She began to dabble in cooking and entertaining in an effort to occupy her time; Jeffrey served a four-year military tour during the Vietnam War.

[11] After her husband had completed his military service, the couple went on a four-month camping vacation in Europe including time in France which sparked her love for French cuisine.

[12] Upon returning to the U.S., she began to cultivate her culinary abilities by studying the volumes of Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle and Julia Child's influential cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Garten left her government job in 1978 after spotting an ad for a 400-square-foot (37 m2) specialty food store called Barefoot Contessa in Westhampton Beach, New York.

[2] She also found it better for her marriage for her and her husband to lead more independent lives, as a more traditionalist configuration earlier on, in which Jeffrey was the head of household, became stifling and led them to briefly separate.

[17] Three years later, Garten had moved Barefoot Contessa across Main Street to a larger property, and in 1985, she opened a second location at the newly vacated premises of gourmet shop Dean & DeLuca in the Long Island village of East Hampton.

[18] In contrast to Westhampton's seasonal beach atmosphere, East Hampton houses a year-round community, providing a larger customer base.

In this new, larger space, the store specialized in delicacies such as lobster Cobb salad, caviar, imported cheeses, and locally grown produce.

[19] As the business grew Garten employed local chefs and bakers including Anna Pump (who later bought Loaves & Fishes Specialty Food Store and the Bridgehampton Inn).

[20] In 1996, after two decades of operating Barefoot Contessa, Garten again found herself seeking a change; she sold the store to two employees, Amy Forst and Parker Hodges.

By 2003, Barefoot Contessa had become a landmark gathering place for East Hampton; director Nancy Meyers chose the store as one of the sets for the Jack Nicholson-Diane Keaton film Something's Gotta Give.

was a surprise entry—Garten was perceived as too inexperienced to compete with nominees such as French chef Jacques Pépin and international wine expert Brian St. Pierre.

An early effort with Stewart's production company in 2000 proved unsuccessful, as Garten struggled to adjust to the large television crew and highly structured environment.

[5] However, when Pacific, the London-based production company responsible for Nigella Bites, proposed a show with a smaller crew and a more casual setup, she agreed to film a 13-episode season, and Barefoot Contessa premiered in 2002 to a positive reception.

[32] In the same year, Garten announced that she had signed a three-year contract with Food Network to continue her cooking show, and will release two more cookbooks following Barefoot Contessa at Home.

[33] She has also been approached several times to develop her own magazine, line of furniture, set of cookware, and chain of boutiques (reminiscent of Stewart's Omnimedia), but has declined these offers saying she has no interest in further complicating her life.

[35] In 2006 Garten with her business partner Frank Newbold, launched her own line of packaged cake mixes, marinades, sauces, and preserves branded as Barefoot Contessa Pantry.

[18] The convenience foods were based on her most popular from-scratch recipes including coconut cupcakes, maple oatmeal scones, mango chutney, and lemon curd.

They were only sold through upscale cookware and gourmet shops such as Crate & Barrel, Sur La Table, and Chicago's Fox & Obel Market Cafe.

[37] She launched a small line of note cards and journals to complement her books, and wrote the forewords for Kathleen King's Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook and Rori Trovato's Dishing With Style.

[12] Registered in New York as a Democrat, Garten has contributed to the presidential campaign funds of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, and Barack Obama.