Has Ina Garten Ever Owned A Restaurant?

Despite warming hearts and stomachs worldwide with her classic, "foolproof" recipes, Ina Garten— better known as the Barefoot Contessa— has never actually owned a restaurant. In fact, her journey to culinary stardom was notoriously unorthodox compared to other celebrity chefs who were formally trained and rose up the restaurant ranks.

After graduating college, Garten worked for the White House as a nuclear energy budget analyst under presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, all the while nurturing a passion for cooking inspired by Julia Child. In 1978, seeking a major career change, Garten impulsively purchased The Barefoot Contessa, a small specialty foods store in Westhampton Beach, New York. Within a few years, Garten was able to move the store to a much larger space in East Hampton, becoming an iconic mainstay of the locale for many years.

Though she never operated a sit-down restaurant, Garten did serve prepared foods to plenty of satisfied customers at the Barefoot Contessa shop, including celebrity clientele like Steven Spielberg. According to the Barefoot Contessa website, Garten spent 18 years "perfecting baguettes and chicken salad" at the store, along with a bevy of other pastries, salads, and plussed-up homey dishes.

Even though she never went to culinary school or worked in a restaurant kitchen, Ina Garten became famous for her hearty, easy to follow recipes following the release of her first cookbook in 1999. "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook" featured favorites from the store, like her pan-fried onion dip with a kick, or her moist, crack-resistant meatloaf.

Garten has gone on to release 13 cookbooks over the course of her career, including her most popular, "Barefoot Contessa: Foolproof." Her fame skyrocketed after 2002, when her Food Network show — also entitled "Barefoot Contessa," of course — premiered, featuring Garten's signature laid-back, luxurious style. The show ran for 20 years, making it one of Food Network's longest running programs, and Garten a household name.

While Garten sold her shop to two former employees in 1996 and never opened another store or restaurant, she has released some very limited food items in the decades since. Garten is notoriously picky about her business, having reportedly turned down offers in the past to endorse products, start a magazine, or develop a restaurant chain. But in 2006, she partnered with Stonewall Kitchen to launch a line of packaged pantry staples like cake mixes and sauces, and in 2013, she released a line of ready-to-eat frozen meals. However, these products were not widely available and the ventures were short-lived, meaning that the best way to enjoy Garten's recipes remains cooking them yourself.