Aside from the riches from her TV show, Garten has been a longtime bestselling author thanks to her 13 books (and counting). She's turned down offers for cookware lines and other branding deals, and honestly, we respect it—it's not like she needs the cash!
For almost twenty years, Garten ran a food store in the Hamptons called the Barefoot Contessa, which catered to vacationing New York and Hollywood élites; then, starting in 1999, she published a series of best-selling cookbooks and starred in a show on the Food Network which turned her into the beloved national figure ...
To this day, the couple still don't wear their wedding rings. Apparently they took them off a few years after their wedding in 1968, and never put them back on again. 6. Martha Stewart and Ina Garten had a hidden connection years before they ever became friends.
Ina Garten's Charming $4.5 Million East Hampton Estate Celebrity chef Ina Garten's $4.5 million East Hampton home perfectly reflects her love for simple, elegant design.
Garten then decided to discontinue her studies at Syracuse University and focused on cooking for her husband. However, Jeffrey pushed her to pursue her passions for business and cooking, and she later earned her degree from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
Registered in New York as a Democrat, Garten has contributed to the presidential campaign funds of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, and Barack Obama. In 2004, she hosted a benefit for Planned Parenthood.
Perhaps what food-loving fans do not know is where her career began. Garten isn't a culinary school grad or even a restaurateur, and in fact, her entry into the workforce had nothing to do with food at all. At one point early in her professional years, Garten was an employee of the U.S. government.
Don't miss the chance to drive past Ina Garten's East Hampton home, at 23 Buell Ln, East Hampton.
Several years ago, Garten built a second kitchen in a barn on her property so she could have somewhere to film episodes of Barefoot Contessa (she told Oprah Daily all about it in 2021). But Garten's home kitchen, where she still cooks meals for friends and family, has remained untouched for 25 years—at least until now.
In August 2016, Garten reportedly purchased a swanky apartment in New York City's Manhattan borough. The $4.65 million pad is in the Upper East Side neighborhood, just steps from Central Park, and has two bedrooms, a few cozy fireplaces, a library, a large living room and, of course, a luxe kitchen.
Indeed, the Princess has been making her return to public duties with some quieter, more personal events, and she may feel that the grandiose ring is unsuitable for, say, meeting fellow cancer patients at Windsor, or offering a compassionate ear to the families of the Southport attacks.
It's no coincidence. In fact, it's actually her preferred uniform. While most of us wear an apron while we cook, or maybe a have a few shirts we don't mind getting messy in the garden, Ina prefers to throw on some oversized denim.
Ina Garten revealed she had a brief separation period from her husband. In an excerpt from her memoir,Be Ready When Luck Happens, the 76-year-old celebrity chef detailed a difficult time in her marriage in which she “hit the pause button” and separated from her husband Jeffrey.
In November, Garten told BBC News that her childhood was the largest factor in her decision against having children. "It was nothing I wanted to re-create," she told the publication. "And I'm always looking forward to look back and realized a lot of my decisions were based on my childhood.
While Ina Garten has never had her own restaurant, she did own and operate a specialty food store called Barefoot Contessa from the late 1970s to 1996.
Barefoot Contessa, the 400-square-foot shop in Westhampton Beach, New York, that Garten purchased in 1978, closed more than two decades ago -- she actually sold the business in the mid-'90s.
“My friend Bobby Flay is here spending the entire day with me, which is so great,” Garten starts, smiling at Flay across the table. “I don't really need to introduce him because everybody knows who he is.”
Per her website, she likes her hot cereal with a little butter and maple syrup, which are definitely tasty toppings for a better breakfast. While those toppings are pretty conventional, the appliance she uses to cook her oatmeal is anything but, for a chef. The cookbook author revealed she uses her microwave.
Ina Learned Everything She Knows From Julia Child
Without a formal culinary education, she says, "Julia Child was my cooking school."
Ina Garten is opening the doors to one of her favorite rooms in her New York City apartment! The Barefoot Contessa star, 76, detailed some of the design elements in her Upper East Side abode during an interview for House Beautiful's October 2024 digital cover story.
Garten has been married to the former Ina Rosenberg since 1968. Ina Garten hosts Food Network's Barefoot Contessa, for which she has won six Emmy Awards. She has also written thirteen best-selling cookbooks, including Cooking for Jeffrey in 2016. Garten and his wife live in East Hampton, New York.
Fun Fact #1: She's not a chef
Rachael doesn't like to call herself a chef. This is simply because she hasn't received any professional culinary training as most chefs do.
Celebrity chefs such as Ina Garten, Gordon Ramsay, and Rachael Ray didn't go to culinary school.