Author of 2007’s The Cheap Bastard’s Guide to San Francisco (Globe Pequot Press) and contributing author to Chow! San Francisco Bay Area: 300 Affordable Places for Great Meals & Good Deals (Sasquatch Press), Karen Solomon has been a well-published food writer for a decade. Her edible musings on the restaurant scene, sustainable food programs, culinary trends, food history, and recipe development have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Zagat Survey: San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants, Gayot San Francisco, and elsewhere, all of which showcase the diversity of her word-wrangling plate.
Karen’s culinary influences come from a variety of sources. While teaching English in Japanese schools and traveling throughout Asia, she had ample time to learn the satisfaction and simplicity of Japanese home cooking. And from the time she could stand on a stool and stir, Karen always enjoyed cooking alongside her mother to make chicken soup, kugel, stuffed cabbage, and other comfort foods of her Eastern European heritage. Her grandfather was the quintessential New England fishmonger, and she had the privilege to grow up with Atlantic seafood on the table that had been swimming just a few hours before. Food has always been a critical facet of life; large family meals have truly been the glue that binds the Solomon clan.
Karen currently resides in San Francisco’s Mission district with her partner, her son, and an equally food-obsessed dachshund, Mabel.
Contact her at bolognarose at gmail.com.
