ICE alumni continually achieve amazing things in many different aspects of the culinary world. From running thriving specialty food stores to writing popular food books, ICE alums often win accolades and receive attention for their success. Check out just some of the alumni finding success and making recent headlines.

*Gail Simmons (Culinary Arts ’99) new book, Talking with my Mouth Full was featured in an article in The Globe and Mail.

*Recipes from Geila Hocherman’s (Culinary Arts ’99) Kosher Revolution were included in an article that appeared in a variety of outlets such as The Vancouver Sun and The Montreal Gazette.

*Rick Larsen (Culinary Arts/Culinary Management ’08), sous chef at Bar Americain, was part of Team Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America this April.

*Tim Healea (Culinary Arts ’98) was named a StarChefs Rising Star for his bakery Little T American Baker in Portland, OR.

*Modern Filipino restaurant Maharlika was up for Best International Eats as part of Time Out New York’s 2012 Food & Drink Awards. Miguel Trinidad (Culinary Arts ’07) is the restaurant’s executive chef.

*Ceci Carmichael (Culinary Arts ’97), one of the food experts on Home Made Simple on the Oprah Winfrey Network, has launched a cooking and food website, Swell Food.

*As profiled in Edible East End, Michael Avella’s (Culinary Arts ’03/ Culinary Management ’04) Love Lane Kitchen in Mattituck, Long Island, recently expanded into an adjacent space known as Love Lane Market.

*Anup Joshi‘s (Culinary Arts ’04) recipe for Sambhar was featured on Tasting Table.

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

From running award-winning restaurant kitchens to writing notable cookbooks, ICE alumni continue to win accolades and receive attention for their success. Check out just some of the alumni finding success and making recent headlines.

*Jonathon Stranger (Culinary Arts ’04) of Ludivine in Oklahoma City was nominated by Food & Wine for their People’s Best New Chef award. You can vote for him online.

*Several ICE alumni were among the James Beard Awards semifinalists: Anup Joshi (Culinary Arts ’04) is Chef de Cuisine at Best New Restaurant semifinalist Tertulia. Tiffany MacIsaac (Culinary Arts ’02) of Birch & Barley in Washington, D.C. is up for Outstanding Pastry Chef. And Rachel Yang (Culinary Arts ’01) and Seif Chirchi of Joule in Seattle were named as semifinalists in the Best Chef: Northwest category.

*Three ICE alumni were among the IACP finalists: Jamie Tiampo (Culinary Management ’06) for his work at EatTV, Maxime Bilet (Culinary Arts ’05) for Modernist Cuisine and Ryan Farr (Culinary Arts ’10) for Whole Beast Butchery.

*Regina Anderson (Culinary Arts ‘05), was declared the winner on a 2012 episode of Food Network’s Chopped.

*Gail Simmons (Culinary Arts ’99) released her book, Talking with my Mouth Full. She filmed a video on how to make her Banoffee Pie for the popular video series My Last Supper at ICE.

*Zach Kutsher’s (Culinary Management ’09) restaurant, Kutsher’s Tribeca, was reviewed in The New York Times. He was also interviewed for the blog Restaurant Girl.

*Pnina Peled (Culinary Arts ’00), Executive Chef of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, was included in a Wall Street Journal article about the evolution of hospital food.

*Kelly Senyei (Culinary Arts ’10), the founder of DICED, is about to release her book, Food Blogging for Dummies in April 2012. The book received early press on Eater.

*Kate McAleer (Pastry & Baking Arts & Culinary Management ’11) launched her new chocolate business, Bixby & Co.

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

Director of Pastry & Baking Arts Andrea Tutunjian with PAC Members Surbhi Sahni (Tulsi), Sina Clark (Magnolia), Joseph Murphy (Jean Georges) and Michael Laiskonis

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ICE has a Program Advisory Committee (PAC) for all of our career training diploma programs. These groups, who include some big names in the New York and national culinary world, meet several times a year to make suggestions about the school’s programs and progress. All the professionals that are part of PAC are committed to excellence in culinary education.They’re an invaluable resource, because they ensure that our education meets their high standards and that our students receive training that properly prepares them for the challenges and opportunities in the field. Yesterday morning, we held one of these meetings where the topic of focus was the schools’ facility, equipment and use of technology. More…

Whether as chefs, cake decorators, specialty food purveyors or caterers, ICE alumni are finding success in a plethora of different avenues in the food world. Check out just some of the alumni finding success and making recent headlines.

*Lots of ICE alumni have been mentioned in The New York Times in the past couple of weeks: Justin Philips’ (Management ’07) Beer Table has opened a second location in Grand Central Terminal. Anup Joshi (Culinary ’04), chef de cuisine of the soon-to-open Tertulia restaurant, was mentioned in the article about chef Seamus Mullen’s cooking for personal health. Kary Goolsby (Management ’01/Culinary ’02) is chef of newly opened raw bar and craft beer restaurant, Upstate, in the East Village. James Sato (Culinary ’03), along with partners, has opened Chuko, a locally sourced ramen shop in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

*Time Out New York profiled Carl Raymond (Culinary ’08) and his classes at the Astor Center.

*Maxime Bilet (Culinary ’05) was included in a piece on Bloomberg about the new dinners from the team behind Modernist Cuisine.

*Gail Simmons (Culinary ’99) was interviewed about her favorite vacation spots in the Chicago Tribune.

*Meredith Foltynowicz (Culinary ’10) was quoted in a piece in USA Today about changing careers.

*Andrea Lynn (Culinary ’05) had a recipe from her new book, I Love Trader Joe’s College Cookbook featured in the Daily News.

*Stacy Adimando (Culinary ’10) was interviewed about her new cookbook, The Cookiepedia, in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

To connect with these ICE alumni and many more, join ICE’s network on LinkedIn, or follow ICE on Facebook and Twitter

ICE Pastry & Baking Arts alumna Melissa Camacho is among the 14 talented pastry chef-testants set to compete for a sweet victory on Bravo’s Top Chef Just Desserts. We were so thrilled to hear that another former ICE student would be competing on the Emmy- and James Beard Award–winning show! Fellow alum and graduate of the Culinary Arts program Gail Simmons is the host of the show. Competition gets whipped up to another level in the show’s second season, where the contestants will be dealt challenging tasks ranging from concocting delectable fairytale showpieces to edible room décor. Camacho and her fellow contestants will endure pressurized challenges, quick fires and even guest celebrity judges that include the cast of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, renowned Pastry Chef François Payard and even one of the Beastie Boys! We are so excited for Just Dessert’s Aug. 24 premiere! For now, here is a peek of Camacho’s pastry chef credentials: More…

ICE Senior Career Services Advisor Amy Quazza and Director of Career Services Maureen Drum Fagin with Outstanding Chef Award Winner José Andrés

As we welcome spring, food lovers and passionate diners everywhere look forward to the annual James Beard Awards. Celebrated close to the anniversary of James Beard’s birthday in May, the awards are given to the best chefs, restaurants and media in the country. ICE founder Peter Kump helped launch the James Beard Foundation and ICE is proud to maintain close ties to the organization and their hard work to promote and celebrate food in America. The Awards are regarded as the most prestigious awards in the culinary industry, often referred to as the “Oscars” of food.

This year, the awards ceremonies and festivities were spread over the entire weekend as the food world gathered in NYC for a celebration of all things culinary. On Friday night, the foundation held their Book, Broadcast & Journalism Awards, hosted by Ted Allen of Food Network’s Chopped and ICE alum Gail Simmons of Bravo’s Top Chef. In fact, Top Chef, took home the award for best Television Show, In Studio or Fixed Location. ICE alums Dominique Andrews and Marie Ostrosky were also nominated for the second year in a row in the Television Special category. More…

ICE President Rick Smilow Introduces Modernist Cuisine Author Nathan Myhrvold

Modernist Cuisine is perhaps the most highly anticipated cookbook ever. Nathan Myhrvold and co-authors Chris Young and Maxime Bilet (an ICE grad) worked with a 20-person team and spent six years creating the six-volume, 2,400-page set that reveals science-inspired techniques for cooking. And last night, the team celebrated the launch of their book at ICE.

During their week in New York, the team appeared on the Today show and The Colbert Report and prepared food for events at the Core Club, the New York Academy of Sciences and Jean Georges. The last event in the city was the launch at ICE. In attendance were industry notables such as chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Nate Appleman, Johnny Iuzzini, Paul Liebrandt, Waldy Malouf, as well as food media personalities such as Amanda Hesser, Gail Simmons and many others interested in hearing from the chefs behind the immense project.

Red Rooster Chef Marcus Samuelsson with ICE Alum Gail Simmons of Top Chef and Chef Nate Appleman

Myhrvold, the former Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft, feels that the book represents a revolution in the art of cooking. Ferran Adria has said, “The book will change the way we understand the kitchen.” He shared that there are over 1,150,000 words, 1,522 recipes and 3,216 photos in the completed volumes. While many people assume the book is full of very technical recipes that require expensive equipment, Myhrvold said, “Half the recipes in the book anyone can cook at home.” For example, while his detailed chart for making different types of custard looked confusing, he pointed out that the only ingredients on it were milk and eggs and the only technology required to make it was a thermometer. More…

ICE President Rick Smilow with Top Chef Judge Gail Simmons, Gramercy Tavern Chef Michael Anthony and Landmarc Chef Marc Murphy.

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The stars of the culinary world were out in full force at Metropolitan Pavilion last night for City Harvest’s annual Bid Against Hunger benefit. Sixty different chefs from around New York came together for an unforgettable evening of bites and bids that raised over a million dollars for a good cause. City Harvest is a food rescue organization which provides meals to hundreds of thousands of hungry New Yorkers every year by distributing leftover food donated by restaurants. ICE President Rick Smilow sits on the Board of Directors.

Among the notable chefs were ICE alumni Missy Robbins of A Voce, Marc Murphy of Landmarc and Ditch Plains, Ivy Stark of Dos Caminos and Scott Campbell of New Leaf Restaurant & Bar, each contributed a signature dish and a desire to help feed those in need. Many of the celebrity chefs were serving these altruistic appetizers themselves, and oftentimes were assisted by none other than our own current ICE students, using their free time to learn from the best chefs while volunteering for a great cause. More…

Tonight, Top Chef: Just Desserts will premiere on Bravo. ICE alumni Zac Young, Malika Ameen and Seth Caro will make their TV debut as contestants on the show. The show will be hosted by fellow ICE alum Gail Simmons and will feature appearances by well-known pastry stars such as Sylvia Weinstock, Sherri Yard and Michael Laiskonis. It promises to be a sweet season of watching chefs make cakes, cookies and other sweets.

We spoke with ICE alum Zac Young last week. Today, we take a look at Malika Ameen. Ameen graduated from ICE’s Culinary Arts program in 1997 before making the shift to the world of pastry. Now, she lives in Chicago with her three sons. She works as a pastry consultant and is starting an online cookie business, ByM Desserts. We asked about transition to pastry, her style and her time at ICE.

How did you make the shift to pastry?
My favorite part of the culinary program was the two weeks we spent doing pastry. I enjoyed that so much. I went to do my externship in Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Vong. Shortly after, I went to work with pastry chef Gina DePalma (also an ICE alum) at the Club Room. I just loved it so much and I never looked back. It really turned me on.

Does your culinary training set you apart from other pastry chefs?
I think savory chefs are terrified of pastry and vice versa. Pastry chefs are used to being in their own world. I enjoy both a lot. There are techniques in savory that can be easily used in pastry, which we are starting to see that more and more. My culinary training helps me to keep an open mind in the pastry kitchen. More…

The Top Chef: Just Desserts premiere is only a week away. ICE alumni Zac Young, Malika Ameen and Seth Caro are competing on the show. Alumni Hall of Achievement inductee Gail Simmons will act as host. The show will feature guest appearances by famed pastry professionals Sylvia Weinstock, Sherri Yard and Michael Laiskonis. The promise of watching chefs performing challenges involving wedding cakes, flaming desserts and chocolate showpieces has many people counting down the days till the debut of the Top Chef spinoff on September 15.

Before we binge on what is sure to be a delectable season of television, we indulged our sweet tooth by talking to competitor Zac Young. After graduating the Pastry & Baking Arts program at ICE in 2006, Zac went on to work at Bouchon Bakery and Butter. Now, he is the Executive Pastry Chef at the critically acclaimed Flex Mussels on New York City’s Upper East Side. There, he is responsible for a dessert menu that compliments the almost all seafood menu. To get a taste of what to expect from him on the new show, we asked him about his inspiration, the life of a pastry chef and his memories of his time at ICE.

You have a pretty interesting background. How did you get into baking?
My mom was a vegan, so she never baked. But I loved cookies. So I had to teach myself how to make them and it became an obsession. Before I was working in pastry, I was working in the wig department of the Radio City Rockettes. It definitely had certain creative aspects that translated to pastry. It gives you a feel for aesthetics and a visual sensibility that translates beautifully to plated desserts. More…