Jeffrey Garten’s proposal to Ina Garten wasn’t spicy, but she knew it was pure love.
The 76-year-old woman recalled the time between her meeting with the 77-year-old Yale professor and the moment he proposed to her.
In his new memoir, “Be Ready When the Luck Happens” (out October 1), PeopleIna shared that when she was 16, she visited her brother Ken at Dartmouth College.
While on campus, Ken was asked by his mother to set her up with a classmate.
“I dressed in my best blue skirt, my favorite blue and white wool and angora sweater, the new blue Pappagallos I had bought with my own money so my mother couldn’t refuse to buy them for me, and a blue grosgrain ribbon in my hair,” the renowned chef wrote in her book.
Of course, Jeffrey ended up seeing his now 56-year-old wife on campus, but he soon discovered there were other ingredients added to the mix that night.
“At one point, I walked past the library, a building that’s right next to the beautiful Dartmouth Green,” Ina continued. “I later learned that a Dartmouth freshman was inside, admiring me. According to the story, Jeffrey Garten saw me on the Green and instantly fell in love! ‘Look at that pretty girl,’ he said to his roommate, who recognized me[and said]‘I know her. She’s Ina Rosenberg and we’re going to the movies tonight. ’”
The date with Jeffrey’s roommate didn’t turn romantic, so the Army veteran asked if he could write to Ina himself. She shared the first of many letters he wrote to her throughout their relationship in her new memoir:
Dear Ina,
…I get the impression that Roger’s (my roommate) attempt to set me up with you affected you negatively. If you felt like I was trying to “pass you off,” you couldn’t be more wrong. The truth is… I saw you (but we were never introduced, unfortunately, when you were here this fall)…
If the idea of dating a Jewish student from Florida who’s just starting out and you’ve never met doesn’t turn you off, how about you send me a note and we can work something out? If you’re not interested at all, don’t even waste your office supplies.
And of course, Ina tried. The couple began dating and visiting each other between colleges when the “Barefoot Contessa” star was attending Syracuse University and Jeffrey was finishing his degree at Dartmouth on an ROTC scholarship.
“One spring day in 1968, when Jeffrey was about to graduate from Dartmouth and leave for his military service, and I was preparing for my final exams, we went to our favorite German restaurant in Syracuse and ordered very large, very messy sandwiches,” Ina wrote.
“Out of nowhere, between bites, Jeffrey said, ‘I think we should get married in December. ’ What? Did I hear him right? Get married? It wasn’t really a traditional proposal with an engagement ring and Jeffrey on one knee professing undying love, but okay! I knew how he felt, and I felt the same way.”
Ina and Jeffrey married in December 1968 at her parents’ home and are still very happy today.
The Food Network veteran told People that “they don’t really fight.”
There was only one obstacle in the way: their separation and near-divorce in the 1970s.
“There were certain roles that we played that I found really annoying,” Ina told the exit“I felt like if I just hit the pause button, it would get their attention.”
“I thought about it a lot and, at my worst, I wondered if the only solution was to get a divorce,” she wrote in the book. “I loved Jeffrey and I didn’t want to shock or hurt him, so I would start by suggesting that we take a break and separate.”
But Ina and Jeffrey worked it out: the businessman went to therapy once for an hour, and the two worked to create a stronger, more equal partnership.
“Thank God I did it,” she wrote. “I think about how crazy and dangerous it was, but we wouldn’t have the relationship we have now if I hadn’t done it.”
“It changed him,” Ina added, “but it changed me, too.”
