The Birth of Barefoot Contessa

I first began to dabble in cooking while my husband Jeffrey was serving a four-year military tour during the Vietnam War. This was one of the most difficult times in my life, I even acquired my pilot’s license during this time to try and keep busy! When he finally returned from the military, Jeffrey and I took a romantic getaway to Paris, France for a four month camping vacation. It was the experience of a lifetime, and also the birth of my love for French cuisine. While in Paris, I was inspired by the beauty of the open air markets, produce stands, and fresh cooking ingredients, things that I had never seen before in New York and North Carolina. Once we returned home, I began to teach myself culinary techniques with the help of Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I started throwing weekly dinner parties, a tradition that would carry on for many years, and improved my home entertaining skills at our new home in Washington D.C.

Jeffrey as an army officer during the Vietnam War

While in Paris, we bought food at a local market and cooked meals on a camping stove

In 1978, I came across an ad in the New York Times for a specialty food store called Barefoot Contessa. Little did I know this name would stick around for so long. The very next day, Jeffrey and I drove to Long Island and when finally arriving to the store, it was love at first sight. I bought the store, having absolutely no experience in the food business, or even business in general. However, I did know that I wanted to keep the name because it went along with my ideal of an “earthy yet elegant” lifestyle. I ended up relocating the store a couple times to accommodate for its growing popularity, and people praised Barefoot Contessa for its delicious food and style. In 1996, I decided it was time to take on a new challenge and actually sold the store to the manager/chef, building an office over top where I could try my hand at writing a cookbook.

The original Barefoot Contessa store in the Hamptons