Karen Barnaby is an author, chef, and teacher from Ottawa, Ontario. She started her cooking career in 1979 on a pink, four burner electric stove in the basement of the Bohemian Restaurant. Moving to Toronto in 1981, Karen was a Chef at the Rivioli where she learned about Thai and Laotian cooking from Chef Vanipha Southalack. After 3 years at Rivioli, Karen worked at David Wood Food Shop, opened two more shops in 5 years, and co-wrote the David Wood Food Book and the David Wood Dessert Book. During that time, she discovered she had an aptitude for teaching and put it into practice at Duffletâ??s Great Cooks Cooking School.

In 1995, she was offered the position of Executive Chef at The Fish House in Stanley Park, and has been happy there ever since.