Ina Rosenberg Garten (/ˈaɪnə/ EYE-nə; born February 2, 1948) is an American author, host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa, and a former staff member of the White House Office of Management and Budget.Garten's mother in law bought her a subscription for Time Life cookbooks series and influenced her. Later, she relied on intuition and feedback from friends and customers to refine her recipes. She was primarily mentored by Eli Zabar (owner of Eli's Manhattan and Eli's Breads) and food connoisseur Martha Stewart. Among her dishes are cœur à la crème, celery root remoulade, pear clafouti, and a simplified version of beef bourguignon. Her culinary career began with her gourmet food store, Barefoot Contessa; Garten then expanded her activities to several best-selling cookbooks, magaz