, and friends.

[tyroleancutie]

The show will be on again Sunday night I think - check your TV Guide because I set my Tivo for Sunday night to record it :)

I watched the episode about Ina earlier today and it was really interessting.

[HejazSunKat]

Did I understand it correctly that she dated her husband for 13 years before they got engaged?

Ahahahahahaha :D This cracked me up because that's exactly what I did! Hey, you don't want to rush into these things. :D

[nanco]

My husband watched the show and yelled for me to come watch it with him. He said "Giada dated her husband for 13 years...see we did it the right way" We dated 12 years and got married the day before Giada of the same year . My husband & I are having so much fun being married in our late forties! He still wines me and dines me like the old days so, I can't complain about that.

[SusanMac]

Thanks for posting a recap! I don't want to watch the whole show, but am always interested in the background of these TV chefs. I had no idea where she had studied. Personal chef for Greenspan? Very interesting. Not familiar w/her grandfather. Did they mention in the timeline when she got her "enhancements" done :-) (ok, I couldn't help it...tacky, I know)

[mbrogier]

Susan, that's all her. She was a stunningly beautiful child and teen. She's always looked like that--except she gained 30lbs in Paris. :rolleyes: She lost that working in restaurants in LA.

They showed Giada's parents. They're happily married. A lot of the family is just really reserved.

Giada's brother just died of cancer. He's in some of the Everyday Italian party shots.

ETA: DH and I dated for 7 years before getting married. I think it was really sweet of Giada's husband to be so selfless and let her pursue her dreams. Ina's Geoffrey is the same way--and they're college sweethearts.

[Sarah428]

Susan, that's all her. She was a stunningly beautiful child and teen.
I didn't see this special but I saw the one on recently with her vacation in Italy. She was shoe shopping w/ someone I thought was a friend Giada's age but it ended up being her mother....that family has incredible genes! :p

[SusanMac]

I do agree that she's beautiful and looks very natural. I was referring to other body parts. Maybe just a good investment in Wonderbras, perhaps?! If you watch her very early shows there is a huge difference in her shape.

That's so sad about her brother!! A designer married to a chef...with a producer in the family....they are all very creative!

That's cute about Ina's college sweetheart, too. They seem cute together from what I've seen on her show. I don't watch it too often. I was expecting Giada's DH to be an uber-GQ-heartthrob, given how she looks, but he just seems like a "normal" guy (which I think is cool)

[Canice]

That's cute about Ina's college sweetheart, too. They seem cute together from what I've seen on her show.

Heh, apparently he was the college sweetheart (19) at Dartmouth when Ina went to visit her big brother there -- *she* was 15 and in high school.

I watched the Paula and Ina programs Thursday night, and do appreciate all that Paula went through to pull herself and her life together after a very rough spell. No doubt about *that* -- but I had to wonder about the opening to the early episodes of her show: Back then, there was a v.o. in which she talked about having found herself suddenly alone with two boys to raise and turning to her kitchen as a resource. But in the "Chefography" program it comes to light that she'd been married more than a quarter of a century when she divorced -- her boys were in their in mid-20s. Not quite the story of Irma Rombauer self-publishing The Joy of Cooking upon finding herself a widow after a life of privilege! :rolleyes:

[Canice]

Oh, re Giada's "other parts": I haven't tracked changes in her body, but *have* noticed how her costuming has changed -- holy Toledo! Her necklines get lower and lower, and in one episode she bent down to put something in the oven and she nearly "popped out". Not that it matters - that's what TV is all about - but for a second there, I feared for the dish. Either one.

[spudugan]

i had tivoed the Giada episode of Chefography and watched it last night. I thought her Mother divorced when she was quite young and don't remember the show showing her parents together??? Plus,,,they said her parents divorced and that she is the eldest of her siblings....so did her Mother remarry? And is she married to or did she ever marry the Father of her sister and brother that passed away? I'm a big fan of Giada...think she does a fantastic job inspiring us to learn to cook-has a great personality...and i have to say...it's refreshing to see a chef that appears FIT, makes efforts to lighten recipes, and leaves room for an occasional indulgence of something just flat out decadent and tasty.

[zwieback]

They showed Giada's parents. They're happily married. A lot of the family is just really reserved.

I don't remember seeing Giada's father in the biography and I could swear that they said her parents were divorced. I also could have sworn that they said she was the oldest of 3 children but, it looks like she has another brother (I know she has a brother who passed away from cancer).

Also, Giada wasn't the personal chef for Alan Greenspan, the former head of the Fed. Reserve. She was a personal chef for a family with the last name Greenspan (I guess it's possible that they are related to Alan Greenspan).

[Grace]

This is like that telephone game with all the different information flying around..... :D

I just watched the show just now (I Tivo'd it). One of the very first things they said was Giada's parents were divorced when she was very young. They never mentioned anything about her father anywhere, nor did they mention whether the Mom remarried. I also heard them say that Giada is the eldest of three siblings, but then Igor showed up at the end - so that would make four. Not sure about the story around that?? There's Giada, Dino, Eloisa and Igor. That sure looks like four to me..... :rolleyes:

But anyway, it was a very interesting show and I can't wait to see her next book!

[Ann1965]

Maybe they're not counting Dino since he passed away. I too loved watching and got to watch all 4 shows (Emeril, Paula, Ina and Giada) last night back to back. I think Giada is beautiful. I would love to be a weekend guest at Ina's. We've eaten at the Lady and Sons several times. Her new restaurant doesn't have the same quaint ambience that her last one did. I hope food TV expands this to include some other chefs.

[Sookie]

I don't remember seeing Giada's father in the biography and I could swear that they said her parents were divorced. I also could have sworn that they said she was the oldest of 3 children but, it looks like she has another brother (I know she has a brother who passed away from cancer).

I didn't see the show yet, but this is from her brother Dino's death notice:

He is survived by his wife, Talley; two sisters, Giada De Laurentiis, host of the Food NetworkFood Network's "Everyday Italian," and Eloisa De Laurentiis, a makeup artist; brother Igor De Laurentiis, an actor; parents Veronica De Laurentiis, an actress, and Ivan Kavalsky, a producer; four aunts; and grandfather Dino.

[Grace]

I was doing some research online, and I think Giada's father is Alex De Benedetti. That's who her mother Veronica married in 1970, anyway. So it would make sense.

I also read another interview while I was digging around, where the interviewer asked about her parents - whether they were both in showbusiness or not. She replied that before her parents were divorced, yes they were, but when they got a divorce her dad moved back to Italy.

I think the person they are referring to in that obituary is her mother's current husband, who Giada may refer to as her father, but it's not her real father.

I also found it interesting that they all use their grandfather's surname. They don't go by their father's surname, even the boys don't, which just seems a little odd to me.

[zwieback]

I also found it interesting that they all use their grandfather's surname. They don't go by their father's surname, even the boys don't, which just seems a little odd to me.

I also noticed that and found it to be a bit odd. I don't remember them even mentioning Giada's father but once when they said who he was. Maybe there is no relationship there. Or, maybe since they're all in show business, the name follows them better and is more recognizable than an unknown name.

[KAnn]

I watched the Paula and Ina programs Thursday night, and do appreciate all that Paula went through to pull herself and her life together after a very rough spell.
I watched the Ina and Paula episodes last night...Ina was/is a beauty! I don't cook many of Paula's recipes but I enjoy her and I adore Ina and her books! I will try and watch the Giada eposode this week...I saw just a few minutes last night (mostly her wedding). Ina and Jeffrey are just adorable together!

[mbrogier]

Although I thought the bios were very good, some things weren't very clear unless you were really paying attention. They kept showing Giada's mom and dad, but it wasn't clear it was a second husband. I think perhaps the Di Laurentis name thing may be an Italian custom. I'm not sure of this, but I do remember having Spanish friends that carried the last name of their extended family and also of their nuclear family. Which Greenspan family she cooked for was also not clear. (I think it was Ben Greenspan, a leading Canadian attorney who lives in Toronto.)

[petitechef]

I don't remember seeing Giada's father in the biography and I could swear that they said her parents were divorced. I also could have sworn that they said she was the oldest of 3 children but, it looks like she has another brother (I know she has a brother who passed away from cancer).


I watched the whole thing last night (yea...exciting saturday night)...Giada's mother and father are divorced (Giada had a brother and sister) then her mother remarried and had a son. Giada's brother passed away but her sister and step brother are alive.

Her mother was like 19 when she had giada...that's why they look more like sisters than mother and daughter.

[Grace]

Igor would be her half brother then, not her step brother, and IMO, I'm surprised the show would make any distinction like that. I have a half brother and a half sister I would NEVER call anything other than my brother or my sister. It seems odd they would say she is the oldest of three, when there are clearly four. :confused: Whatever.