Who Is Ken Kaplan?

Ken D. Kaplan is a classically trained chef, celebrating his 45th year in the restaurant industry, as well as his 26th year as owner and chef in his Garden City restaurant, NY Soup Exchange. Ken is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, and continues to stay current in the ever-changing food service industry.  His vast experience cooking all over the country has taken him from executive chef positions in Texas, Boston and New York while also cooking in Rhode Island and California. His time spent living in other parts of the country has helped to influence his creation of ethnically inspired recipes.

Simply stated, Ken likes to feed people. Born in NYC and raised in Long Beach, NY Ken has a feel for what New Yorkers want. Heart disease in Ken’s family has caused him to consider alternative cooking methods such as steaming and grilling to create healthy menu items; the daily menu usually consists of a few heart healthy soups as well as implementing a macrobiotic menu. 

A believer in giving back to the community, Ken has donated food to various organizations such as Too Good To Go company, Island Harvest and local soup kitchens, and participates in charitable fund raisers. He also has provided soup to local catholic schools at very moderate prices to help supplement a hot lunch program. Ken has donated his time as well as his product by volunteering at the a local soup kitchen

NY Soup Exchange has had kiosks selling soup and other menu items in: Great Neck, Long Beach and Mineola.   The restaurant offers a wide variety of homemade soups, salads, grain bowls and wraps.  The soup is freshly made, and the offerings change daily. 

The restaurant is at 945 Franklin Avenue.

Ken can be reached there at:
(516) 742-SOUP
soupexchange@aol.com.