Martha Stewart, the Patron Saint of Gen Z Perfectionists
In a new era of nostalgia and aesthetics, Martha Stewart is finding a fresh audience among Gen Z enthusiasts. One TikTok creator, Noah, shared his admiration for her legacy while sitting outside a Barnes & Noble, eager to find her iconic book.
“She’s kind of been a staple in our house as long as I can remember. My mom always had her playing in the background growing up, as a kid. And I remember, I watched her documentary recently, and I tried searching for her book ‘Entertaining.’ And it skyrocketed in price. So I’m really happy that she’s reissuing it and I can finally get my hands on it. So let’s go check it out, see if they have it.”
The source of this excitement is Martha Stewart’s 1982 classic Entertaining, written when she was still an acclaimed caterer. The book stood out as both a cookbook and an elegant coffee table piece, bursting with color and extravagance. In an age when most cookbooks—even those by well-known chefs like Julia Child—were printed in black and white, Entertaining appeared grand and glossy, priced at a bold $35. It forecasted the opulent ambitions of the decade to come.
Across its 300 recipes and 450 photographs, Entertaining captured Stewart’s vision of perfect hosting, complete with elaborate menus and striking table arrangements. Her events ranged from Hawaiian luaus for 20 guests to midnight omelette parties for 30, setting a new bar for home celebration and lifestyle branding. Decades later, her influence continues to shape the aspirations of a new digital generation.
Author’s Summary
Martha Stewart’s reissued Entertaining resonates with Gen Z, who see her 1980s vision of elegance and ambition as both nostalgic and inspiring for today’s creative hosts.