The Food Ina Garten Buys While Grocery Shopping In Paris

When people visit Paris, some want to go to the Eiffel tower, visit the Louvre, or go for a stroll along the Seine. Ina Garten's preferred activity is to host a dinner party, but the fun starts way before she begins serving hors d'oeuvres. Garten makes an event out of grocery shopping, going to each of her favorite stores and chatting with shopkeepers along the way. During a visit for the 2024 Paris Olympics, she took The Today Show crew along for the ride. For her, grocery shopping in Paris is a lovely (and tasty) "walk around the neighborhood" with seafood, produce, bread, cheese, and more on the list.

For the main course, Garten had mustard-roasted fish in mind, so she headed to Poissonnerie Du Bac for some turbot. This large flat fish has white flesh, a flaky texture, and sweet flavor. La Roseraie Grenelle is where Garten went to for fresh produce. One thing she especially appreciates about French fruit and vegetable sellers is the attention to seasonality and the perfect ripeness. For dessert, Garten decided to go the store-bought route with a tart from Hugo & Victor.

The Barefoot Contessa wasn't going to forget about decor — a chic bouquet of flowers was in order. Her tip for elegant arrangements fit for a Parisian tablescape is to buy either one type of flower in several hues, or different flowers all within the same color palette. She popped into Adriane M. for a variety of blooms in bright fuchsia tones.

Of course, a Parisian meal would not be complete without bread and cheese. One of the first tasks Garten took on was buying baguettes from bakery Secco, which she nibbled on throughout her shopping trip. She called cheesemonger Barthélémy her "favorite cheese shop anywhere on the planet," and bought three varieties there. When putting together a cheese board, Garten likes to get something creamy, something sharp, and one made with goat's milk for a distinctive flavor profile, so she opted for a creamy cow's milk cheese with a bloomy rind, a classic chevré, and a funky and potent blue cheese.

To complete her charcuterie board, Garten also visited Maison Verot for charcuterie. There she selected an oh-so-elegant pâté en croûte. This is a dish made by layering creamy pâté, ground meat, vegetables, fruits, and/or nuts into a pastry crust. Served by the slice, you get a little bit of many tasty things in each piece. Garten chose one with pistachios. It looks like the only thing she missed on this trip was the wine. She must have had a couple bottles of her favorite type of French wine back at her apartment!

Ina Garten has loved Paris since she and her husband Jeffrey first visited the city together on a camping trip back in the 1970s. About three decades later, the couple bought a top floor apartment located between the 6th and 7th Arrondissement of the city, which has since become a home away from home. They regularly vacation there, and Garten even wrote a book based on her culinary experiences called "Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home."

This area of Paris is where many of the chef's favorite shops, markets, and restaurants are located. In fact, she credits her first visits to Marché Raspail — a large open air street market offering everything from fresh fruit to rotisserie chickens — for greatly influencing her philosophy on food. "It changed my life," she said (via YouTube). The bakery Poilâne, specialty foods store Bon Marché and Gerard Mulot, and flower shop Marianne Robic are some more of Garten's favorite places to go shopping.

When she is not cooking, picnicking, or hosting a dinner party, Garten likes to dine out at many lovely French eateries. Garten's favorite "unpretentious" Paris restaurant is Le Paul Bert, and her favorite Parisian café is the classic Café de Flore, though she also really enjoys Le Voltaire, Café Varenne, and Restaurant Le Cherche Midi. Ina definitely knows how to have a delicious time in the City of Light!