Karen Akunowicz is the 2018 James Beard Foundation Award winner for Best Chef: Northeast and the 2020 James Beard Award  finalist for Best New Restaurant. She is the Chef/Owner of Fox & the Knife enoteca in South Boston, recently named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Restaurants in America 2019. 

Chef Akunowicz became a fan favorite when she competed on Bravo’s Emmy-nominated show, “Top Chef” season 13. She has also appeared as a judge on Top Chef Season 16, Top Chef Canada and Season 17 of Top Chef: All-Stars L.A. 

Named one of the “21 Badass Women Changing the Food World” she is the Co-Author of the cookbook: Myers+Chang at Home (Houghton Mifflin; 2017)

In 2019 Karen opened Fox & the Knife, inspired by her time spent living and cooking in Modena, Italy. Fox & the Knife is a casual and contemporary homage to the food, wine, culture and spirit of that city, all presented with a warm welcome in a high energy atmosphere. Fox & the Knife menu highlights Akunowicz’s flair for the soul-satisfying, graceful Italian food that she honed while working in Italy as a pasta maker and Chef of L’Avian Blu Enoteca. At Fox & the Knife, the bold flavors of exceptional ingredients are expressed through both traditional and modern techniques to introduce new versions of beloved classics. 

She has been profiled on CBS Saturday Morning’s “The Dish” series, “The Today Show” and  Hallmark Home & Family. Akunowicz has also been featured in national publications such as  The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, People, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Forbes and Wall Street Journal Magazine.