The Barefoot Contessa Drinking Game

And other Hamptons fodder.

Jun 25, 2025

It feels like Hamptons scuttlebutt has reached a higher-than-usual fever pitch this year, due in no small part to New York Magazine’s Hamptons issue. If you read my Hot Girls in the Hamptons reporting last year, you know I get a big kick out of this kind of thing.

NYMag Editor-at-Large Erik Maza emailed me a few weeks ago to chat about all things “Out East,” and the below ended up in print (on The Hamptons Status List). So now you know what I’m wearing to my bridal shower, if you care about such things!

(I’m also looking out for other hard-to-get items, like Boatkins and the Frame x Sotheby’s collab tote.)

Anyway, yes, I’m heading out to Long Island for most of the summer, and for the first chunk, I’ll be celebrating a mini Bachelorette with some close friends. (The chill, thirtysomething kind, not the drunk crying at Common Grounds kind).

I want to be able to relax while I’m there, so I’m lining up some guest editors for y’all while I’m gone: John Jannuzzi, Kaitlin Phillips, tariro makoni, and Noora Raj Brown will be taking the reins, along with some essays, Designer Dossiers, and other pre-written stuff from yours truly. It’s going to be a good time, so thanks for letting me have the break and being open to some new voices here. That content will begin the second week of July, when my face is slathered in sunscreen and my phone will be off.

In other news, Patron Saint of East Hampton, Ina Garten, has joined Substack. It’s a big deal — and she started with a send about lobster rolls, which is just… well, perfect.

In that spirit, I thought I’d re-publish an old favorite around here, The Barefoot Contessa Drinking Game, invented during Thanksgiving break many moons ago. Enjoy.

The Barefoot Contessa Drinking Game

In my family, there is only one cooking show: The Barefoot Contessa. We refer to the show’s host, Ina Garten, lovingly and often, usually only as “Ina”, as though we just got off the phone with her.

On the brink of sanity, my sister and I were deep in the throes of a Barefoot binge-a-thon one Thanksgiving. I opened a bottle of Veuve, and we started sipping every time Ina slipped into one of her old tropes. Thus, the Barefoot Contessa drinking game was born.

The combination of Ina’s dulcet tone, the show’s bucolic East Hampton backdrop, and the presence of boozy bubbles makes for a soothing (and amusing) summer respite. It is dead simple to play. Recommended with “good” champagne, of course. But whatever you have will do.

Preparation: loads of Barefoot Contessa queued up on DVR. Cocktail of choice. Charcuterie board.

ONE SIP

Ina says "fabulous"
Ina asks rhetorical questions, such as, "How easy is that?" "How bad can that be?"
Ina specifies an ingredient as "good. " For example, "Use good olive oil" or "good vanilla extract."
Jeffrey cameos, but two sips if it's related to chicken.
Ina throws a party.
Ina’s collar is popped.

TWO SIPS

Ina’s collar is popped.
Ina clips herbs or flowers from her sprawling garden.
Ina says she's going to "turn up the volume" on something.
Ina giggles diabolically.
Hydrangeas are pictured.
Ina visits a specialty food store, Carissa’s Bakery, or Amber Waves Farm.
Ina drives a BMW or Mercedes convertible.

THREE SIPS

Stephen Drucker makes a cameo.
Ina reminds you to add instant coffee to a chocolate recipe.
A famous Hamptons resident makes a cameo (Alec Baldwin, Mariska Hargitay, etc.).
Ina reminds you to garnish a dish in a way that indicates its ingredients
Ina mentions France and Paris, or calls something "Provençal".
Ina flirts with T.R. or Tyler Florence.
Ina leaves the Hamptons (Napa, Brooklyn, etc.).

BONUS POINTS

Stream our Nancy Meyers Kitchen playlist, and follow the game by viewing the director’s seminal film Something’s Gotta Give, which features scenes in Ina Garten’s original shop.