About Us

Hi! We’re Gavin & Karen – lovebirds, homecooks and restaurant connoisseurs living in Austin, TX. Avid travelers, we enjoy taking trips to discover the best food this world has to offer. 

How Couple in the Kitchen Came to Be –

In the fall in 2013, Karen was visiting Austin, Texas on a weekend getaway. Upon returning home to Minnesota, she matched with Gavin on Tinder.

Unknowingly realizing they were 1,200 miles apart, they stayed in contact as internet friends until a month later when Karen took a business trip to Houston. Gavin took a day off work and drove over 3 hours to meet her for their first date.

From that point forward, they dated long distance until Karen relocated to Austin that next year.

Their love of food, cooking and travel inspired them to start Couple in the Kitchen while on a wine-filled trip to Sonoma, California.

Their blog is focused on building a strong relationship through frequent date nights, travel adventures, and recipes that they create together.

About Karen –

Karen grew up in Minnesota where she was a competitive figure skater and a University of Minnesota Hockey Cheerleader. She graduated with a degree in Advertising from the University of MN.

She was a senior strategic consultant at large bank where she has built her career for 19 years, since the age of 16, prior to taking coupleinthekitchen.com full time.

She graduated with a degree in Advertising from the University of MN. Karen has visited 31 countries and all 50 US States!

About Gavin –

Gavin grew up in Southern California, but caught the travel bug at a young age.

He’s lived in Australia, China, California, Arizona, and Texas.  Additionally, during those stints of permanent residence, he circumnavigated the globe on a boat, and has been to well over 40 countries.

Gavin has a Masters in International Business and Law from University of Sydney, and a business degree from University of Arizona.

Outside of Gavin’s love of Karen, cooking, and travel he’s the co-founder of multiple active businesses from a restaurant group, to major food festivals, to a kombucha company, Greenbelt Kombucha.

Featured On…

Check out these cooking segments that we’ve showcased on television news networks:

Television News Cooking Talent Couple in the Kitchen at the Fox 7 News Desk.
Food network magazine tastemakers couple in the kitchen.

We’re been proud to have coupleinthekitchen.com featured in many national publications:

Karen and Gavin are also proud members of the International Travel Writers Alliance and the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association, specializing in food and romance-based destinations for couples, which they have featured on Big Blend Radio travel podcast.

Follow our journey to learn about new restaurants, discover fantastic food and cooking products, & try our fun recipes. If you have a new restaurant or food item that you think we would enjoy, please email us.

Thanks for visiting! Follow us on social media to see what we’re up to and be sure to tag us if you make any of our recipes or leverage our travel advice.