You know, I really enjoy watching Ina Garten whip up healthy and inspired dishes on her Food Network show “Barefoot Contessa.” Sure, she is a multi-millionaire celebrity chef, who lives in an immaculately clean mansion in the Hamptons, and tools around in a posh Mercedes, which is about as far away from my reality as humanly possible, but on TV our differences seem to melt away.
Well, they did until I was asked to write a letter chastising the former White House nuclear policy analyst, turned culinary guru. Apparently, there is a huge contingency of parents out there who think Garten should relinquish her “Barefoot Contessa” title and take up the crown of “Heartless Contessa.”
Oh yes they do.
According to reports, the vitriol comes as a result of a claim that Garten repeatedly dissed a 6-year-old cancer patient whose dying wish was to meet the Food Network star. The boy named Enzo is currently battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and because of his advanced medical condition he was given the chance to have a dream granted by the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
A blog written by Enzo’s family details how the boy watched the “Barefoot Contessa” religiously from his sick bed. Enzo became so enamored with Garten that when he was offered a chance by the Make-A-Wish Foundation to realize a dream he chose meeting the TV cooking star. Garten’s representatives reportedly replied to the little boy’s repeated requests (yes, Enzo asked twice) with a “definite no.”
Cue the collective gasp from moms and dads everywhere.
Parenting websites the world over have since gone into overdrive slicing and dicing Garten’s good name. Make no mistake; these parents are livid that the celebrity chef would have the gall to snub a dying kid… twice.
Some critics claim the reason Garten is being so heartless is that she does not have any children of her own, and that she has a notoriously bad relationship with her mother, so bad, according to reports, that the two severed all ties with one another years ago.
As for Garten, she has yet to respond to the brouhaha, but the Make-A-Wish Foundation did. The group sent a memo to TMZ.com stressing that Garten is a “good friend” of the foundation. A representative for Garten told the site: “Despite her demanding schedule, [Ina] participates and helps as many organizations as she can throughout the year, helping children and adults like Enzo with life threatening and compromising illnesses. … Unfortunately, as much as she would like to, it’s absolutely impossible for her to grant every request she receives.”
Are you buying that?
Neither is Food Network celebrity chefs, Michael Symon and Beau MacMillan. After hearing about Enzo’s plight, Garten’s colleagues reportedly reached out to the sick boy.
According to TMZ, MacMillan, who is the father of a young son, offered to fly Enzo and his entire family out to Arizona, put them up in a luxury hotel and treat them to a VIP dinner at his five-star restaurant with the boy serving as sous chef.
Meanwhile, Iron Chef Symon, who incidentally has no children, but apparently still has a heart, told TMZ that he’ll be in Enzo’s home state of Oregon very soon and would be more than happy to “cook a dish” with the boy.
Naturally, the burning of Garten reputation begs the question: Is the celebrity cook being unfairly vilified? What’s more, is she obligated as a TV star to accommodate requests like Enzo’s… and does being a parent mean you are more apt to grant a child’s dying wish?