Ina Garten

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Ina Garten

Ina Garten in her East Hampton garden.
Born	February 2, 1948 Brooklyn, New York
Cooking style	New England, French
Education	Syracuse University* George Washington University
Restaurants	Barefoot Contessa Fine Foods** East Hampton, New York
TV Show(s)	Barefoot Contessa
*Did not graduate **Gourmet market, now closed

Ina Rosenberg Garten (born February 2, 1948) is  an American chef, former caterer, cookbook author, columnist, and  host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa. Known for demystifying fine cuisine with an  emphasis on quality ingredients and  timesaving tips, she has been championed by Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, and  Patricia Wells as an  authority on cooking and  home entertaining.

Garten had no formal training; she taught herself culinary techniques 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, of Eli's Manhattan and  Eli's Breads fame, and  domestic maven Stewart. Among her hallmark dishes are  cœur à la crème, celery root remoulade, pear clafouti, and  a simplified version of bœuf bourguignon. Her culinary career began with her gourmet food store, Barefoot Contessa; Garten parlayed this success into a string of best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded convenience foods, and  a popular Food Network television show.

The consistent use of the original store name through Garten's books, television show, and  product line has led fans to refer to her as simply "the Contessa".

[ and  career">edit] Early history and  career

Born in Brooklyn, New York and  raised in Stamford, Connecticut, Garten was the second of two children born to Charles H. Rosenberg, a surgeon specializing in otolaryngology, and  his wife, Florence.^[1] Strongly encouraged to excel in school, she showed an  aptitude for science and  often won top honors in local science fairs. Garten's mother, an  intellectual with an  interest in opera, refused her daughter's requests to assist her in the kitchen and  instead directed her to concentrate on schoolwork. Garten described her father as a lively individual with many friends, and  has commented that she shares more  characteristics with him than with her mother.^{[citation needed]} At 15, she met her future husband, Jeffrey Garten, on a trip to visit her brother at Dartmouth College.^[1] After a year of exchanging letters, they began dating. After high school, she attended Syracuse University with plans to study fashion design, but chose to change her major to economics. Shortly thereafter, she abandoned her educational pursuits to marry and  did not obtain a degree.

On December 22, 1968, Rosenberg and  Garten were married in Stamford [1], and  they soon relocated to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. At this time, she began to dabble in cooking and  small-scale entertaining in an  effort to occupy her time while her husband served his four-year military tour as a paratrooper during the Vietnam War; she also acquired her pilot's license, according to an  interview she gave to the Raleigh News & Observer^[2]. After completing his tour, the couple journeyed to Paris, France for a three-month camping vacation that Garten has described as the birth of her love for French cuisine, though initially, she has said, the first thing she ever made after her marriage was challah [2]. During this trip, she experienced open-air markets, produce stands, and  fresh cooking ingredients for the first time.^[3] Upon returning to the States, she began to cultivate her culinary abilities by studying the volumes of Julia Child's seminal cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.^[3] Her weekly dinner party tradition began taking shape during this time, and  she refined her home entertaining skills when she and  her husband moved to Washington, D.C. in 1972.

In Washington, Garten worked in the White House and  took business courses at George Washington University, eventually earning an  MBA, according to The New York Times,^[4] while her husband worked in the State Department and  completed his graduate studies. Originally employed as a low-level government aide, she climbed the political ladder and  was assigned the position of  and  Budget">budget analyst, which entailed writing the nuclear energy budget and  policy papers on nuclear centrifuge plants for then-Presidents Gerald Ford and  Jimmy Carter.^[5][6] 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  soirees at her home on the weekends. Meanwhile, she was buying, refurbishing, and  reselling ("flipping") homes in the Dupont Circle and  Kalorama neighborhoods.^[5] The funds from these sales gave Garten the means to make her next purchase, the Barefoot Contessa specialty food emporium.

[edit] Barefoot Contessa

[edit] Barefoot Contessa store

Garten left her government job in 1978 after spotting an  ad for a specialty food store in Westhampton Beach called Barefoot Contessa. "My job in Washington was intellectually exciting and  stimulating but it  wasn't me at all," she told The New York Times four years later.^[7] She made a hasty decision to purchase the store after traveling to view it, and  moved to New York to assume ownership and  management. The store had been named by its original owner in tribute to the 1954 film starring Ava Gardner; Garten kept the name when she took over, as it  meshed well with her idea of an  "elegant but earthy" lifestyle.^[8] (It is  a movie that Garten, however, still has not seen, according to an  interview she gave to the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 2006.)^[9]

After a month of training with the original owner, she took over full ownership and  management of the shop. Barefoot Contessa became extremely successful in short order, bolstered by Garten's sophisticated but simple dishes, self-branded line of gourmet coffees (manufactured by Eli Zabar), and  party catering services.

Storefront of Barefoot Contessa at 46 Newtown Lane in East Hampton, New York, now defunct

While doing much of the cooking herself, she employed local chefs and  bakers as the business grew, including Anna Pump (who later established the Loaves & Fishes bakery and  Bridgehampton Inn). Within a year, she had moved Barefoot Contessa across the street from its original location to a larger property. However, it  soon outgrew this new location; in 1985, she relocated the store to the newly-vacated premises of gourmet shop Dean & DeLuca in the prosperous Long Island village of East Hampton. East Hampton was a year-round community in contrast to Westhampton's beach season atmosphere, and  provided a larger, wealthier demographic.

At East Hampton, she expanded the emporium from its original 400 square feet (37 square meters) to over 3,000 (278 square meters), over seven times its original size. In this new, larger space, the store specialized in delicacies such as lobster Cobb salad, caviar, imported cheeses, and  locally grown produce. The store quickly became a landmark gathering place for the affluent New York town, to such a point that, in 2003, director Nancy Meyers chose to use the store as one of the settings for the Jack Nicholson-Diane Keaton film Something's Gotta Give.^[10] The shop was also praised in the press by celebrity clientele such as Steven Spielberg and  Lauren Bacall. In 1996, after two decades of owning and  operating, Garten again  found herself seeking a change; she sold the store to two employees, Amy Forst and  Parker Hodges. Unsure of what career step to take after selling the store, she took a six-month sabbatical from the culinary scene and  built offices above the shop. There, she studied the stock market and  attempted to sketch out plans for potential business ventures. Her website, Barefoot Contessa, became high-profile at this time as she began offering her coffees and  a few other items for purchase online.

The store was permanently closed in 2004, when the lease expired on the property and  negotiations failed between Garten (the owner of the building in which Barefoot Contessa was housed) and  the new owners.^[11] it  has been reported that her refusal to meet lease negotiations was actually a method of reclaiming control of the store after Forst and  Hodges lost business to Citarella, a new competitor.^[12] Ultimately, she did not reopen the shop, and  instead retained the property for potential new tenants.

[edit] Barefoot Contessa cookbooks

Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Under the guidance of her husband, Garten reemerged in 1999 with her attention turned to the publishing industry. She carried on with the Barefoot Contessa name in her 1999 sleeper bestseller, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Filled with the recipes that made her store successful, the book far exceeded both Garten's and  publisher Clarkson Potter's expectations. After an  initial pressing of 35,000 copies, a typical number for a debut cookbook, it  immediately required second and  third print runs and  eventually sold over 100,000 copies in its first year.^[13] In 2001, she capitalized on her new-found fame and  released Barefoot Contessa Parties!, which also produced high sales and  garnered good reviews, and  followed this with Barefoot Contessa Family Style in 2002. The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and  Parties! were nominated for 2000 and  2002 James Beard Awards, in the Entertaining & Special Occasion Cookbooks category. Parties! was a surprise entry, as she was considered inexperienced and  untrained to compete with fellow nominees, revered French chef Jacques Pépin and  international wine expert Brian St. Pierre.

Her cookbooks depart from the usual encyclopedic format most culinary tomes follow, and  are instead modeled after coffee table books. Filled with color photography, with a facing full-page picture for each recipe, detractors sometimes criticize this method as it  leaves less  room for recipes, particularly at the comparatively steep MSRP of $35 each. Nevertheless, her cookbooks have  received overall positive reviews; fellow chef Giada De Laurentiis recently named Garten as one of her favorite authors.^[14] As of 2004, Garten's first three cookbooks combined had sold over 1 million copies.^[15]

[edit] Barefoot Contessa on Food Network

See also: Barefoot Contessa

Not long after the success of The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and  Barefoot Contessa Parties!, Garten was approached by Food Network with an  offer to host her own television cooking show. She rejected this proposal several times, until the London-based production company responsible for the popular Nigella Bites was assigned to the deal. She acquiesced to a 13-show season, and  Barefoot Contessa premiered in 2002 to a positive reception. The program focuses on hearty, guest-oriented food, and  Food Network found a popular hostess in the "calm, Rubenesque" Garten.^[16] The press began comparing her television presence to that of her mentor, Martha Stewart, but with a softer edge and  more nurturing, comforting manner. Barefoot Contessa has approximately 1 million viewers tuned in per episode, and  has posted some of Food Network's highest ratings.^[1][17] In 2005, the show was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of Best Service Show.^[18]

[edit] Barefoot Contessa Pantry

Barefoot Contessa Pantry

In 2006, Garten launched her own line of packaged mixes, marinades, sauces, and  preserves, branded as Barefoot Contessa Pantry, in conjunction with Stonewall Kitchen. These convenience foods are  based on her most popular from-scratch recipes, such as coconut cupcakes, maple oatmeal scones, mango chutney, and  lemon curd. Pricing of these items is  comparatively expensive (for example, the suggested retail price for a single box of brownie mix is  ten dollars) and  they are  only sold through upscale cookware and  gourmet shops such as Crate & Barrel and  Chicago's Fox & Obel Market Cafe. She plans to expand this brand in the near future if the first line of products is  successful.^{[citation needed]}

[ and  rise to fame">edit] Influences and  rise to fame

[ and  Eli Zabar">edit] Martha Stewart and  Eli Zabar

Stewart played a large role in the early development of Garten's career, championing her store, recipes, and  home décor, going as far as to feature both Garten's home and  one of her bakery confections on 1998 and  2001 covers of her popular magazine, Martha Stewart Living. After years of being friends and  co-workers, however, the two women became bitter rivals when Stewart attempted to take credit for one of Garten's recipes. They have  reportedly mended their relationship; Stewart wrote a foreword for The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, and  Garten penned several columns on entertaining and  cooking for Stewart's magazine. Stewart's sister, Laura Plimpton, has also been featured as a party guest on Barefoot Contessa.

Garten has credited Eli Zabar with the inspiration of her main cooking method, in which "all you have  to do is  cook to enhance the ingredients."^[19] Under his tutelage, she refined her signature style of using high quality ingredients to reinvent and  simplify classic recipes, with an  emphasis on the natural flavors of foods. Zabar is  famed for his gourmet market, bakery, and  restaurants on New York City's Upper East Side, along with his rooftop greenhouse gardening design [3]. He often is  seen as a guest on Garten's Food Network show. She frequently recommends his baked goods and  produce to her viewers and  has filmed a segment on location at his flagship store, Eli's Vinegar Factory. Throughout her cookbooks, she promotes his retail products and  has even included her take on some of Zabar's most popular recipes, such as shortbread cookies.

[edit] Road to stardom

In 1997, celebrity chefs and  television cooking shows began to rise in popularity, driven in part by the high-profile success of Emeril Lagasse and  his Emeril Live. Around this time, Food Network began capitalizing on the renewed interest in gourmet foods and  cooking, and  extended its reach with new shows and  tie-in products. Martha Stewart also launched her television shows and  accompanying magazines, cookbooks, and  product lines. Periodicals such as Gourmet and  Bon Appétit saw a dramatic increase in subscriptions at this time. In this wave of renewed food appreciation, Garten quietly established herself with her cookbooks and  appearances on Stewart's show, and  then moved into the forefront in 2002 with the debut of her Food Network program.

When Stewart was incarcerated in 2004 on charges connected with insider trading, the press began singling out Garten as the rising grande dame of the domestic arts.^[20] After much critical acclaim and  high sales of her first three cookbooks, she went on to write the best-selling Barefoot in Paris and  several columns for O, The Oprah Magazine. She also serves as the entertaining, cooking, and  party planning consultant for the magazine. House Beautiful, a shelter magazine, features a monthly Garten column entitled "Ask the Barefoot Contessa." In this column, she doles out cooking, entertaining, and  lifestyle tips in response to letters sent in by her readers.^[21] She launched a small line of note cards and  journals to complement her books, and  wrote the forewords for Kathleen King's Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook and  Rori Trovato's Dishing With Style. One of her signature recipes, lemon roast chicken with croutons, was featured in The Best American Recipes 2005-2006. Another of Garten's dishes was selected for Today's Kitchen Cookbook, a compilation of the most popular recipes featured on the daily news program The Today Show.

In 2005, she announced that she had signed a three-year contract with Food Network to continue her cooking show, and  will release two more  cookbooks following Barefoot Contessa at Home. Garten was reportedly awarded the most lucrative contract for a culinary author to date, signing a multimillion dollar deal for multiple books.^[22] She has also been approached several times to develop her own branded magazine, line of furniture, set of signature cookware, and  chain of boutiques (reminiscent of Stewart's Omnimedia), but has declined these offers, stating she has no interest in further complicating her life. Between 2004 and  2005, Barefoot in Paris sold almost 400,000 copies and  rose to the #11 slot on the New York Times bestseller list.^[23]

Her sporadic public appearances and  book signings usually command large audiences, with her signings (usually held in upscale bookstores or  cookware shops) garnering crowds of 500 or  more.^[5] When she launched her Barefoot Contessa Pantry product line in early 2006, the projected turnout was 300 people for the small Fox & Obel Market. Instead, close to 2,000 fans appeared hoping to sample the new line and  meet briefly with Garten. In October of 2006, Garten launched a book tour of 13 states in support of Barefoot Contessa at Home, her most expansive publicity effort to date.

[edit] Personal life

[ and  opinions">edit] Politics and  opinions

Garten is  believed to be pro-choice, since she served as hostess of the 16th Annual Hudson Peconic benefit for Planned Parenthood, an  organization focused on reproductive issues and  women's health. However, she has never made any direct statement about her stance on this issue. She is  also considered somewhat of a gay icon by many fans, as her Food Network show frequently features appearances by openly gay men and  their partners.^{[citation needed]} Though she has made no explicit statement regarding gay rights or  the gay community in general, she did write in one of her books:

"...we all know that families now aren't necessarily like  and  Harriet">Ozzie and  Harriet (it turns out Ozzie and  Harriet's family wasn't all Ozzie and  Harriet)... family has a traditional context, but today it's not as simple as two parents with 2.3 kids... it's about relationships... it's about people who are  bound together by love and  a sense of being responsible for one another... it's spouses with no children, like Jeffrey and  me... it's a group of women who meet to cook dinner together once a month... it's a one-parent family with adopted children... it's two men who've made a life together... at the end of the day, all we have  is love... getting love, but even more, feeling love..."^[24]

Registered in New York as a Democrat, Garten has contributed to the presidential campaign funds of George Bush, Sr., Bill Clinton, and  John Kerry.^[25] Garten also sits on the Design Review Board for East Hampton, a panel that grants building permissions and  approves architectural and  design elements of the village. The board seeks to protect the historical district and  further the overall aesthetics of the area.^[26]

[ and  marriage">edit] Family, religion, and  marriage

Ina Garten at a San Francisco book signing

Garten is  known to guard her privacy closely, giving few interviews and  declining to take part in Food Network charities and  activities. Her family of origin is  shielded almost completely from the spotlight; unlike her friends and  colleagues, they are  not featured on Barefoot Contessa. However, her road to fame and  personal life were recently explored in the Food Network series Chefography, an  hour-long documentary similar to the A&E program Biography. The show featured candid interviews with her husband, close friends, and  former clients. No members of her family of origin were interviewed for Chefography.

Garten is  Jewish by birth and  heritage, as is  her husband, but rarely references her religion and  ethnicity. it  is showcased only through the inclusion of classic Jewish cooking in her television show and  cookbooks, when she makes such dishes as rugelach, challah, and  brisket. The level of influence that her Judaism plays in her life is  unclear, although it  is known that she does not keep kosher.

Her husband, Jeffrey Garten, 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, where they purchased an  apartment in 2003 (she has filmed an  episode of her cooking show there).^[3]

[edit] Works

[edit] Books

• 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)

[edit] Magazine columns

• "Entertaining is  Fun!" (Martha Stewart Living 1999-present)
• "Entertaining." (O, The Oprah Magazine 2003-present)
• "Ask the Barefoot Contessa." (House Beautiful 2006-present)

[edit] Television

• From Martha's Kitchen: Ina Garten's Kitchen Clambake (2000)
• Barefoot Contessa (2002-present)
• Chefography (2006)

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Barefoot Contessa Online
• Barefoot Contessa on The Food Network
• Barefoot Contessa Pantry at Stonewall Kitchen
• Ask the Barefoot Contessa in House Beautiful
• Ina Garten on the Internet Movie Database
• Beef Bourguignon recipe on The Food Network
• Celery Root Remoulade recipe on The Food Network
• Cœur à la Crème recipe on The Food Network
• Pear Clafouti recipe on The Food Network