Tim Love, Kerry Heffernan, Lauren Glassberg, Mark Maynard Parisi, Daniel Holzman, ICE President Rick Smilow and Neal Bermas

I’m a big advocate of supporting relatively small, entrepreneurial, and spirited non-profit groups that, in their own way, make the world a better place. One such charity is Hoi An, Vietnam–based STREETS International, founded in 2007 by Neal Bermas, a former ICE Culinary Management Instructor, and Sondra Stewart.

STREETS held its annual fundraiser at Astor Center on Thursday, March 29th. And I was lucky enough to attend with a group from ICE. The event included a walk-around tasting with modern street food, a chef cooking competition (for which I was a judge) and a short film about STREETS. Restaurants that participated in the street food tasting included Red Rooster, Morimoto, Bua, Rosa Mexicano, August, Blue Smoke and more. More…

BlueStar, the manufacturer of professional cooking equipment and the provider of stoves and ovens to ICE’s 12th floor recreational classrooms, recently teamed up with Chef Marcus Samuelsson to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure via its Susan G. Komen Greater NYC Race for the Cure. As part of the event, BlueStar is auctioning a pink 30-inch gas range valued at $4,700 and VIP dinner for six at Samuelsson’s Red Rooster, one of New York’s hottest restaurants. Award-winning chef and ICE Advisory Council member Samuelsson will personally cook a four-course meal for the winner and their guests (dates and times to be mutually agreed upon). And, when they’re ready to cook at home, they’ll also be able to use their new BlueStar eight-piece cookware set, valued at $595. It’s an amazing prize from both BlueStar and Samuelsson, two of ICE’s closest partners in the culinary industry.

To bid, go directly onto eBay’s Giving Works site here.

The auction ends on August 30th, and 100% of the proceeds will be contributed to the charity. The company will provide free shipping. If pink is not your color, you can bid on the range and select any one of BlueStar’s 190 colors, at no extra charge, and still support the cause.

If you have visited ICE recently you may noticed our brand-new ovens and stoves on the 12th floor recreational classrooms. If you’ve participated in a culinary class or cooking event in this space, you’ve used one of the top pieces of culinary equipment available on the market today. The ranges and ovens were custom made for ICE by BlueStar, a pioneer and manufacturer of high-quality, reliable, custom cooking equipment. ICE is proud to announce that BlueStar is the exclusive provider of stoves and ovens for its 12^th floor recreational kitchen classrooms.

The new BlueStar equipment at ICE includes seven 30-inch four-burner ranges and three 36-inch six-burner cooktops, all at 22,000 BTUs, as well as two double-wall ovens. Each BlueStar range is hand-crafted in Reading, Pennsylvania. ICE Director of Education Richard Simpson said, “The quality and durability of the BlueStar line is amazing. The ranges and ovens are ideal for our wide variety of classes and we are proud to showcase them in our kitchens.”

Independent studies have shown that BlueStar outperforms leading high-performance stoves when tested for boiling, simmering, deep frying, stir-frying and searing.   All BlueStar ranges, ovens and ventilation hoods are available in 190 color options (check out the photos of our new blue ovens!). More…

Marcus Samuelsson, Chef/Owner of the Marcus Samuelsson Group, ICE Advisory Board Member and winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, was back at ICE to give another demo yesterday. Samuelsson is one busy chef: in addition to opening his new restaurant, Red Rooster, he is also an ambassador for UNICEF and sits on the board for Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP). He is author of Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine, The Soul of a New Cuisine and The New American Table. Among his many achievements, he was the youngest chef to ever receive three stars from The New York Times. ICE is always happy when he takes time out from his busy schedule to do a demo at the school.

Samuelsson’s path to award-winning chef has certainly been unique. He was born in Ethiopia, but was adopted and raised in Sweden. He worked in kitchens in Switzerland, Austria and France before moving to New York to pursue his culinary dreams. The dishes he made for the demo reflect this multicultural background. He made Fried Chicken with Spicy Ketchup and Foie Gras Ganache with Quince Chutney. The dishes drew on many influences to reflect current culinary trends. He said, “These dishes are both poultry, but they are totally different. I think they are a reflection of the direction where food is going. One is more high-end and the other is comfort food.” More…