Bethenny Frankel is no fan of Harry Hamlin‘s recently released pasta sauce.
After the 54-year-old Real Housewives of New York City alum received a jar of Harry’s Famous Rosemary Red Wine pasta sauce, she conducted a blind taste test against Rao’s. And while she found that Rao’s tasted “nice,” she complained about the flavor of Harry’s product, describing it as “not good.”
“I don’t like that. It tastes like vinegar or wine or something,” she explained. “It’s rosemary red wine, but I don’t know that the world needed that.”
Realizing that she was being overly critical about the sauce Harry, 73, created, Bethenny admitted, “I’m so sorry.” She then asked, “Why’d you send it?”
She then noted that Harry would likely “rather have a friend” tell him that his sauce wasn’t up to par “than hear it from a bunch of strangers.”
“This cannot represent Harry and Lisa. It can’t,” Bethenny continued.
Following the review, however, Bethenny was met with criticism from many who felt that she didn’t give Harry’s sauce a fair chance.
Amelia Gray Hamlin, 23, who Harry shares with his wife, Lisa Rinna, 61, formerly of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, told the RHONY alum, “Wait you gotta cook it.” Another TikTok user said Bethenny’s assessment wasn’t a “good taste test” because it needed to be warmed up and served over pasta.
“When I smelled it just now it was very strong in red wine flavor. Maybe it cooks down and it’s raw in the jar. I don’t know. I didn’t think that would be the case but we’re gonna do it again,” Bethenny said as she returned to social media, taking Amelia and the fan’s considerations into account.
But unfortunately for Harry, Bethenny was even more disgusted with his sauce once it was heated.
“Oh my god — it’s worse,” she stated. “The wine is so strong it tastes like I’m eating a glass of not-great red wine, so you screwed it worse. It’s not good. We’re trying not to be mean. Like, we’re actually sorry. We’re sorry. It’s not okay. Sorry. This not even a close call.”
In a third video, Bethenny defended her take on the sauce.
“I’ve seen pretty much every problem in business, so I know hard it is, and that is why if you send something to me, I am going to review it live and direct,” she explained. “Don’t send it if you don’t want an honest review because this is not about celebrities sending me products, and I’m nice to them because I know them. It’s one size fits all. Send or don’t send. That’s what you get.”
Although Bethenny won’t be indulging in Harry’s sauce anytime soon, she encouraged her fans and followers to give the product a try as she expressed hope that Harry would change the recipe.
“Buy that red wine sauce so you can try for yourself, and see that I’m always going to be honest and also drive up sales, and they will reformulate that skew. And hopefully, there are others I can try as well because Harry Hamlin is a good cook, and what he makes in his house is not what was formulated, co-packed, and put onto those shelves. That I can guarantee,” she concluded.
Bethenny Frankel was featured in a full-time role on The Real Housewives of New York City from season one to season three and season seven through season 11.
