Karen Martini is one of Australia’s most highly regarded chefs, restaurateurs and food writers, with a career spanning two-hatted restaurants, bestselling cookbooks and a long-running television career, including more than 17 years with Better Homes and Gardens. She has led acclaimed kitchens at Melbourne Wine Room and Sydney’s Icebergs Dining Room, and in 2025 returned to independent restaurant ownership with her husband Michael Sapountsis, taking over South Yarra’s much-loved Bar Carolina.
Karen is also culinary director of Melbourne’s revitalised King & Godfree precinct, where she has helped shape the food direction of the newly opened Italian restaurant and wine room Delmonte. In 2026 she has had an extraordinary publishing year, releasing four new books in her COOK series – COOK GREEN, COOK SWEET, COOK FAST and COOK SLOW – drawing on a lifetime of cooking and her trademark combination of bold flavour, seasonal produce and practical, intuitive technique. She continues to write about food, including as food editor for The Saturday Paper, and remains one of the country’s most recognisable and trusted voices in Australian cooking.
