Ina Garten To Reveal Surprising Details Of Personal Life In New Memoir

Food Network star Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, will release a new memoir where she will reveal surprising details of both her personal and professional life to readers. She hopes to inspire other women to take a leap of faith with life and not always travel the safe path to happiness.

People Magazine reported that Ina announced on October 2 that she would be writing a memoir of her fascinating life thus far. The as-yet-unnamed title will be released in 2023.

“By finding a way to do what I love for a living – cooking – I’ve been fortunate to build a career that has not only been incredibly rewarding but has brought people together through the power of home cooking,” Ina said in a press release. “I hope my book will inspire readers to find their own unique story.”

Ina has previously touched on tidbits of her life in her 11 cookbooks and also, on her Food Network series The Barefoot Contessa, which has become one of the backbones of the network since 2002.

She credits the love of her husband of 50 years, Jeffrey, as part of her recipe for success, and revealed in her books that she didn’t initially start out as a chef. The couple, who met when Ina was a teenager and Jeffrey was in college, previously lived in Washington, D.C., where Ina worked in the White House as a nuclear budget analyst for the Jimmy Carter administration. Jeffrey currently holds the position of Dean Emeritus at the Yale School of Management.

During a time when she and Jeffrey were visiting Westhampton Beach, New York, a store named The Barefoot Contessa came up for sale and the couple went to take a look. Ina took a leap of faith, leaving her White House job and moving to the tip of Long Island, New York to create a new life there with her husband as the owner of her first specialty store and catering business.

Ina was discovered by lifestyle expert Martha Stewart while running her store. Time Magazine reported that Martha was instrumental in helping Ina launch her career as a cooking personality. Martha even put her in touch with an editor when Ina was working on her first cookbook proposal. She also catered many of Martha’s personal events and appeared on her television series as a guest.

Ina’s first book, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, was first published in 1999. She has since written 11 cookbooks, all bestsellers. Clarkson Potter, who has published all of Ina’s cookbooks thus far, will publish cookbooks 12 and 13 in 2020 and 2023, respectively.

The Inquisitr reported in 2015 that Ina found herself pursuing legal action against a company called OFI Imports Inc., who released a line of knockoff frozen goods products mimicking those from the Barefoot Contessa called Contessa Chef Inspired. She filed a lawsuit that requested that OFI Imported, Inc. discontinue using the Contessa Chef Inspired name, recall all products in that line, and pay an unspecified amount in damages. The suit was settled in March of that same year after Ina and the company reached an agreement where OFI Imports Inc. would stop production of their foods.

The Barefoot Contessa series of shows air on The Food Network.