Ina Garten & Her Husband Met In Their Teens — He Still Writes Her Love Notes After Being Married Over 50 Years

Nov 30, 2022 by apost team

Ina Garten has been an icon of the culinary world for about two decades now, going from shopowner of the original Barefoot Contessa specialty food store in the late ‘70s to publishing a cookbook in 1999 and starring in her own show on the Food Network by 2002. It's clear the business-savvy Ina has ambition and drive when it comes to her career, but it wouldn’t have been possible without her partner and cheerleader of more than 50 years – her husband, Jeffrey Garten.

Ina has always had a fascination with cooking, having had a mind for science as a child and loving to experiment with new recipes. This love was reignited when she headed on a trip to Paris, France, where the outdoor markets and fresh produce and ingredients caught her fancy. Back home in the United States, she honed her skills with the help of Julia Child’s “Mastering The Art Of French Cooking” by hosting dinner parties.

After a stint as a government worker, Ina bought Barefoot Contessa, a food shop in Westhampton Beach, New York. She kept the original name, which the owners had bestowed in tribute to the Ava Gardner film of the same name, and it flourished quickly under her management. As the store expanded in popularity, it became known for its delicious delicacies, such as lobster Cobb salad, much of which Ina prepared herself.

Even as the shop began to pick up celebrity clientele and distinction, the ever-ambitious Ina was already looking to the future and wondering what her next move would be. All she knew was that, whatever came next for her, her husband Jeffrey would be her enduring supporter and No. 1 fan.

In 1999, Ina had figured out the next step of her career — she ventured into the publishing world. Carrying on the now-renowned Barefoot Contessa name, she authored “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook,” which became a sleeper success, and needed tens of thousands of reprints to keep up with demand. It became the first of a series of cookbooks that saw equal success, making Ina a publishing star. The author of more than a dozen hit cookbooks then turned her eye to the cameras.

After appearances on Martha Stewart’s show promoting her recipes, Ina began to be approached to host her own show on the Food Network. She initially turned down these offers until the producers of “Nigella Bites” came on board. In 2002, Ina secured a 13-episode series called “Barefoot Contessa,” which became a hit, picking up multiple Daytime Emmy Awards through the years. The show centers on Ina's love for fresh produce and ingredients as she cooks up a storm for a group of close friends and family, including her husband Jeffrey, who frequently appears on the show helping Ina or sampling her food. Their close bond is so evident in their interactions together it almost seems like they were married yesterday! However, that is far from the case. 

As Ina and her husband prepared to celebrate their 54th wedding anniversary together, the show host went on “The Drew Barrymore Show” to recount their early days together, including how young she was when they met, how they began dating and the sweet ways they would keep in touch whenever they were far from one another.

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During her November 2022 appearance on the talk show, Ina told Barrymore she met Jeffrey when she was just a teenager and he was attending Dartmouth College at the time. She had gone on visits to the campus when she caught his eye. Through a mutual friend, he managed to get her phone number and called her to ask her out. She shared that their first date was a disaster as she had suggested they go to a bar but as she was underage, they couldn’t go in. She recounted that when she asked Jeffrey later why he wanted to take her out again after that, he had said “I thought you needed taking care of,” melting the hearts of the audience and viewers everywhere.

Ina also told People: “He saw me on the street and then sent me a letter with a photograph of himself in it. I just remember running through the house and going, ‘Mom, Mom, you’ve got to see this picture of this guy. He’s so cute!'”

By 1968, the pair were married and they remain smitten with one another to this day. In 2018, Ina expressed her adoration of her husband, as she said, “He’s just the best friend anybody could ever have.” She gushed about his playful side, which balances nicely with his serious side. 

“He plays this adorable kind of doofus guy who comes in and goes, ‘Oh this is delicious, what’s in it? But in reality he’s extremely smart, and has very interesting ideas on the world and the economy. His career has spanned government, academia, banking, and writing — he’s authored many books — I’m still just in awe of him.”

However, a four-year stint in the army during the Vietnam War would keep the pair apart, but they remained close thanks to Jeffrey’s ingenuity.

Jeffrey said he was deployed to Thailand a year after they had married, but had every intention of keeping her close. “I wrote to Ina every single day,” he said, and added, “During the whole year I was only able to call her once.”

This was the start of a lifetime of letters flying between the twosome, as years later, they would again be separated by work. In the ‘80s, work took Jeffrey to Japan, while Ina remained in the US. “For a couple of years we commuted between Tokyo and the Hamptons,” Jeffrey said, and explained that letters once again came into play, albeit with an updated twist.

“He used to write me notes all day, and he would fax them to me at night so when I woke up in the morning, I had them,” Ina said.

Even after he returned stateside, Ina said that for decades Jeffrey commuted to Connecticut during the week to teach at Yale while she worked from their East Hampton, New York home, leaving only the weekends to spend together.

“We had had that schedule for 40 years, where he would leave on Monday, and come back on Friday,” Ina said. But with today’s technology, it became easier for Jeffrey to send sweet words to his wife, wherever she was.

“When we’re not together, I’ll send her five or six texts per day,” Jeffrey admitted lovingly. “I love looking at her schedule. I can envision where she is and what she’s doing, and it doesn’t feel like we’re apart. If I could be with her seven days a week, 24 hours a day, that would be my ideal.”

How adorable are Ina Garten and her husband Jeffrey? Do you think their commitment to keeping in touch no matter how far they are from one another is the key to their longevity? Let us know and send this along to all the lovebirds in it for the long haul too.