- Iconic TV chef Ina Garten’s Facebook page was hacked, which became obvious when an Olive Garden dupe recipe was shared with her followers
- The Barefoot Contessa can more typically be found in her fabulous Hamptons kitchen using expensive, sometimes store bought, ingredients
- The issue was quickly brought to the attention of Garten’s team and resolved with Facebook parent company Meta
Beloved hostess and chef Ina Garten’s Facebook account was recently hacked and spammed with content the high-end Barefoot Contessa would likely never promote on purpose.
Several days ago, Garten’s Facebook page posted a recipe for an ‘Olive Garden copycat’ recipe for Chicken Scampi, which tipped off her fans and followers that something might be amiss.
The recipe ingredients were a far cry from the Hamptons hostess’s usual line up, which often include ingredients such as fresh lobster, orange marmalade and expensive liqueurs.
Fans quickly realized the post was way out-of-character for Garten and her brand and assumed it must have been a hack.
‘How you know Ina Garten’s Facebook account has been hacked: instead of being her Hamptons-dwelling, Cosmo-sipping, “good olive oil” using self, she’s suddenly become your Jell-o salad-making great-aunt from Iowa who’s always posting Olive Garden copycat recipes,’ wrote Emily Pressman on Twitter.
Eventually, Garten’s team got on the case and the issue was quickly resolved with Facebook’s parent company, Meta.
‘Thank you to everyone who alerted me that my Facebook page was hacked, and t Meta for helping us get our page back!’ wrote Ina from her official FB account.
‘I will continue to post my favorite recipes here and read all of your wonderful comments. xx ina.’
Further illustrating that Olive Garden may not be her usual haunt, a few months back, Garten revealed her newly-renovated kitchen complete with $17,550 stove, perfectly-arranged pots and elegant décor.
The famed chef, 75, took to Instagram to share the stunning transformation at her East Hampton home in New York.
She said the update was well overdue, having not revamped her private workspace in more than two decades.
Although Ina records her Food Network shows in her barn, she said: ‘It’s so much fun testing recipes in my new kitchen.’
In the post, shared with her 3.9 million followers, she shared a selection of images from the renovation.
One snapshot showcased tart pans, plates and wicker baskets lining the shelves of a well-equipped cupboard.
Another revealed the modern gray cabinets and ‘Calacatta Gold’ marble countertops where cookbooks and baking utensils were delicately arranged.
Calacatta Gold is renowned as the most expensive marble for countertops and sells for approximately $180 per square foot.
The pièce de résistance, however, was undoubtedly the black Lacanche range oven, complete with brass fittings.
The cooker, which boasts gas burners, one electric oven and one gas oven, is thought to have cost nearly $20,000.
The ‘Classique’ model – which Ina appears to have had installed – starts at $17,550 but there are additional costs for customizations to the range top as well as optional accessories like diffuser disks.
The gleaming new backboard was festooned with perfectly-aligned silver and copper pans.
In the caption Ina wrote: ‘During the Pandemic, I gave myself a project of renovating my kitchen, which I actually hadn’t done in 25 years!!’
She continued: ‘I built my dream pantry and bought my favorite Lacanche stove plus lots of food photographs and a great view of the garden.
‘It’s so much fun testing recipes in my new kitchen!’
Garten is famed for regularly cooking with ultra-expensive ingredients – and she once roasted a chateaubriand just to slice it up for sandwiches for a picnic for one of her shows.
The star, who has written more than a dozen Barefoot Contessa cookbooks dating back to 1999, also favors Poliane sourdough loafs, and regularly tells her rapt fans to ensure they buy a ‘really good’ version of a store-cupboard ingredient.
Last year, however, Ina changed her tune after a ‘crazy’ time in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.
The chef released her book ‘Go-To Dinners’ in 2022, which was focused on easy, simple dinners for the family.
‘Cooking during the pandemic got pretty crazy, even for me, so I devised all kinds of ways to get dinner on the table with the least amount of stress,’ Garten said in an Instagram post at the time.
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