Karen Krasne

Karen Krasne is the owner and executive chef of Extraordinary Desserts, San Diego’s number one destination for desserts for over twenty-two years. Her cakes have graced the cover of Bon Appetit, and Forbes recognized her as one of the country’s ten best pastry chefs. She has been featured in the New York Times, Gourmet, Sunset, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications.

In 1988 Karen opened Extraordinary Desserts near San Diego’s Balboa Park. Despite only having ten seats, it was awarded with the honor of “Best Desserts” by both San Diego Magazine and San Diego Home & Garden Lifestyles. A year later the eatery was in such demand that Karen was able to expand, offering 65 seats, and in 2004, she opened a second location in San Diego’s Little Italy. Today, lines still stretch out the doors of both locations. People have discovered that once they indulged in Extraordinary Desserts’ award-winning pastries, cakes, tarts, and other treats, nothing else compares.

The fare at Extraordinary Desserts infuses global inspiration with artful passion. Desserts are skillfully crafted like works of art, made only with the finest ingredients and decorated with seasonal flowers and edible gold leaf.

Karen graduated with a degree from the University of Hawaii in Food and Human Nutrition. She went on to study pastry making at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she not only developed her skills as a dessert chef, but fostered her love of traveling. Today, Karen calls San Diego home, but returns to France to train with the masters at LeNotre, Ecole Bellouet Conseil, and L’Atelier Pierre Herme regularly. When she is not creating the menu for her two Extraordinary Dessert locations, or expanding her skill in France, she is traveling the globe, infusing her desserts with the flavors and artistry of faraway places.