Chef Karen Akunowicz shares her journey to the Tournament of Champions stage and how her experience working as a sous chef in Modena sparked her love for European-style dining shaped her path forward. Karen shares why she doesn’t have televisions in any of her restaurants and the sacred experience of sharing food together. She talks about returning to the States to work at a restaurant that focused on Middle Eastern cuisine and the growth she experienced in that spice-forward environment. Karen talks about leaving kitchens for a while to work for a nonprofit organization and what compelled her to return to work as an executive chef at Myers+Chang, which focused on Asian cuisine. She shares how her perspective on hospitality evolved during that time and what it was like to create and write for a cookbook. Karen explains why she would describe her culinary style as “modern grandma” and the inspirations behind her restaurants, Fox & Knife and Bar Volpe. She talks about getting the call for Tournament of Champions, how it compares to other food competitions she has done, and what was going through her mind when she found out she was in a tie. 

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