Will Ina Garten Grace The World With Her Own Restaurant Someday?

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Bestselling cookbook author and Emmy-winning TV star Ina Garten has long been known for her culinary prowess, leading many to wonder whether she'd ever open her own eatery. Speaking to host Kerry Diamond on the Radio Cherry Bombe podcast, the Barefoot Contessa expressed admiration for those working in the restaurant business but explained that it's not for her. "We will definitely not have an Ina Garten restaurant. I think that's the hardest work on the planet," she said. "It's just grueling. Everybody crammed into a small space." 

She recalled reading Bill Buford's memoir, "Heat," chronicling his time training as a cooking apprentice under ex-Food Network chef Mario Batali, and being struck by the passage where the author said the kitchen was so packed that he didn't know where his body could fit. "That kind of pressure, I understand why people get an adrenaline rush from it, but I couldn't do that anymore. No, I love what I do," Garten said.

Garten has done her share of high-pressure food service work. She spent 15 years as a caterer and 20 years operating the specialty food store Barefoot Contessa, which she and her husband, Jeffrey, purchased in the Hamptons, on Long Island, New York, in 1978. The store became extremely popular, acclaimed for its high-quality food and style, serving baguettes, chicken salad, and more. In 1996, ready for a new challenge, Garten sold the store to the manager and the chef and turned to writing cookbooks.

Although Ina Garten has had her fill of the fast-paced catering and retail food lifestyle, meaning a Barefoot Contessa restaurant likely isn't in the cards, fans curious to taste her cooking can get some of her baked goods via Goldbelly, where her cakes, cupcakes, and bake-at-home cookies have a 95% "Customer Love Score" with reviews that highlight both the high quality and quick delivery.

Despite slowing down, Garten has maintained her love of creating and sharing delicious, wholesome meals, such as her and Jeffrey's go-to-lunch – something that was missing from her own home, she said on the Radio Cherry Bombe podcast. Her mother made dinner in a purely utilitarian way and denied her some of the best side dishes, like potatoes. She was expected to eat whatever was put on her plate without comment, lest she incur the wrath of her father, she revealed to CBS News in 2024. 

Flipping the script and turning food into a positive in adulthood was itself a life-changing act for the culinary queen. Aside from her successful catering business and beloved specialty food store, Garten has succeeded in touching millions of lives through food with more than a dozen cookbooks she has written, as well as her award-winning cooking shows "Barefoot Contessa" and "Be My Guest" on the Food Network and other platforms. The fulfillment she feels from the life she's built, as expressed in her memoir, "Be Ready When the Luck Happens," is probably another reason she doesn't yearn for the stress of restaurant ownership.