Ina Garten's Assistant Once 'Dismissed' a Letter from Jennifer Garner Asking to Be on Ina's Show (Exclusive)

Ina Garten and Jennifer Garner’s friendship almost never was.

“I admire her immensely,” Garten, 76, tells PEOPLE for this week’s cover story. Garner also frequently raves about the celebrity chef and her recipes in her Instagram series Pretend Cooking Show (which draws inspiration from Barefoot Contessa). But a simple accident almost prevented them from connecting.

Garten’s Food Network Shows — Barefoot Contessa and her latest, Be my guest — always feature her cooking for friends (and husband Jeffrey) at home.

“People who didn’t understand that the guests on my show were my friends in real life often wrote to me asking if they could cook with me,” Ina recalls in her new memoir. Be ready when luck strikes. “[My assistant] Barbara handled my correspondence and always sent kind letters explaining how the show worked. One day she inadvertently threw away a letter from Jennifer Garner because she clearly didn’t understand who it was.”

Fortunately, Ina “had an instinct for her”.

Jennifer Garner and Ina Garten on Be My Guest.

Food Network

“She seemed smart, witty and down-to-earth, very un-Hollywood”, writes Ina. “I thought she was someone I could have fun with. I reached out to her when we were filming an episode in Los Angeles, arranged a date to cook together and, as we both suspected, felt an instant connection. We’ve been friends ever since.”

Ina remembers that their first meeting was around Garner’s 40th birthday. (He is now 52 years old.)

Jennifer Garner on Ina Garten’s Be My Guest show.

Food Network

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“She invited me to her birthday party very sweetly, which was amazing,” Ina tells PEOPLE. “And I loved it because 40 women were invited in their tracksuits and they were told not to do hairdos or anything like that, hair in a ponytail, sweats, clothes and sneakers. And they were wonderful, wonderful women and it was very good time.”

Recently, Garner appeared on Be my guest in April. The two made cornbread and pizza crackers in Ina’s kitchen in East Hampton, New York. They filmed the episode on the same day Pretend it’s a cooking show.

“Making a Pretend it’s a cooking show with the contessa who inspired him was 🤯 a target for my brain. I always love meeting you,” Garner said.

Ina adds: “She’s grounded and principled, smart and an amazing parent and a great cook. She’s simply outstanding.”

Be ready when luck strikes is out on October 1 from Crown Publishing Group and is available for pre-order now, wherever books are sold.

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Source: HIS Education