Did Ina Garten Ever Have Her Own Restaurant?

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Celebrity chef Ina Garten has a long list of accomplishments. This includes hosting her own Food Network television show, “Barefoot Contessa,” publishing several bestselling cookbooks, and writing columns for popular home magazines such as Martha Stewart Living. A more recent accomplishment is Garten’s “Be Ready When The Luck Happens: A Memoir” becoming a New York Times Bestseller. She’s carried the Barefoot Contessa nickname and grown her brand for decades, providing budget-friendly cooking tips for making comforting, classic meals at home. It stands to reason that the professional cook would have her own restaurant to share her expertly prepared meals. However, this is one endeavor she has not undertaken.

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. She purchased the store having no experience in the food business — she simply sought a more creative position than the one she held in the White House Office of Management and Budget. The reason Garten sold her Barefoot Contessa store is discussed in her memoir, but the store’s concept (and particularly its name) gave her a terrific start in the culinary world and helped shape her immensely successful brand.

Read more: Gordon Ramsay Constantly Praises One Cookware Brand, And You Should Take Note

The Meaning Behind Barefoot Contessa

Ina Garten is commonly known as the Barefoot Contessa, but she didn’t create the name from nothing. In fact, her store was named Barefoot Contessa before she purchased it. During an author luncheon in 2021 (via Business Insider), Garten revealed that the original store owner named it Barefoot Contessa because her family had called her that as a child. The nickname is derived from the 1954 movie, “The Barefoot Contessa,” starring Ava Gardner and Humphrey Bogart.

Garten also said in the luncheon, “I actually thought it was a terrible name. Who calls a food store Barefoot Contessa?” She ultimately grew to like the name “because it’s about being elegant and earthy.” Elegant and earthy is indeed how she often describes her food, including her salmon roe deviled eggs or simple yet elegant hors d’oeuvres. While the name might have already been in play, the culinary celebrity has certainly put the work in to shape the Barefoot Contessa into the food business empire it is today.

Read the original article on Chowhound.