Karen Barnaby hails from Ottawa, where she started her cooking career in 1979 on a
pink, four burner electric stove in the basement of the Bohemian Restaurant. Moving out
of the basement and eventually out of Ottawa, she landed in Toronto in 1981 and became
Chef at the Rivoli. After three years of listening to new wave bands at the back of the
Rivoli and gratefully absorbing all the knowledge Chef Vanipha Southalack had to impart
on Thai and Laotian cooking, she moved to the David Wood Food Shop in Rosedale. During
five years there, she opened two more David Wood Food Shops, 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 Dufflet's
Great Cooks Cooking School.
In 1990 she took a break and travelled to Cuernevaca, Mexico, as a private chef. The
following spring, she went to work at the West Vancouver Capers location. After a year,
she was hired as Executive Chef of the Raintree Restaurant. She completed Pacific Passions,
her first solo cookbook, in 1995. She was offered the position of Executive Chef at The
Fish House in Stanley Park that same year, and has been happy here ever since.
In 1997 her second book, Screamingly Good Food was released and won
the silver medal at the Cuisine Canada Cookbook competition. Then came "The low-carb Gourmet" now out of print. Her latest book, "The Passionate Cook" features some of Karen's favourite recipes. You can purchase her latest book for $24.95 plus handling and shipping. Please contact us at 604-681-7275 or info@fishhousestanleypark.com for orders.
