The Barefoot Contessa Comes to Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, March 2013

The best-selling cookbook author and star of Food Network's Barefoot Contessa is coming to Hartford on Thursday, March 28, 2013, to The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 24, at 10 a.m. at bushnell.org, (860) 987-5900, and at The Bushnell Box Office. Tickets start at $35.75 plus applicable service charges.

Ina Garten shares her natural approach to food; sharing tips, stories, and maybe even some recipes. Onstage, Ina Garten delivers a charming insider's view of the world of the Barefoot Contessa and the pleasures of good food, cooked with love and passion. Enjoy an interactive Q&A and join Ina after the show when she signs copies of her cookbooks for the audience.

Garten opened up a store in the Hamptons called Barefoot Contessa in 1978. Eighteen years later, the store had grown to a 3,000 sq. ft. store, which she sold to start working on her cookbooks. "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook" was published in 1999 and was one of the best-selling cookbooks of the year. She has gone on to write seven more cookbooks, including "Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust", coming out in October. In addition, Garten has contributed to House Beautiful, Martha Stewart Living, and O, Oprah's magazine.

In 2002, Food Network approached Ina to do a cooking show based on her cookbooks and love of entertaining. That was ten years ago and her Emmy-winning cooking show, "Barefoot Contessa", is still one of the highest rated shows on Food Network.