Ina Garten — known affectionately and to most of the world as the Barefoot Contessa — is an accomplished chef, a James Beard Award winner, a Food Network host, a winner of multiple Emmy awards and an author of more than a dozen books. Her highly successful shows, which have appeared on Food Network and the Cooking Channel, include her namesake series The Barefoot Contessa, as well as the spinoff Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics and her latest series Be My Guest With Ina Garten. Ina's easy and accessible style, affable demeanor and warm, endearing smile have all contributed to her becoming widely known as one of America's most trusted and beloved chefs.

History and Background

Ina was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Florence and Charles Rosenberg and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. Her father was a surgeon specializing in otolaryngology, and her mother worked as a dietitian. Ina attended Rippowam High School in Stamford, where she excelled in science, instilling in her a scientific mindset that she has said she would later put to use as she began developing her culinary skills.

After high school, she attended Syracuse University, majoring in economics, and later transferred to North Carolina State. She additionally received an MBA from the George Washington School of Business.

Who Is Ina's Husband?

Ina first met Jeffrey Garten — the man who would later become her husband — when she was 15 and on a trip to Dartmouth College to visit her older brother, who was a student there. As Ina told Food Network Magazine, it was a serendipitous meet-cute encounter that would ultimately be life-changing and, at least from Jeffrey's perspective, was a love-at-first-sight situation.

Here's how it happened: As a freshman undergrad studying in the Dartmouth library, Jeffrey was gazing out of the window when he spotted Ina walking on campus and commented to his roommate, "Look at that girl. Isn't she beautiful?" In fact, his roommate knew exactly who she was — since he had a date with her later that night. Things didn't work out with the roommate, but Jeffrey had taken notice. Long story short, Ina and Jeffrey married at Ina's parents' house in 1968 and have remained together to this day.

After getting married, the couple moved to Fort Bragg near Fayetteville, North Carolina, where Jeffrey began a four-year stint in the Army. It was during these years that Ina began honing her at-home cooking skills, hosting frequent dinner parties and picking up some advanced techniques from Julia Child's classic tome Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The couple moved to Washington, DC, in 1972. Jeffrey continued his graduate-level education, working on a PhD at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies while also working at the US State Department. Ina completed her MBA and took a job working for the Federal Power Commission and later (wait for it!) the White House in the Office of Management and Budget, where she was an analyst working on the nation's federal nuclear power budget. She served as a staff member with the White House during both the Ford and Carter administrations.

A Very Big Career Shift

Even while working full time, Ina and Jeffrey continued their tradition of hosting elaborate dinner parties for their friends in DC. "People still talk about her parties," Jeffrey later told Food Network Magazine. "They were legendary."

Ina's professional career in the government, though high in profile, wasn't personally satisfying. ''My job in Washington was intellectually exciting and stimulating," she later told The New York Times, "but it wasn't me at all.''

Then in 1978, with Jeffrey's support and encouragement, Ina decided to purchase a specialty food store in the Hamptons. The name of the shop was The Barefoot Contessa, originally named for the classic 1954 film starring Ava Gardner and Humphrey Bogart. Ina decided to keep the name, and it stuck — perhaps more so than she likely knew at the time. It was another life-altering decision, one that would eventually evolve into the authoring of best-selling cookbooks and a much-celebrated career in food and lifestyle television.

Ina's Collection of Cookbooks

After Ina had been running her specialty food shop for 18 years, she decided to try something new: She sold the shop to two of her employees. Later, and once again with Jeffrey's encouragement, she put together a proposal for a cookbook. As she told Epicurious, it took her two years to complete the book and another year to test the recipes. The product of that hard work became The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, published in 1999, and the start of a prolific career in writing. The first printing of 25,000 sold out immediately and, in just its first year following publication, it sold 100,000. It was followed up in short order by a second title, Barefoot Contessa Parties! (2001), and a third, Barefoot Contessa Family Style (2002). Ina has now published 13 cookbooks, as well as her best-selling memoir. Here's the list:

• The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (1999)
• Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun (2001)
• Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family (2002)
• Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home (2004)
• Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again (2006)
• Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor From Simple Ingredients (2008)
• Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That? (2010)
• Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust (2012)
• Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (2014)
• Cooking for Jeffrey: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (2016)
• Cook Like a Pro: Recipes and Tips for Home Cooks (2018)
• Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (2020)
• Go-To Dinners: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (2022)
• Be Ready When the Luck Happens (2024)

According to The New York Times, cumulatively, her cookbooks have sold more than 14 million copies.

Want more info on Ina's books? You can find it in the "Books" section of Ina's website.

Ina's Entry Into Food and Fame

Also in 1999, Ina began writing a regular column, "Entertaining Is Fun!" for Martha Stewart Living magazine. She also had a popular advice column in House Beautiful titled "Ask the Barefoot Contessa" and has been a contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine. She also writes a column for Food Network Magazine.

In 2002, Ina's first television series, The Barefoot Contessa, filmed in her East Hampton home, premiered on Food Network. She has continued to film on location at her home, frequently in a studio space on the property known to fans and guests simply as "The Barn."

According to the website Tasting Table, Ina has since been the recipient of three separate James Beard Awards: twice for Outstanding Personality/Host (2014 and 2015) and once for Best Television Program (2018). She has additionally been nominated eight times for other Beard awards, including in the "Entertaining and Special Occasions" category. She has also won five Emmys: for Outstanding Culinary Host (2009, 2010, 2017 and 2012) and for Outstanding Culinary Series (2024).

Ina's Best Cooking Tips

Food Network Shows and Appearances

Following its 2002 Food Network debut, The Barefoot Contessa was an immediate success both critically and in terms of viewership, quickly becoming one of the network's most highly rated programs and bringing in around 1 million viewers with each new episode. The original series ran for 19 years from 2002 through 2021 for a total of 344 episodes, including holiday specials and the updated/rebranded version of the show, The Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics.

In her follow-up series, Be My Guest With Ina Garten, which premiered in 2022, Ina entertains and interviews friends, both old and new, including some of the most famous, fascinating and entertaining people from throughout popular culture — famous chefs, A-list celebs, authors, actors, musicians and more.

Recent noteworthy guests have included Stephen Colbert, Norah Jones, author Ann Patchett, actor Nathan Lane, The Lost Kitchen restaurateur Erin French, broadcast journalist Willie Geist and others.

Ina has also appeared on other Food Network shows such as Beat Bobby Flay, Food Network Star and Chefography.

Keep Up With Ina

Interested in keeping up with Ina and all of her Food Network shows, recipes and activities? Check out Ina's Barefoot Contessa website, as well as her Instagram, Substack, and Facebook pages and the Be My Guest show page on FoodNetwork.com.