Ina Garten Says Her Publisher ‘Didn’t Get’ Her Idea for a Cookbook

Barefoot Contessa cookbooks are an Ina Garten staple. Sure, she hosts her own Food Network show. But she’s also been writing cookbooks for more than 20 years. Garten’s cookbooks started in the ‘90s with a selection of recipes from her Barefoot Contessa store. 

Featuring simple food with fresh ingredients, the dishes kicked off what would become Garten’s signature simple meals. However, as she revealed in a recent interview, her publisher “didn’t get” the concept for her debut cookbook. 

Ina Garten’s cookbook career began in 1999

Garten sold her business after spending decades running a specialty food store in East Hampton, New York, It was 1996 and a time she’d later refer to as the “hardest year” of her life. She felt lost, unsure of her next move. 

So, “out of sheer desperation,” Garten wrote a cookbook. 

“I couldn’t figure it out,” she told The Cut in 2020. “And just out of sheer desperation, I thought, OK, everybody wants me to write a cookbook, I’ll write a book. And while I’m doing that, I’ll figure out what I’m going to do next.”

Fast forward to April 1999. Garten’s cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, debuted. An immediate success, it included everything she learned about food and entertaining. Not to mention recipes for the dishes she’d spent years serving at Barefoot Contessa. 

The Food Network star remembers ‘people were skeptical’ of ‘The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook’

The Barefoot Contessa looked back on the early days of her career as a cookbook author during a March 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. She remembered what it had been like writing The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. 

It might be hard to imagine, considering Garten’s sold millions of books, but not everyone believed in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook as much as she did. As Garten recalled, even her publisher was unsure.

“When I decided to do cookbooks, the popular thing at the time was these enormous books of 250 recipes — how to cook everything,” she said. “I wanted a book of 75 great recipes, like one really good roast chicken.” 

She continued: “My publisher didn’t get it. People were skeptical because it was so different from what was being done.”

Despite the doubts from those around her Garten persevered. “I kept my vision, and, fortunately, they stuck with me,” she said. 

Expect Barefoot Contessa cookbook No. 13, ‘Go-To Dinners,’ in October 2022

Another Barefoot Contessa cookbook is on the way. After teasing the cookbook in 2021 it now has a name and release date.

On March 21, 2022, Garten revealed her upcoming cookbook, Go-To Dinners, on Instagram. Inspired by her coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown experience, Go-To Dinners is a “collection of easy, make-ahead, prep ahead, freeze ahead, and simply assembled recipes that you’ll want to make over and over again.”  

Go-To Dinners will be available starting Oct. 25, 2022.