The average career of a football player is only said to be a little more than three years. So what is a player to do after his days on the gridiron are over? Many want to open a restaurant and some even want to open their own hotel. With all that in mind the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) hosted 21 current and former  professional football players for a NFL Hospitality and Culinary Management Workshop. On May 6^th the players (and some of their wives) gathered to learn from the best in the business. Steve Zagor, the dean of ICE’s Business Management programs led the all day program. Zagor says "it was a great opportunity to give NFL players a preview into life after  their pro football careers, as a restaurant owner or investor/operator in the hospitality world.”

Last night, more than 15 ICE students and recent graduates cooked with the culinary stars at the James Beard Awards. Among the hundreds of volunteer opportunities we organize each year, this annual event stands out as one of the most exciting, providing students with the chance to cook alongside such influential chefs as Grant Achatz, Michael Mina and Marcus Samuelsson.

6:10 PM

Moving from savory to sweet, Chef Chad Pagano demonstrated the difference between making dessert at home and for a crowd. Inviting Martin Rucker and Herb Taylor to whip up a batch of chocolate mousse, he added gelatin and simple syrup to the standard recipe, and explained the persuasive power of pastry in a restaurant's marketing plan.

5:40 PM

To finish up the long day of learning, we treated our NFL guests to a duo of cooking demos with Chefs James Briscione and Chad Pagano. James recruited Babatunde Oshinowo and Adalius Thomas to help him revive his southern roots, preparing a seasonal succotash dish.

By Carly DeFilippo

This week, the New York culinary community celebrated the 20th anniversary of Chefs Collaborative, the leading national nonprofit network of chefs invested in creating a more sustainable food landscape. ICE hosted the cookbook launch for the collaborative's 2013 publication, featuring recipes from such renowned chefs as Dan Barber, Rick Bayless, Mary Sue Milliken, and Ethan Stowell.

Last night, ICE was thrilled to host the 11^th annual Cookin’ with Allagash Scholarship competition.  It was a wonderful night filled with great food, delicious beers and generous prizes!

Last week, four members of the ICE New York team attended the International Association of Culinary Professional’s (IACP) annual conference in San Francisco. The organization, founded in 1987, boasts more than 3,000 members in 32 countries, ranging from chefs and culinary instructors to food media professionals, cookbook authors, culinary entrepreneurs and food policy advocates. It was a pleasure to see several dozen ICE alumni in attendance, and in particular, at least seven ICE alumni serving as speakers or resources at the event.

The competition was …

Renown chefs Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart know a thing or two about southern cuisine. In Dupree’s 40-year career, she has authored twelve cookbooks (for which she won two James Beard Awards) and hosted over 300 culinary television shows. Graubart was the television producer for Dupree’s New …

This month, ICE had the pleasure of co-hosting a very special event with the New York Women’s Culinary Alliance: a conversation with renown home cook, food writer, francophile – and new bakery owner – Dorie Greenspan.

The first time Greenspan attempted to cook, she burned …