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ICE Alum Suzanne Cupps is heralded in the culinary world not only for her skills in the kitchen – making seasonal vegetables sing and breathing new life into familiar favorites – but for being a “Chefs’ chef” who takes her role as a leader, mentor and educator very seriously.

Originally from South Carolina, Chef Suzy knew early on that she wanted a career that didn't include sitting behind a desk. Her initial thought was to teach math, so she worked toward a double major in Mathematics and Education. However, by the time she was a senior – when the in-classroom aspect of her teacher training was due – she knew she wasn’t on her heart’s path. 

Chef Suzy spent summers on her grandfather’s farm as a child. Still, making food her profession didn’t occur to her until she had her first professional kitchen experience. It was while helping out at the steakhouse of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in NYC, where she worked in HR, that things crystallized.

The rush of service was exhilarating, and Chef Suzy promptly enrolled in ICE’s Culinary Arts program. An externship under Chef Michael Anthony at Gramercy Tavern set the stage for what would become a successful career with Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG). 

After completing her externship and graduating from culinary school, Chef Suzy went to work at Annisa, Anita Lo’s hit restaurant  (which also turned out fellow ICE alum Mary Attea). Six years later, Chef Suzy returned to Gramercy Tavern and worked her way up in the kitchen hierarchy. 

When Danny Meyer tapped Chef Michael Anthony to take on Untitled, the next big USHG venture, he turned to Chef Suzy as second in command. Starting out as Chef de Cuisine, her thoughtful approach to seasonal, vegetable-forward cuisine caught the eye of The New York Times’ food critic Pete Wells, who awarded the restaurant two stars. She also caught the attention of Danny Meyer who, in 2017, named Chef Suzy the first-ever female Executive Chef within USHG’s restaurant portfolio.

Two years later, Chef Suzy switched gears, helping to open the first sit-down concept for the fast-casual chain, Dig Inn. 232 Bleeker’s late-2019 opening was hotly anticipated and did not disappoint. Though the concept centered on vegetables (and its massive wood-burning stove), Eater dedicated an entire article to Chef Suzy’s roast chicken. Unfortunately, 232 Bleecker closed three years later. Despite several attempts to re-imagine and revive the concept, it never recovered from the COVID pandemic that shuttered so many NYC eateries.

It was that experience, however – navigating COVID guidelines and enduring the challenges of its attendant chaos – that empowered Chef Suzy to open a place of her own. She raised more than a million dollars from small donors, many of them regulars at her restaurants, to open Lola’s. 

The restaurant is named after Chef Suzy’s “Lola” (the Tagalog word for grandmother), who escaped the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and whom Chef Suzy credits as her inspiration and strength. And while Lola’s name is Filipino, its food represents Chef Suzy’s life and experiences – specifically, her southern roots, her Filipino heritage, and the backgrounds of the many cooks with whom she’s spent decades in the kitchen.

Lola’s received two stars in The New York Times five months after opening, and in December of 2024, was named to The New York Times list of 14 Best New Restaurants in 2024.