Ina Garten Casually Revealed the Release Date of Her Memoir
The Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten announced her forthcoming memoir’s release date in perhaps the most her way possible. No, not with a giant cocktail how-to or a roast chicken. Rather, something akin to her relaxed take on cooking and entertaining. The 76-year-old author and longtime cooking show host simply updated her social media bio with the date.
Garten’s memoir is set to debut in October 2024
Mark the calendar, Barefoot Contessa fans. Garten, who has been a frequent face on Food Network since 2002, finally unveiled when her memoir is hitting shelves.
In early February 2024, Garten quietly updated her Instagram bio to include her memoir’s release date, writing: “Memoir coming out October 1st 2024.”
So, instead of a Barefoot Contessa cookbook hitting shelves in the fall as has been known to happen since the late ‘90s, Garten has a different type of book on offer. Through her memoir, she’s giving fans a closer look at her life.
Expected topics will likely include all of the big moments Garten has discussed during interviews over the years. Think: meeting her husband, Jeffrey Garten, working in the White House, and that life-changing camping trip around France.
And, of course, running a specialty grocery store in the Hamptons with no experience in the food industry before later penning a cookbook author and landing a TV show.
The Barefoot Contessa memoir includes Ina’s childhood
In a BBC News interview, Garten divulged a topic that’s definitely covered in her book: her childhood. Speaking to presenter Katty Kay at her home in East Hampton, New York, the Food Network star opened up about not having children, noting she had no desire to “recreate” her own youth.
“Did you know you couldn’t do what you wanted to do if you’d had them?” Kay asked, to which Garten replied: “I think it’s much harder. [But] I don’t think that’s why I made the decision.”
“I’m actually writing a memoir right now, and it’s kind of looking back at my childhood,” Garten, who married her husband Jeffrey at the age of 20, continued. “It was nothing I wanted to recreate.”
“And I’m always looking forward to look back and realized a lot of my decisions were based on my childhood. And so I think that was the motivating factor,” she went on before adding, “Jeffrey and I were just so happy together.”
Ina Garten announced her memoir in 2019
The release date of Garten’s memoir comes three years after the initial 2019 announcement from publisher Celadon Books.
“Ina Garten is beloved by all, a national treasure who has become iconic beyond the food world,” Deb Futter, senior vice president and co-publisher at Celadon, said in a press release at the time. “Her memoir will cement her legacy in the cultural landscape.”
Meanwhile, Garten said in the announcement that she hopes her “book will inspire readers to find their own unique story.”
Until Garten’s memoir is released, she can be seen cooking up meals with friends on Be My Guest. There’s also her extensive library of cookbooks to explore. Gaten’s authored 13 to date, the most recent being 2022’s Go-To Dinners.
