Ina Garten: Stay True To Yourself, And Your Brand Will Follow
Her new memoir is loaded with tips for entrepreneurs
Hello, and welcome to the CulinaryWoman Newsletter! Fall has definitely settled into Michigan. The temperatures are cooling, the sky is a vivid blue and fall colors are slowly appearing. Along with that, both of my favorite baking shows are back on the air (see a listening tip below).
Following In Ina Garten’s Footsteps
Another favorite television personality is back: Ina Garten. She has a new season of her Food Network program, Be My Guest, but more importantly, a new memoir, Be Ready When The Luck Happens, that came out last Tuesday. Amazon says it is scooping the number one spots in its sales categories and it’s sure to stay on the best-seller list for weeks.
I’ve always respected Ina’s business acumen, and I was delighted to see her offer tips that will resonate with anyone, whether a veteran manager or fledgling shop owner.
Stay True To Yourself, And Your Brand Will Follow
In the book, Ina says you can’t devise a brand; you have to live one. In making decisions, she asks others for advice, but in the end, she has to do what is right for her.
Swing For The Fences!
In Ina’s version of “go big or go home,” she believes you should take chances. You won’t be successful every time, but you will learn from everything you try.
Never Cut Corners On Quality
Ina said that in everything she tried, whether a business venture or a product idea, she was sure that the quality was good. Maybe the idea wasn’t right, or the timing was off, but she hopes no one ever got an inferior product, whether a frozen dinner, a baking mix or a cookbook.
Try It — And Have An Escape Hatch
Give things a try before you rule them out. But if you get into a situation and decide it isn’t right for you, don’t dawdle. When she launched her original cooking show, the Barefoot Contessa, Ina commited to 13 episodes. If she didn’t like it, she had an out — but it obviously worked out.
Even If You’re Successful, Be Imaginative
Ina could have kept doing the Barefoot Contessa forever. But she told the Food Network she wanted to try an interview show, where a guest would come and visit. They would cook together, tell stories and have fun together. That was how Be My Guest was born.
Ina also is planning to change directions in publishing. She is working on a design book that will cover table scapes, flower arranging, gardening, interior design, kitchen design — things that she loves doing. (Stay alert, Martha Stewart!)
If all that wasn’t enough, she’s remodeling her home in East Hampton, which she says is in need of a facelift.
You can find more of Ina’s business advice in my story for Food & Wine.
The Most And Least Competitive Types Of Cuisine
If Ina has inspired you to give your dream a try, a new study has tracked the most crowded, and least crowded fields in the U.S. when it comes to types of cuisine.
According to OnDeck, steakhouses face the most direct competition. In seven states, steakhouses face more competition than any other restaurant type.
By contrast, Korean food is the least competitive type of cuisine nationwide. That’s not the case here in Ann Arbor, where there is Korean cuisine at every price point, and the market is certainly crowded in Los Angeles.
But it is not as easy to find elsewhere. There isn’t much Korean food in New Orleans, where Vietnamese food is the most common Asian cuisine.
In New York City, French cuisine is the most competitive. The least competitive? Barbecue. But you might consider opening a sandwich spot in L.A., since they are far less common there than elsewhere in the country. (Actors avoiding carbs?)
What Goes Wrong For Small Restaurants
Not everyone is as successful as Ina, of course. Running a restaurant is a challenge and things often go wrong. A new report from Next Insurance, a frequent insurer of small entities, looked at the most frequent insurance claims filed by small businesses between 2021 and 2024.
Equipment breakdown, employee injury, customer slip and fall, theft and vandalism were the five leading categories. Water damage, fire, food spoilage, power outage and wind (excluding hurricanes) rounded out the top 10 on the list.
About 45 percent of those claims fell under basic commercial property insurance. But the insurance company said owners may need additional coverage to anticipate all those issues (no surprise there).
Depending on locations, Next reported different types of claims. For example, the top claim for Pennsylvania is equipment breakdown, for Florida it is employee injury and for California it is vandalism.
In New Jersey and Tennessee, the top claim is for fire. Mississippi’s most frequent claim is for wind damage, excluding hurricanes. In Michigan, it’s spoilage. And in Virginia, it’s power outages.
There are lots of suggestions in the report to avoid common restaurant damage problems.
Onigiri’s Time To Shine
When I was traveling in Japan, I often took a late bullet train back to Toyko. When I arrived, most of the train station food stands were closed. But there was one stallwort, a shop selling onigiri.
Onigiri (pronounced oh-neh-gear-y) are triangles of warm rice, often filled with ingredients like cooked salmon, tuna, vegetables or plum paste, accompanied by a seaweed wrapper to hold it while you take a bite.
Onigiri were inexpensive, easy to eat and sat calmly in the tummy after a long day of travel. I’m delighted that I can find them freshly made in Ann Arbor at the Korner Kitchen, a cafe inside Galleria, one of our Asian supermarkets.
Now, across the Pacific, onigiri are undergoing a transformation, from humble fast food to something fancier.
In Tokyo, customers begin lining up before 10 a.m. at Onigiri Bongo, according to The Guardian. Its onigiri are available with up to 57 ingredients, from the classic filings to bacon and cheese.
“The longest anyone has waited is eight hours,” owner Yumiko Ukon, 72, told the paper. “Onigiri are so simple — rice, salt, seaweed and a topping — and anyone can make them. When you bring a smile to someone’s face with something as simple as that, it’s really special.”
Their popularity is spreading around the world. In Sydney, the staff at Parami began making 50 onigiri each day in 2021. Now, they make up to 500, as customers flock to try the rice balls to accompany cups of coffee or matcha.
There’s only one inflexible rule: do not dip them in soy sauce.
A New Podcast To Accompany The Great Canadian Baking Show
This summer, my ears pricked up when I heard about a new podcast that follows the Great Canadian Baking Show, which I consider to be the best baking competition on television.
It’s called Baking Scraps, and it’s co-hosted by Cristina Hogue and Lisa Stewart, two delightful friends who love baking and love CBC Baking, as the show is nicknamed.
Normally, they post new episodes every Tuesday, featuring previous contestants on the show, business owners, chefs and journalists (I’ll be a guest on a future episode).
But this Sunday: they have two special guests: CBC Baking judges Bruno Feldeisen and Kyla Kennaley.
You’ll be able to hear that episode at noon ET, and this would be a great week to start listening, because CBC Baking returns tonight across Canada for its eighth season.
If you aren’t in Canada, you’ll be able to find episodes shortly after they air, by searching YouTube. You can also find past seasons there.
On Mondays, I’ll be reviewing episodes of CBC Baking as well as The Great British Bake Off in Red Beans & Advice, a bonus for our paid subscribers. My first review went up last Monday, and I’m waiting eager to meet the new bakers (one of whom is a friend of Cristina and Lisa).
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
This was an exciting week for Detroit Tigers fans! Our gritty Tigs swept the Houston Astros and are now in the American League Division Series. I’ll be heading to Comerica Park later this week. No matter how these games with Cleveland turn out, they’ve given us tons of joy.
I am always happy to hear from you. Here are some ways to find me.
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I’ll see paid subscribers tomorrow with Red Beans & Advice and everyone else next week. Go Tigers!
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