Who Is Jeffrey Garten? Read All About the Barefoot Contessa’s Hubby + Their Adorable Love Story
The duo have become couple goals over the years — read all about them here!
We know and love Food Network star Ina Garten not only for her stellar recipes, Hamptons aesthetic, wit and charm, but also for the parts of her personal life she’s so graciously let us see over the course of her time on the air. From her close friends and confidants to the locals that help her bring her dishes to life, we’ve been able to see a look into the people that make up Ina Garten’s delicious little slice of life.
However, there’s one familiar face that we have to admit takes the lead as our favorite Barefoot Contessa guest star, and that’s none other than her husband Jeffrey Garten. Here, read all about their adorable love story, and how they keep the magic alive after so many years.
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How did Ina and Jeffrey meet?
The story starts at Dartmouth College in 1963. Ina, who was visiting her brother at the time while still in high school, caught the eye of a student named Jeffrey — and the rest was history.
“He saw me on the street and then sent me a letter with a photograph of himself in it,” Ina told PEOPLE in April. “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!’”
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A semi-disastrous first date took place six months later, in which an underage Ina was denied from a bar thanks to her lack of fake ID, but a kiss at the end of the night sealed the deal, she shared on The Drew Barrymore Show.
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Ina and Jeffrey tie the knot
It was in 1968 when the couple said “I do,” but shortly after their nuptials, he was deployed by the Army to Thailand. However, distance proved not to matter for the newlyweds, for Jeffrey wrote to Ina every single day he was away, he shared with PEOPLE in 2018. Is anyone else crying?!
Jeffrey has been Ina’s biggest supporter
It was with Jeffrey’s support that Ina felt encouraged enough to leave her job in the government throughout the 70s to pursue something more creative and fulfilling, and in 1978, she opened the doors of her Hamptons specialty food store, Barefoot Contessa.
Who is Jeffrey Garten?
Aside from being Ina’s doting husband, the 77-year-old also has an impressive career himself. While currently a lecturer at Yale, he served as the Dean of their School of Management from 1995 to 2005.
Prior to his work as an educator, he was the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, and before that, he worked on Wall Street.
Ina and Jeffrey will always be couple goals
Ina Garten and her husband Jeffrey have cultivated a relationship over the course of more than five decades built on love and support for one another. In a post shared to her Instagram in 2023 on their 55th wedding anniversary, Ina wrote: “When Jeffrey and I were first married I asked him, what do you want for your life? He replied, I want to be a good husband. I’d say you nailed that!”
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