commentary Why do we romanticize the pantry, but not the freezer? Senior Food Editor Published July 11, 2026 10:30AM (EDT) Blue retro freezer (brizmaker / Getty Images) I was born the same year the Food Network debuted, which sometimes makes me feel as if I cut my teeth on “The Barefoot Contessa” and its particular arrangement of fantasies: a perfected roast chicken, always somehow at the ready; a devoted husband, probably named Jeffrey; and, before all that, the original fantasy — owning a specialty food store like Ina Garten’s beloved shop at 46 Newtown Lane, the one that gave the show its name. There is an early photograph of Garten that I return to often. She is standing in front of The Barefoot Contessa with her dark hair coaxed into perky curls, wearing a matching aubergine button-do