Ina Garten

Currently the host of The Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network, Ina Garten establishes traditions and builds her signature brand with new cookbooks, new television shows, and lots of delicious products that continue to reflect not only quality and style, but also a love of entertaining friends and family.

In 1999, Garten wrote her first book, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, which was one of the best-selling cookbooks of the year. The book invites readers into her specialty food store and shares the recipes that made it such a success. In 2001, she followed with best-selling Barefoot Contessa Parties! , in which she invites readers into her home and shares her ideas and recipes for having parties that are fun for all--including the host. Her follow-up cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, contains easy recipes to make everyone feel like family. Most recently, Garten released Barefoot in Paris, a collection of easy-to-follow French recipes for the home cook and Barefoot Contessa at Home. Garten has been a columnist for Martha Stewart Living magazine and her food and entertaining ideas are regularly featured in O, the Oprah Magazine.

In 1978, Garten found herself working in the White House on nuclear energy policy and thinking, "There's got to be more to life than this!" She saw an ad for a small food store for sale in a place she'd never been: the Hamptons at the end of Long Island. She and her husband drove up to investigate and made the owner an offer on the spot. Two months later she found herself the owner of Barefoot Contessa, a 400-sq.-ft. specialty food store.

Twenty years later, Barefoot Contessa grew to a 3,000-sq.-ft. food emporium where 20 cooks and bakers prepare the food. Twenty-five more employees worked in the store helping thousands of customers to choose breads, salads, dinners and baked goods to take home. In 2001, Garten sold the store to her employees, and in 2003, the new owners of Barefoot Contessa, decided to close their doors and go on to new adventures.