Karen Herbst - Founder & President

Karen Herbst spent many years as a research editor at Playboy Magazine, after which she worked briefly for CBS radio, where she was a director and producer for five talk shows. She decided to leave the work force to raise her three sons, but returned to work in 1983, choosing to enter the travel industry. She concentrated on small group travel to Italy and France, and quickly developed the innovative idea of culinary tourism. She combined her experience in the travel industry with a lifelong passion for food and wine in 1994 when she created The International Kitchen. She still handpicks the chefs, locations and excursions personally, and she is dedicating to making every International Kitchen experience an authentic, professional, and richly rewarding trip. Today Karen is widely recognized as one of the foremost innovators of culinary travel, and, as an authority, is an advisor and frequent speaker to industry and professional groups. In addition to being a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Travel Promotional Council (which is a non-profit organization working in conjunction with the Italian Government Tourist Office), she is a member of the Slow Food Organization and the James Beard Foundation. In 2004 Karen was honored to be the recipient of the French Silver Medal of Tourism (La Medaille d'Argent du Tourisme), awarded by the French government. In 2005 she decided to launch a sister company, The International Vineyard, dedicated to informal and fun wine holidays. Email to info@theinternationalkitchen.com

Ronald Holden - Director, Wine Tours

Ronald Holden, the author of five books about wine touring, has helped us develop informal, off-the-beaten-path trips in France and Italy for The International Vineyard. Ronald is a native of Oregon who attended schools in Switzerland and graduated from Yale University; he worked for many years as a broadcast journalist in Portland, Seattle, Baltimore and Paris, and operated his own wine & travel company for 15 years. His blog about food, wine and travel, Cornichon.org, was just named to About.com’s list of the Top Ten Food Blogs Good Enough to Eat.

Association Memberships