Unless you are a hardcore foodie, the name “Ina Garten” may not mean anything to you. Of course, Barefoot Contessa probably rings a bell. Ina Garten is better known as Barefoot Contessa, one of the Food Network’s most popular celebrity chefs. Her show, Barefoot Contessa, also happens to be one of their longest running shows (only Good Eats has been on longer).
While you may know Ina for her delicious meals that tend to focus on French cuisine there is probably quite a bit you don’t know about her. From what you will never see her doing to why she doesn’t have children, her are 5 things you didn’t know about Ina Garten.
1. She is a stickler for following recipes.
While many culinary experts cook from memory and wing it when it comes to measurements, Ina is not one of them. Instead, she follows the directions laid out in her cookbook. She has said, “I’m a science person. I measure everything.”
2. You will never see her endorsing products.
It’s not unusual to see celebrity chefs endorsing all types of cookware, cutlery and knives, and dinnerware. After all, you’ve got Giada De Laurentiis for Target, Gordon Ramsey for Royal Doulton, and Emeril Lagasse’s Cutlery Line, just to name a few. You can even find Martha Stewart endorsing clothes, linens, and much more for Macy’s. Barefoot Contessa flat out refuses to endorse products. In an interview with Food Network, she said, “I’ve been asked to do everything from dining tables to clothing – who would want me to do their clothing? – to soy sauce.” She always declines.
3. Her career started in the White House and had nothing to do with food.
Before purchasing Barefoot Contessa, a specialty food shop in the Hamptons in 1978, Ina worked in The White House Office of Management and Budget under Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. She served as a budget analyst with a focus on nuclear energy policies. In fact, one of her primary responsibilities was writing the nuclear energy budget.
4. She can fly you anywhere you need to go, but she probably won’t.
While her husband, Jeffrey, served a 4-year tour in Vietnam, Ina stayed behind in North Carolina, where made every effort to keep her mind off the fact Jeffrey was fighting in a war. In addition to working on her culinary skills, Ina got her pilot’s license. However, she admits that she has not actually flown a plane in decades. In fact, she hasn’t flown since her practice days in North Carolina.
5. There is a reason she does not have children.
Despite a 48-year marriage to the man she has referred to as “the love of my life,” Barefoot Contessa does not have children. She admitted in an early 2017 appearance on the Katie Couric Podcast that this was a conscious decision the couple made together.
She said, “I really appreciate that other people do, and we will always have friends that have children that we are close to, but it was a choice I made very early. I really felt — I feel — that I would have never been able to have the life I’ve had. And so it’s a choice, and that was the choice I made.” It’s a decision that she has never regretted.
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