Ina Garten is a Jewish American author and host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa. She is known for designing her recipes with an emphasis on fresh ingredients and time-saving tips.
Ina Rosenberg was born February 2, 1948, in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Stamford, Connecticut by her parents Charles H. and Florence Rosenberg. She attended Syracuse University, but postponed her studies to marry her husband, Jeffrey Garten, on December 22, 1968, and relocate to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Garten began to dabble in cooking and entertaining to occupy her time while her husband served his four-year military tour during the Vietnam War. After her husband completed his military service, the couple journeyed to Paris, France, where Garten experienced open-air markets, produce stands and fresh cooking ingredients for the first time and discovered her love for French cuisine. When she returned to the United States, she began cultivating her culinary abilities by studying the volumes of Julia Child's seminal cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
In 1972, Garten and her husband moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked in the White House and took business courses at George Washington University, eventually earning her MBA. Originally employed as a low-level government aide, she climbed the political ladder to the Office of Management and Budget and was assigned the position of budget analyst, which entailed writing the nuclear energy budget and policy papers on nuclear centrifuge plants for Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.
Strained by the pressures of her work and the serious, high-power setting of Washington, Garten once again turned to cooking and entertaining in her free time, constantly arranging dinner parties and soirées at her home on the weekends. Meanwhile, she worked on flipping homes in the Dupont Circle and Kalorama neighborhoods and used the profits to buy the Barefoot Contessa specialty food store.
Garten has no formal culinary training and she taught herself with the aid of French and New England cookbooks. Later, she relied on intuition and feedback from customers and friends to refine her recipes. She was mentored chiefly by Eli Zabar, owner of Eli's Manhattan and Eli's Breads, and food-show host and author Martha Stewart. Her culinary career began with her gourmet food store, Barefoot Contessa, then Garten expanded her activities to several best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded convenience products and a popular Food Network television show.
Garten is Jewish by birth and heritage, as is her husband, but rarely refers to her religion and ethnicity, though they are showcased through the inclusion of classic Jewish cooking in her television show and cookbooks, when she makes such dishes as rugelach, challah, and brisket.
Her husband, Jeffrey, went on to become the Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade and dean of the Yale School of Management. He is now the Juan Trippe Professor in the Practice of International Trade, Finance, and Business at Yale. He can also frequently be spotted on her cooking show, assisting his wife with menial tasks or sampling the dishes she has created. They divide their time between Manhattan, East Hampton, and Paris.
Sources: Wikipedia; Photo: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Therealbs2002
FAQs
In a new interview for Julia Louis-Dreyfus' podcast, Wiser Than Me, Garten admitted that it "wasn't a struggle at all" to decide against having children. "I had no interest in having children," she told Louis-Dreyfus. "I had a terrible childhood, and it was nothing I wanted to recreate.
Is Ina Garten Religious? ›
Garten is Jewish by birth and heritage, as is her husband, but rarely refers to her religion and ethnicity, though they are showcased through the inclusion of classic Jewish cooking in her television show and cookbooks, when she makes such dishes as rugelach, challah, and brisket.
What ethnicity is Ina Garten? ›
Born Ina Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, Garten was one of two children born to Charles H. Rosenberg, a surgeon specializing in otolaryngology, and his wife, Florence (née Rich), a dietitian.
Does Ina Garten have a college degree? ›
Ina Garten once worked in the White House and worked her way up, which eventually put her in charge of writing the nuclear budget for the United States. She also managed to earn her MBA from George Washington University at the same time. Despite her success, she decided she wanted a different life.
How rich is Ina Garten? ›
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Ina Garten's net worth in 2024 is estimated at $60 million. When combined with that of her husband Jeffrey, that amount is estimated at a whopping $120 million.
What did Ina Garten do before she became a chef? ›
For over 20 years, Ina Garten has shared her comforting and foolproof recipes with the world through her beloved cookbooks and "Barefoot Contessa" show. But before becoming a Food Network star, Garten wrote budgets at the White House and ran a Hamptons grocery store. Here's her incredible life story.
How much is Ina Garten's husband worth? ›
Ina husband, Jeffrey, is also a financial powerhouse. According to Celebritynetworth.com, Jeffrey is worth $100 million, mostly thanks to his former jobs as managing director of Lehman Brothers and Blackstone Group.
What does Ina Garten's husband Jeffrey do? ›
Currently, Jeffrey serves as the Dean Emeritus at the Yale School of Management and teaches courses on the global economy. According to his faculty page, prior to joining Yale, he worked for multiple White House administrations, served in the U.S. Army Special Forces and was a managing director on Wall Street.
What made Ina Garten famous? ›
In 2002 Food Network approached Ina Garten to do a cooking show based on her cookbooks and her love of entertaining. She was reluctant but decided to challenge herself to do 13 shows. Today her Emmy-winning cooking show, Barefoot Contessa, is one of the highest rated shows on Food Network.
Where do Ina and Jeffrey Garten live? ›
For years now, the couple has made their home base the Hamptons, where Ina Garten has continued writing her bestselling cookbooks while her husband, the former dean of the Yale School of Management, travels a few days each week to teach classes at the school.
One of those places was Washington, D.C., where Garten worked as a budget analyst for presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.
Did Ina Garten finish college? ›
Ina Garten dropped out of college after she married Jeffrey.
After they married, Ina and Jeffrey Garten settled in North Carolina after Jeffrey enlisted in the Army. Garten then decided to discontinue her studies at Syracuse University and focused on cooking for her husband.
Did Ina Garten want kids? ›
Ina Garten is opening up about her decision not to have kids. During a recent appearance on Julia Louis-Dreyfus' podcast "Wiser Than Me," the Food Network star got candid about having "no interest in having children" and how her husband Jeffrey Garten has been supportive of her choice.
How did Ina Garten get her name? ›
It was actually the previous owners who chose the name of the store, which she purchased in 1978. In the past, Garten has explained, "The former owner is Italian and her family called her the Barefoot Contessa when she was young."
Where was the Barefoot Contessa store? ›
BAREFOOT CONTESSA - CLOSED - Updated May 2024 - 46 Newtown Ln, East Hampton, New York - Specialty Food - Phone Number - Yelp.
