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Karyn Calabrese

Karyn Calabrese
Karyn Calabrese with green drink.JPG
Calabrese in February 2014
Born (1947-04-20) April 20, 1947 (age 70)
Chicago, Illinois, US
Website http://www.karynraw.com/
Culinary career
Cooking style Plant-based, raw vegan

Karyn Calabrese (born April 20, 1947) is an American raw foodist and restaurateur. Her first restaurant, Karyn's Raw Bistro, is the longest-standing gourmet raw food restaurant in the United States.

Calabrese grew up in Hyde Park, a South Side neighborhood of Chicago. Calabrese worked as a professional model in her teens and into her twenties, and was featured in national magazine and television commercials.

Calabrese became a raw foodist with the impression that eating uncooked foods improves health. In the early 1980s, she hosted a support group at her home, and within six months, the group grew from six to 90 people. Calabrese decided to transition careers from modeling to cooking and consulting about the raw and vegan lifestyle.

Calabrese has opened three restaurants (Karyn's Raw Bistro, Karyn's Cooked, and Karyn's On Green), a market (Karyn's Fresh Corner), a meal program (Karyn's At Home), a holistic therapy center (Karyn's Inner Beauty Center and O2 Day Spa), a branded line of food, a cookbook, a cleanse guide, and a natural make-up and skin care line. Karyn also teaches workshops and promotes raw foodism, holistic therapies, and natural longevity.

Calabrese began having financial problems in 2012 after her restaurant in Lincoln Park burned down and business at her other locations stifled; in 2015 and 2016 she had been sued four times, for failing to meet accessibility standards for disabled persons at her restaurants, not paying rent for the spaces of her restaurants, and not paying condominium fees where she lived. She started a GoFundMe campaign to help keep her business afloat, but faced accusations of fraud and unsanitary practices.

Calabrese owns and manages three restaurants in Chicago:

According to the 2014 Zagat Survey, Karyn's On Green is the top-rated vegan restaurant in Chicago and the most formal of Karyn's restaurants.Karyn's On Green is located in Chicago's West Loop. This restaurant is now closed.


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