Baking One Girl Cookies with Dave Crofton

By Tim Bruderek

Dave Crofton, head baker at One Girl Cookies, is a warm guy with a big personality. He has a unique passion for baking that’s inspiring to watch. But Dave’s story does not follow the traditional path to success.

Dave graduated from ICE’s Pastry & Baking Arts program in 2003, working during the day and taking his classes in the evening. Upon completing the program, like most graduations, Dave began his search for a job in the field, and his Career Services advisor gave him a lead that sounded interesting. Little did he know this new job would change his life for good.

Dawn Casale, founder and namesake of the Brooklyn-based bakery One Girl Cookies, was becoming well-known for her delectable sweet treats, but was seeking some help with the growing demand and notoriety of her business. Dave contributed his baking talents, and soon enough, the pair was working diligently to make One Girl a success. But they got more than they planned – they ended up falling in love and getting married.

Flash forward a few years, and now Dawn is running the business side of things, while Dave serves as the company’s lead baker. The shop has become famous for its cookies (as the name suggests), but has grown to offer a huge variety to satisfy their customer’s sweet cravings. The pumpkin whoopee pie has become the shop’s most popular item—with pillowy cookies sandwiching a smooth vanilla cream cheese filling, it’s easy to understand why!

This spring, Dave graciously returned to ICE to teach a class, sharing stories about his success and recipes to make his delicious cookies, cakes and other desserts at home.

A student learns to pipe the pumpkin cookies for One Girl’s whoopie pies.

The class featured many helpful tips (proper dough preparations, mixing techniques and baking tricks), and secrets to One Girl’s top recipes (such as their famous chocolate cake, prepared with zucchini to keep it moist). Aside from the seductively sweet whoopie pies, the aforementioned chocolate cake and several varieties of crispy biscotti, the class whipped up a citrus olive oil cake to spice things up.

Light, airy, with a touch of citrus zing, this delicate cake allows the flavor of the olive oil shine through. For an extra sweet and salty crunch, we finished the cake with a sprinkling of sea salt and turbino sugar. It was my clear favorite recipe of the evening, is easy enough to prepare at home and special enough to impress dinner guests. Scroll down for the recipe, and don’t forget to stop by one of the two One Girl Cookies Brooklyn locations to say hi to Dave (and indulge your sweet cravings)!

One Girl’s Lemon Olive Oil Cake. Photo Credit: UltraTeg.com

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Yield: Makes 1 (9-inch) cake

Ingredients

¾ cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
5 large egg yolks
¾ cup olive oil
1½ tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup cake flour
4 large egg whites
½ tsp table salt
1 tbsp Turbinado sugar
½ tsp coarse sea salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9-inch round cake pan by greasing with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Using both hands, rub the zest into the sugar, breaking up as many lumps of zest as possible.
Whisk together the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Continue to whisk for 3 minutes, or until the mixture has become light yellow. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and whisk 1 more minute. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the cake flour.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until they are frothy, about 30 seconds. With the mixer running on medium-low speed, add the salt and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Increase the speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form. Using a spatula, carefully fold the whites into the batter. Make sure that all of the whites are incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the Turbinado sugar and the sea salt on the top.
Bake for 25 minutes, and rotate the pan in the oven. Bake for 25 more minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes. The cake will shrink from the side of the pan and have a rustic appearance. Turn the cake out onto a clean plate, remove the parchment paper, and turn the cake back over onto a cooling rack. Let the cake cool completely.

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Culinary Careers: Susan Stockton

By Diana Andrews

Not too long ago, Susan Stockton, Senior Vice President, Culinary Production at Food Network, was a culinary arts student at ICE. I first met Ms. Stockton when she spoke about Food Network and Cooking Channel at the school in August 2012. As a recent graduate, I immediately began to imagine how inspiring it would be for current ICE students, prospective students, and other alumni to hear a bit more about her incredible journey, experiences, and accomplishments in the food industry.

When I contacted her to request an interview on behalf of ICE, Ms. Stockton graciously accepted. We met at the Food Network offices at Chelsea Market. Here’s what she had to say:

I’ve heard that you’ve had previous careers in film, as a florist, a caterer, and a graphic designer. What made you decided to make another career change and attend culinary school?

I had a 12-year-old graphic design firm based in Boston in the late 80’s. At that time, Boston was in a recession, much like we are now. Clients were cutting budgets left and right. I’d also just met my husband. It felt like a good time to jump start a new life with this new person—who had a new job offer in New York City!

The last thing you want to do is open up a New York design studio in a recession. That forced me to stop and ask myself what I wanted to do next. What made me happy? I’d had other careers, been schooled in fine arts and writing and had landed a job as an art director for a small film company. After a few years, I opened a tropical plant store in Boston with movie posters collected from that job and called it “Hollywood & Vine”. I always tell career-changing students, everything you learn from past careers can help you leverage your next career. Just be sure to follow your passion. So, that’s what I did.

I’d always loved cooking and entertaining. I got that from my family. Every get-together revolved around huge spreads of food. And I’d been casually catering dinner parties for friends in Boston and really enjoyed it. So when it came time to move to New York, I felt the desire to begin again.

How did you figure out a game plan?

I didn’t! I had to stop one career. I passed along my business in Boston to someone who worked for me, which was very convenient, and Rick and I moved to New York. I realized I had to re-educate myself, so I threw myself back into school. I knew how to cook. I had been catering, but I was cooking from family recipes and cookbooks. I didn’t know proper techniques. I’d watched Julia Child’s The French Chef for inspiration. Once I arrived in New York, I heard that ICE (it was “Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School” back then) presented a fast track intensive that was very appealing to me. So I signed up for the professional cooking program and retooled my career.

My original idea was to open a restaurant. Back in the late 80’s, there weren’t as many culinary career options as today. I worked in a small restaurant in the Village with long hours and loved it. But I knew I had to do something with better hours or I wouldn’t stay married for long, so I started pounding the pavement.

I had a photography background from my graphic design days (plus, my father was a photographer, and I knew how to style food), so I wound up doing some freelance work for the Times for their Wednesday Dining & Wine section. From there, I started networking, just meeting as many people as I could, and doing whatever I could in the industry: catering, food styling, testing recipes…

When Food Network came on the scene, I was drawn like a moth to the flame. After freelancing for a while, I was hired as chef in their midtown studio kitchen, where I had the honor of cooking with amazing chefs and cookbook authors. as well as a team of passionate foodies who were also drawn to the network. In the beginning, it seemed as if we were really making the TV part of it up as we went along.

Today, people come out of culinary school figuring they’ll immediately land some really plum job. But, what I look for and long to see are the people who are willing to try everything, really branch out and experience as much as they can, and then figure out what they excel at. Don’t refuse to do anything; take time to learn. Experience your professional life fully. That’s kind of an old school way of looking at things, but that’s how I see it.

How did you decide that ICE/Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School was best for you?

Well, back then, you could go stage in a restaurant or you could attend a four year program like CIA. But I already had a degree, and prior careers, so I didn’t want to do that. When I got to New York, I just started talking to people in the industry. After a bit of research, I chose Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School. It was pretty scrappy in those days – in a good way!

The first dot-com crash had just happened and a lot of people in my class were looking to retool themselves. They had dreamt of a career in digital and were forced to realize that was not going to happen. So, they decided that they’d be the next great chef, and I remember how shocked many were when they heard what a starting salary for a prep cook was!

It was hugely disturbing for people in my class to understand that you just had to pay your dues, having had some business experience, I knew that. You have to save enough money to enroll in the program, and to have a little bit of running room after, to stage around or whatever you have to do to get into people’s kitchens and just learn as much as you can in order to find your place. And there weren’t that many places! In those days, being a woman in the kitchen wasn’t that comfortable either, but I lucked out and ended up working for a woman chef.

As far as ICE/Kump, you get out of it what you put into it. I knew I was going to have to stop everything and totally apply myself. And I just loved it.

What’s your role right now at Food Network/Cooking Channel and how do you see the business evolving?

I’m Senior Vice President, Culinary Production here at Food Network. I have the pleasure of heading up the amazingly talented Food Networkkitchen team. Just like home, our kitchen really is the heart of our network. The 32 culinary professionals on staff live our brand and contribute to every facet to keep us on trend. I have to say, I finally have my dream job!

Food Network has boomed since its early days. Originally, the kitchen was responsible for working on set with talent as well as cooking, styling, and scripting what happened behind the scenes for our TV food demos. Then our website grew, and much later our magazine launched, and the kitchen also focused on developing recipes, tips, and other food content for the home cook.

As the network gained popularity, fans wanted more ways to engage with our brand. So our new business team brought us in to co-develop new ideas. In the past few years, we’ve launched an award-winning line of wines with Wente Vineyards called “Entwine” that was blended specifically to pair with food. The kitchen not only participates in the blending process, but they also feed a website with wine pairing recipes. We also develop and test cookware for our Food Network branded product line at Kohl’s.

Our latest big news is that we just opened our first Food Network Kitchen restaurant in the Jet Blue terminal of Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Airport. We’re using this as a prototype for more in other cities. Our dream is to give travelers a taste of the town they’re flying to (or through) by building menus of our own recipes that are inspired by local favorites. Getting people to pull up a chair and actually taste the brand is pretty cool. We’ve never been able to do that before.

One of our challenges was how to stay local/sustainable while growing locations across the country. We addressed that by mapping out a 60-mile radius around the airport and sourcing ingredients and growers to make our dishes. We also like to curate the best food artisans from these locations and let travelers know where to taste some great product while they’re in town. Actually, this is nothing new for us; Food Network programs have celebrated regional food for years. Needless to say, our kitchen team is never bored.

It took Food Network a while to actually produce a magazine, which is interesting because it’s diverse and doesn’t have the same feel as the other food magazines out there. How did that evolve?

Hearst is the answer. They are an amazing partner for us. Maile Carpenter is our Editor in Chief. It took a lot of getting together to figure out what the magazine’s voice and look would be, and how we could work well together. Maile totally gets us. Her husband’s a chef, so it’s a very comfortable relationship. Our test kitchen and the Hearst editorial team work closely on each issue.

Plus, Food Network is pretty unique in its food diversity, and I think the magazine reflects that. We’re a mash-up of home cooks, chefs, and a huge base of Food Network fans so the magazine must talk to a lot of people with varying skills and interests. That audience ranges from busy moms looking for weeknight solutions, to parents and kids who like to have fun in the kitchen, and also includes people who may have a bit more time on weekends to make something more challenging.

Our test kitchen shoots roughs of dishes they’ve developed and sends them to Hearst where they’re re-shot for the magazine. We proof every issue and test every recipe – even the recipes from chefs – just to be doubly certain they’ll work for our reader. There’s nothing worse than asking someone to invest money and time in a recipe that doesn’t work well or taste delicious.

Do you have people putting their feelers out there doing research for you, listening to the industry?

Sure, we have a research department as well as a culinary researcher. Our talent also tells us what’s happening in their worlds, so they add to our information gathering as well. My team travels quite a bit for work and when they’re in the field they naturally check out the local food scene in restaurants, food trucks, and grocery stores. We want our shows and recipes to reflect what our audience is craving, while also being relevant to everyone with ingredients they don’t have to search high and low for.

We have a real mixed bag of cooks in our kitchen; people passionate about a specific cuisine, bakers, as well as people from different parts of the country and different ethnic upbringings. We try to reflect the diversity of our viewers. I’m originally from Chicago, so I have a different perspective than someone raised here in Manhattan. I know everything doesn’t revolve around New York (laughs)…usually (laughs).

What’s the most exciting thing going on at Food Network right now?

Lots. After nearly 20 years at Food Network, it seems like we’re running on all cylinders. Our website is on top of its game and the digital team has launched some amazing apps, which the kitchen has supported: check out Cupcakes, Soups, and Cookies. We’re looking forward to a number of new shows launching on Food Network very soon, and we’re in the process of writing a cookbook for one of our top competition shows.

What is your fondest memory of Food Network?

Hmm. There are so many. But, I especially liked the camaraderie between chef, kitchen, band, and crew during Emeril Live. The pilot of this show was a revelation. The audience brought a new element to cooking shows. Cooking had become truly entertaining, and everyone, especially Emeril, was having a great time!

We all know the food industry is big on giving back, but another memory (post-Katrina), was discovering that Scripps (our parent company) is a very charitable place to work. We spent a lot of time shooting in New Orleans, so when Katrina hit we were all just kind of blown away. One of the guys in our kitchen asked me, “What can we do? These people are hungry and no one is helping them.” That spurred me on to call corporate and say, “We’d like to do something…I don’t know what or how yet, but we’ll figure it out.” I mean, the Red Cross wasn’t even there yet, and Scripps said OK. I was very impressed that our company not only had a good heart, but was also willing to take action.

We weren’t able to enter NOLA, but we heard Gulfport, Mississippi needed assistance for first responders, police, and rescue teams who were devastated by days end. The parts of town that hadn’t been blown away had been evacuated, so we set our small group of cooks in a grammar school cafeteria and cooked comfort food all day long. We had to cook with the pars in the school pantry, which was pretty bad! You know, huge cans of who knows what. At that point we called Sysco and talked them into bringing a truckload of fresh food through roadblocks to Gulfport.

Next, chefs were offering to come down to cook. Alton Brown and Ming Tsai were first on the scene dishing out food in the cafeteria line and cheering people up. Working for a company that supports social responsibility left a lasting impression on us all.

What charitable organization do you feel most strongly about?

Share Our Strength. I find them to be a very grass roots organization that works through strong partnerships with chefs and corporations to find solutions to big problems. Billy Shore announced No Kid Hungry in 2007-2008, and made us all focus on the fact that there’s a new face of hunger – right here in our own country. Food Network is Share Our Strength’s media partner. If you haven’t seen our documentary Hunger Hits Home, you should check it out.

I also noticed that most of the Food Network chefs are paired up with this charitable organization as well.

Well, chefs are an amazingly charitable lot; you know that. We’re all in the industry of feeding people and making people happy. Taste of the Nation (also a Share Our Strength event) has been around for years. So, chefs got in on the ground level helping Share Our Strength with their mission.

Another recipient of Share Our Strength support is Food and Finance High School. I’m on their Board of Advisors. It’s a public school in Hell’s Kitchen that accepts kids from all over the city who are interested in building a career in food. Amazingly, there’s a fish farm on the lower level growing tilapia and a hydroponics farm on the second floor growing pineapples – not your typical public school. Cornell has contributed to these labs, but the school needs a ton of support to keep running. It’s a pretty rough and tumble school, with guards and metal detectors at the door. But many chefs donate their time to teach and take interns into their kitchens. Students come away with a lot of learning about the future of food.

I was there once showing somebody around the school, and I was trying to get one of the kids warmed up to talk a little bit, because they’re just so wonderful, and I said, ‘So, there’s a professor in the basement growing tilapia, and you have aquaponics two floors up, and I understand a connection will soon be made between the two systems so that the fish will be fed from the byproducts of the plants and vice versa.’ I asked him, ‘Why are they doing that?’ He answered, ‘How else do you expect to grow food on Mars?’

What do you think is the most serious food related issue facing this country today?

Obesity. Love it or hate it, I think Bloomberg really built awareness to the fact that we’re consuming way too many empty calories. I think moderation and education is where we need to focus. Through the 90’s and 00’s, we’ve literally blown ourselves up in size. So, I think it’s time to become a little more rational about what we eat and how much of it.

What cookbook are you cooking from right now?

Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem. His lovely way of cooking is really on my mind right now. He has a couple of restaurants in London and a largely veggie repertoire. He’s really capturing Mediterranean and healthful whole, fresh, gorgeous food and crossing borders in a very non-political way, which is very interesting for a chef to do right now.

What’s one thing you wish people knew about Food Network and Cooking Channel, something that people don’t ask you about that you wish they did?

A lot of people don’t realize that there’s actually a real world, working Food Network kitchen. We’re really committed to food, so we have experts who are cooking, writing, developing delicious recipes, designing product and researching for our website, shows, and magazine to give our brand credibility and strength.

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Culinary Career Changer: Leigh Koh Peart of Craft Cakes

By Carly DeFilippo

16950026 ICE grad Leigh Koh Peart (Culinary Management and Pastry & Baking Arts ’08) had an dynamic career in the music industry, but something wasn’t quite right. She moved across the world to study at ICE, which led to externships and work opportunities with some of the industry’s top bakers and pastry chefs. Today, she manages an extraordinary custom cakes business out of her home in London.

What were you doing before you enrolled at ICE, and what inspired you to change careers?

I was working in Singapore at the time, running event logistics for MTV music events in Asia. It was great fun but I was ready to learn something new and see more of the world. I always had a love for baking and wanted to take it to the next level. I also wanted to learn how to manage a food business. So I picked the ICE program because I was able to do both concurrently. It was quite intense but really fun, I learned a lot and made such good friends from around the world.

Where was your externship? And what have you been up to since graduation?

I did two externships. The first one was at Financier Patisserie, where I helped to produce their daily range of beautiful French-style pastries. Then I realized I wanted to learn more about the art of cake decorating, so I applied for an externship at Ron-Ben Israel Cakes, which was an amazing experience and inspired me to start my own cake business.

I moved to London after my externship at RBI Cakes. I worked as a pastry chef in Michelin-starred Chef Pierre Gagnaire’s Sketch in Mayfair, London. I learned so much working alongside high-caliber chefs, but knew that life in a restaurant kitchen was not what I wanted in the long term. I decided to start my own cake business, Craft Cakes, where I currently make bespoke cakes, teach cake decorating classes and host parties in London.

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Describe a typical work day.

I work from home mostly, so I start the day by answering emails or ordering ingredients, and then go on to bake and decorate cakes due for delivery or prepare for classes. I also trawl the internet for new techniques or products for cake decorating all the time. Sometimes I get a bit naughty and sneak off for a lazy long lunch with a friend at a hot new restaurant in town.

What might people be surprised to learn about your job?

It is as fun as it looks! The best part is the flexibility of being self-employed. I can find the time to pursue other culinary adventures, such as running my own supper club. Please check out Two Hungry Girls when you are next in London! We specialise in creative Chinese cuisine.

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Five years ago, did you ever think you’d be doing what you’re doing now?

I always had the idea of opening my own cake shop or cafe. I am still working towards that goal, slowly but surely! I’d also like to write my own cookbook or be a cake and baked goods consultant to companies in the F&B industry. Anything to do with cake, basically! It is a life-long obsession.

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Unique Culinary Career: Catherine McCord

By Carly DeFilippo

Actress, model, mom and former ICE student Catherine McCord is the founder of Weelicious.com, the online destination for family-friendly recipes. In an age when sneaking nutrition into “kids’ meals” has become the norm, Weelicious shares how to get little ones involved in the kitchen, develop children’s palates and kick-start their long-term health and wellness. Sounds like a great start for future chefs!

What were you doing before you enrolled?
I had been modeling, television hosting and acting for years. On 9/11 I had an appointment to see the Institute for Culinary Education. Living through that experience made me realize that it was time to seize the moment and follow my dream. I chose ICE because I wanted the experience of working hands-on with a variety of techniques and cuisines, as well as access to the extensive specialty courses offered by the school.

What have you been up to since your time at ICE?
I had to go back to work after school, but had the wonderful opportunity of staging at Montrachet, Esca and Joe’s in Los Angeles. I started Weelicious after the birth of my son in 2007. My first cookbook, Weelicious, was published by Harper Collins in 2012 and Weelicious: Lunches comes out this summer. Since the blog debuted, I’ve produced an original cooking video every week, now totaling over 200. I’ve also appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, as a writer in The Huffington Post, Parents, Babble, Baby Center and now write a monthly recipe column in Parenting.

Briefly describe a day in your (working) life.
Everyday is different, and that’s the best part for me. Several days a week I test recipes. This includes development, shopping for the ingredients, testing (usually several times), prop styling, photographing, uploading images and writing about them. Other days I’m producing or shooting cooking videos for Weelicious or other websites and advertisers, or I’m cooking around the country at Sur La Table.

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What might people be surprised to learn about your job?
It’s definitely not 9-5. You have to be really motivated if you’re hoping to turn a cooking blog into a business, but along the way the value of what I’ve learned is pretty incredible.

Where would you like to be in 5 years?
I would love to continue on the path of writing cookbooks, producing video and/or television and being part of this incredible community of food bloggers and home cooks.

What are some of the challenges you have found in creating family-friendly recipes?
You’re never going to please everyone. What works for one family may not for another. Offering daily variety on the site has been key to appealing to a wide range of culinary desires.

What is your philosophy in terms of “kids’ food”?
The key to Weelicious is offering recipes the entire family can enjoy. They’re not just for kids. I try to create food you’ll love, no matter your age, that’s fast, fresh and easy – using minimal ingredients with maximum flavor!

Do you have any insight into how to develop children’s (and especially fussy eaters’) palates?
Getting kids involved in what they eat from day one is the easiest way to get kids excited about food. The more they understand about a variety of foods, the more likely they are to try and love them.

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Alumni Startup: Cocoamains

By Kathryn Gordon

Food Start Up Help is a consulting group started by colleagues at ICE, which assists entrepreneurs in bakery-related start up concept definition and business planning, financing, menu profitability, production and operational efficiency. Today, we celebrate the success story of one of our clients, ICE Professional Pastry Program Alum and Chef/Owner of Cocoamains, Kathleen Escamilla-Hernandez.

Inception and Planning

Kathleen finished the ICE program in January, 2011 and was hired out of her externship at Bouchon Bakery. There she began dreaming about starting her own business – something she had always wanted as a goal. Food Start Up Help supported Kathleen with initial concept planning and menu design.

Kathleen: “I had been developing a variety of baked goods but wasn’t sure what products would sell. Any entrepreneur in the food business needs unbiased feedback on their product. Chefs Jeff and Kathryn helped me develop my menu and figure out where to sell my product.”

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Farmers Market Launch

Since Kathleen is the kind of person who never sleeps, she was able to keep working at her bakery production job while researching farmers markets, obtaining licenses and insurance and locating a commercial kitchen for production. FSUH pitched in with ingredient sourcing and recipe cost analysis for Kathleen’s pound cakes, bar cookies, madeleines and macarons.

Kathleen: “I was able to handle many aspects of my new business independently, but appreciate that Chef Kathryn was able to verify my cost estimates before I finalized my retail and wholesale prices. Nobody should go into business without solid knowledge of their cost structure.”

Packaging and Design

Kathleen got a fantastic lead to sell her macaron line to Macy’s on an exclusive basis, to be sold as a refrigerated grab-n-go item. But at the last minute, before the paperwork was signed, the VP of the purchasing department decided that Macy’s should also sell gift boxes of Kathleen’s macarons.

Kathleen: “Food Start Up Help guided me in choosing a custom packaging design, since I needed very quick production and turn around. My husband works in graphic design, so he worked with the box manufacturer. In the end, I am so happy with my Cocoamains packaging!”

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Increased Production / Troubleshooting

Cocoamain’s production levels soon outgrew the original commercial kitchen that Kathleen was renting. She located a larger incubator facility, but then had to switch ovens. French-style macarons are sensitive to subtle changes, and chefs often have to reevaluate their baking strategy when they relocate to a new kitchen.

Kathleen: “I actually had to switch ovens two times in my new commercial kitchen location, which is a macaron baker’s nightmare, since each oven requires a bit of tweaking. Chef Kathryn – a macaron expert – held my hand through the production troubleshooting. Thank goodness, I now have a brand new oven and everything is back on track!”

Internet Sales

With her production and packaging logistics all figured out, Kathleen was ready to start selling Cocoamains macarons online. But to sell pre-packaged macarons at Macy’s and on the internet, she needed to provide the nutritional content of her product lines.

Kathleen: “Food Start Up Help analyzed the ingredients per my recipe formulas and helped generate nutritional labels. Now that I have product, packaging and accurate labeling – we’re positioned for our first full year of Cocoamains sales!”

We look forward to seeing Cocoamains distributed at Macy’s and online. It’s been an exciting journey, and we wish Kathleen all the success she deserves.

If you, like Kathleen, have an idea for a great product, but aren’t sure where to start, consider our “How to Successfully Open a Bakery-Related Business” class at ICE. We also offer a unique, free weekly blog magazine, featuring stories by food entrepreneurs and tips for success by subject matter experts. Learn from their lessons so you don’t have to! www.foodstartuphelp.com

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Celebrating the Food of Oaxaca with Chef Ivy Stark

By Virginia Monaco

Yesterday evening, students and alumni welcomed back ICE Alumni Hall of Fame inductee Chef Ivy Stark for a demonstration of Oaxaxan Chichilo mole and Agua Fresca. Stark attended ICE when it was Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School and got her start at the renowned Border Grill. She is currently the executive chef of Dos Caminos and is thrilled to cook her beloved regional Mexican cuisine every day.

ivystark

Chef Stark has spent significant time in Mexico, touring the distinct regions and gathering recipes along the way. She shared with students many of her insider tricks, the kind that you can only learn by spending time with Mexican locals who have been passing these recipes down for generations. One was reserving the seeds from dried chilies to be toasted on top of a burning tortilla, adding a smokiness and spice to the finished mole. Another was the particular type of chilies that were vital to the mole recipe: chilhuacle negro chilies, which only grow outside of a particular small town. She praised Mexican cooks as extremely resourceful – using leftover bones for stocks and lard for fat, as well as their choice to make a beautiful sauce based on chilies, vegetables and spices the star of the plate, instead of more expensive cuts of meat. Restaurant chefs and home cooks alike can learn valuable lessons in conservation and sustainable cooking from the efficiency of this regional style. It may have been born of poverty, but it has continued, due to a proud tradition and growing global appreciation of Oaxacan delicacies.

mole

In Mexico, moles are a celebratory food made for birthdays, weddings and christenings. They are labor-intensive and require the perfect balance of dozens of ingredients. It is thus a very proud cook who can produce a smooth, shiny, well-balanced sauce. Moles contain many essential culinary lessons for burgeoning chefs. Each ingredient must be carefully toasted or charred to gradually build flavor. It also provides the opportunity to build and train one’s palette by using and balancing many exotic ingredients. Making mole is usually a two day process, and shortcuts produce an inferior result. Due to this unique mix of complexity and patience, a cook can feel a great sense of pride when a carefully cooked and balanced mole is complete. Ivy herself beamed at the smooth, glossy texture of her finished Oaxacan Chichilo mole, and her time, hard work and pride were certainly savored by all the lucky attendees as they cleaned their plates of the last bit of sauce.

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“All In”: Jason Apfelbaum

By Carly DeFilippo

ICE alum and Chef’s Advisory Council member Jason Apfelbaum is far from your average culinary entrepreneur. When he first enrolled, his dream was to own a boutique hotel in a remote location (and, eventually, to become the mayor of that small town). The choice to attend culinary school was a “back up plan”, in case one of his employees didn’t show up to work. But all that changed when a guest speaker in the catering business visited his Culinary Management class. Soon enough, Jason was building his own catering empire, Chef & Co, which, at its peak, was the premier private and corporate fine-dining caterer in New York City.

After more than twenty years as an entrepreneur, Jason recently made the shift to become the Director of Food and Beverage for Morgans Hotel Group. This new challenge is only one in a series of crowning successes in Apfelbaum’s professional ascent, and he’s the first to attest that hard work and determination far outweigh luck in this highly competitive industry.

That was the message that Jason underscored this week, when he spoke to a class of Culinary Management students. Kicking off his presentation, he handed each student a poker chip, and shared the following video: “All In”.

As the Giants’ story demonstrates, it is dogged commitment to and passion for the goal towards which one strives that can secure even the most unlikely success.

Beyond this inspirational message, Apfelbaum explained that his diverse achievements are all based on two professional strategies:

Hire great people. Jason subscribes entirely to the philosophy that “you are only as good as your weakest team member” and that strategic hiring can cultivate a powerful company culture. To demonstrate his point, Jason introduced his most recent hire, kicking off his first day at Morgans Group with Apfelbaum’s motivational presentation. Luckily for this young professional, Jason also professed a strong belief in generous compensation packages, stating that “in the [Food and Beverage] industry, it’s not a question of whether people will steal from you, it’s how much they will steal from you”. When you hire the best people and reward them for their hard work, it’s a winning combination.
Know your weaknesses. As a manager, it’s important to understand what your weaknesses are and to hire the best person you can find to take over those tasks. Give these highly skilled employees two rules: work hard and be happy. With that, let them manage their projects with limited micro-managing, and provide all the tools they need so they have no excuses if they don’t succeed.

In the hour and a half that Jason spoke, there were more outrageous stories and sage advice than I have room to publish. But one repeated message rang true: the connections students make with their professors, peers and alumni network can make or break a career. So if students felt a little bit luckier upon leaving the lecture, it wasn’t due to the poker chip in their pocket, but rather, the copy of Apfelbaum’s business card.

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Alum Spotlight: Anna Monaco of Shake Shack

ICE alum Anna Monaco is now the General Manager of the recently opened Shake Shack New Haven. ICE President, Rick Smilow stopped by the restaurant on opening night to enjoy a burger and is pictured above with Anna and Shake Shack founder, Danny Meyer. Below is an interview with Anna on her new exciting role and how she got there.

What was your biggest take away after attending Peter Kump New York School of Cooking (now ICE)?
If you love what you’re doing, the people around you will love what you’re doing too. I have friends from my culinary arts program class who I still see and we have ‘clean out the fridge’ parties. We use everything we can find in someone’s fridge and make the most insane meal out of it (brussel sprouts with pancetta, guacamole with cucumbers, onion soup, manicotti and orange glazed chicken – and that’s just the appetizers!). Cooking and eating is such a communal event that brings people together, how could you not love what you’re doing! Chef Einav Geffen was my instructor for both the first and last section of the culinary arts program. She saw us as green, newbies learning fabrication of fish and beef and then saw us as graduates who could cater their own cocktail party for graduation. She had such passion in everything she did and it was so inspiring to see. She pushed us beyond our limits and I know that my whole graduating class would agree that we are better people for having met her and had the privilege of being taught by her.

From my management course, Neal Bermas taught me that doing something simple well is always better than doing something complicated poorly. From opening bars to steak houses and everything in between, we looked at restaurant after restaurant and discussed menus, marketing strategies, budgets and so much more and found every time that those who fail in this industry are not able to bring things back to basics. I still think about opening my own restaurant someday and know that if I do, Neal’s voice will be in my head questioning each decision I make and pushing it to be the best restaurant in its field.

Why did you go to culinary school?
I went to culinary school because food fascinates me. I still remember the first food book I ever read. It was a book about olive oils from around the world that I found at my grandparents’ house and I asked to borrow it. Learning about food, where it comes from and how different cultures eat and incorporate it into their daily lives is incredibly interesting to me. I still have that olive oil book!

How did you make your way to GM at Shake Shack?
4 years ago – actually 4 years ago to the day 9.30.08! I went into the Upper West Side Shake Shack location on a rainy morning in response to a Craig’s List ad (at the time, it was more of a construction zone than a restaurant). I was interviewed by 2 of the managers there and was hired on the spot for a line cook position. I worked my way to supervisor quickly and was then approached about managing the first non-conventional Shake Shack at Citi Field the following spring. I happily accepted! I spent the following 81 home games traveling to Flushing for double headers in August, subway series madness and too many team rivalry fights to count. From there I helped open another 6 restaurants before moving to New Haven to open the Westport location as AGM. Serendipitously, they decided to open a location 4 blocks from my apartment and I pounced on the opportunity! I have been fortunate enough to find a job (and career) where I respect the people around me and they respect me. It is such mutual love!

What sets Shake Shack apart from other burger hot spots?
I have listened to Danny Meyer give talks about this company so many times and it really comes down to the way we make people feel. Other burger hot spots are using great products just like Shake Shack. Some of them even get their burger blend from the same butcher almost every Shake Shack gets their blend from. The products are high quality and we really care about them – but so does everyone these days. We believe that we are providing a full experience, not just the delicious food (which believe me, is amazing!). How many times have you gone into a fast casual restaurant and came out talking more about the people who took your order and gave you your food than about the actual food you ate? How many times have you come away talking about the cool atmosphere and design of the place? Few other internationally known restaurant groups have that ability. We have the unique benefit of being born out of a fine dining mother company and take that to heart in every guest interaction we have.

What is your best advice for those interested in the food scene?
Be sure you are really committed. I have found that people in this industry work hard and play hard and for some, it becomes more of a job and less of a passion. You will work weekends. You will work holidays. You will work hours that make you weak in the knees…literally. But, there is NOTHING better than seeing a child take their first bite of a burger you cooked and watching in excitement as they devour the rest of it. There is nothing better than being the place where a guest wants to bring in his former college a cappella group to serenade his girlfriend for her birthday. We are a part of people’s happiest memories; their anniversary dinners, their birthday parties, their first dates and it is such an honor to be invited into people’s lives like that. The smiles on our guests’ faces melt away the problems of the day, the crazy schedules and make every second of that hard work worth it.

What is your favorite thing on Shake Shack’s menu?
Here in New Haven, we actually have a special menu item that no other Shake Shack has permanently; the Handsome Dog. In tribute to Yale’s mascot, Handsome Dan, we took our all beef hot dog and griddled it crisp, just like the rest of our hot dogs, and topped it with our Shake Shack cheese sauce and crispy fried shallots. I mean, could there be anything better than that??!!

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ICE Alumni Round-up

ICE alumni are finding success through out the food world. From winning awards for food video production to receiving attention for opening new restaurants, our graduates often have many incredible achievements. Check out just some of the alumni finding success and making recent headlines throughout the industry.

* The James Beard Awards were held in early May, and ICE alumni were among the recipients! Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold with Chris Young and Maxime Bilet (Culinary Arts ’05) won in the Cooking from a Professional Point of View category, as well as Cookbook of the Year. Jamie Tiampo (Culinary Management ’06) also took home the award for Video Webcast for eatTV.

* Angela Cuervo (Pastry & Baking Arts ’07), owner of Making That Cake, was a contestant on the new season of Sweet Genius on Food Network.

* David Seigal (Culinary Management ’03) appeared in The New York Times “Off the Menu” column, as chef of Chelsea’s Table, a new family-friendly restaurant in Chelsea Piers.

* Anup Joshi (Culinary Arts ’04), chef de cuisine of Tertulia, was named among Zagat‘s “30 Under 30: NYC’s Hottest Up-and-Comers”.

* Kate McAleer’s (Pastry & Baking Arts/Culinary Management ’11) new organic and natural chocolate business, Bixby & Co., was featured in Dessert Professional.

* Emily Peterson (Culinary/Management ’09) was recently recognized by Chef2chef as one of the country’s top 50 culinary instructors to follow on Twitter.

* Anna Levien (Pastry & Baking Arts ’06) appeared in the New Jersey Herald in a piece on vegan cooking

To network with these ICE alumni and many more, you can connect with Career Services on Facebook or LinkedIn.