Karen Kaplan holds Le Grand Diplôme d’Etudes Culinaires from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. She has taught at both USC and UCLA and contributed to five cookbooks. She worked at Bon Appétit magazine for twenty years, and was in charge of the only issue to win a National Magazine Award while the magazine was based in Los Angeles. She has also been a culinary consultant for two Food Network shows: Extreme Chef and Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell. Karen was also the restaurant critic for LA Weekly for seven years and produced her own food-based radio show in Santa Monica.