The Portland Press Herald reports that Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, will headline two fundraisers in Portland for Eliot Cutler, independent candidate for Maine governor. The two fundraisers, a private reception and a public lunch, will take place on July 30th at 58 Fore St., The Portland Company complex. Here is an excerpt from the story:
Before she became a culinary celebrity, Garten worked for Cutler in the Carter administration. Garten was a nuclear-energy policy analyst and Cutler was an associate director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The two became friends, Cutler said. He had about 300 people reporting to him in the Office of Management and Budget, he said, and Garten was one of about 10 women.
“She was smart as hell and funny. We got to be friends. I got to know her and her husband, Jeff,” said Cutler.
Cutler said that about six months before he left the Office of Management and Budget, Garten resigned from her job. She told Cutler that she was moving to Long Island in New York and buying a small food shop.
You can read the full article here.