Caitlin Raux

The Odds for Tomorrow’s Restaurant Owners Just Got Better

CRaux — Wed, 30 May 2018 06:30:34 +0000

The Odds for Tomorrow’s Restaurant Owners Just Got Better CRaux Wed, 05/30/2018 - 02:30 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/quentin-dr-178096-unsplash_0_1400x680.jpg.webp?itok=3TQ3I6VY Quentin Dr Meet Rick Camac, ICE’s New Dean of Restaurant & Hospitality Management May 30, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

Rick Camac knows a good business idea when he sees one. In 2005, he and Chef Zak Pelaccio went out on a limb when they introduced New York City to Malaysian bistro cuisine at their West Village restaurant, Fatty Crab. This was before the proliferation of “fine casual” dining, when pork belly served with a hip hop soundtrack was still something of a novelty.

Fatty Crab, which earned critical praise and grew to a small empire of similar-concept restaurants, is just one example of Rick’s business savvy. Whether it’s restaurant concepts or computer software, both of which he’s developed successfully, Rick has the ability to spot potential and is ready to double down on ideas he believes in. His latest endeavor, as ICE’s new Dean of Restaurant & Hospitality Management, may be his most successful to date, as he’ll have the chance to share lessons gleaned from his years of experience with each student in the program. If the odds of opening a profitable restaurant or food business are slim, we’ve got good news — they just got better.

Like many ICE students, Rick is a career changer. After college, he took a job on the road with 80s rock-pop icons Hall & Oates. “We traveled 50 cities in 90 days,” says Rick. “Life on the road is everything you can possibly think it would be.” A dream gig for many recent grads it may have been, but at the end of two rollicking years, Rick decided he wanted something more. He enrolled in a Computer Technology program at NYU, and became a computer programmer for the City of New York.

It would be years before he entered the business of food, but Rick already started displaying the defining characteristics that would stay with him throughout his career: an entrepreneurial spirit and an oracle-like ability to imagine ways that things could work better. Though Rick quickly rose through the ranks to top programmer for NYC, he and a partner decided to launch their own venture, developing software for various industries, including the first home banking and automated employment search programs. Rick and his partner were providing industries with incredibly useful tools they never knew they always needed. Systems that were almost too advanced. “We were ahead of the technology curve,” says Rick, “and sometimes the world wasn’t ready to grasp it.”

Rick grew up in Long Beach, Long Island, at a time when sushi was considered cutting edge cuisine and the term “foodie” was unheard of. Though the food scene was provincial, Rick was lucky to live near a bon vivant uncle, who showed him a more worldly side of dining, taking him to the island’s fine restaurants and preparing then-exotic dishes like steak tartare and ceviche. “He made me interested in food at a very young age,” says Rick. “I loved food and knew the difference between good and bad quality.”

By day, Rick led the business side of a growing software company. By night, he fed a lifelong love for food and wine. It wasn’t until a friend pitched him an investment opportunity in a forthcoming Murray Hill bar that Rick got into the culinary business himself. And once in it, he never turned back. That first venture whet his appetite for bigger projects and more involvement, so he teamed up with a former Pastis general manager and a bar manager at Rhône, and together they hatched the idea for 5 Ninth — a swanky lounge and restaurant in the Meatpacking District, which was on the brink of transitioning from seedy-industrial to "Sex and the City" chic.

The odds were against them — they chose as their restaurant site a near-dilapidated 19th-century townhouse, with no kitchen to speak of — but ultimately the place was a success. Shortly after its opening, The New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni warmly reviewed the pioneer restaurant, writing that “(a) butterfly is about to happen, in a neighborhood spreading new wings.” After 5 Ninth came the aforementioned Fatty Crab, where Rick and Zak Pelaccio turned a former laundromat into downtown’s trendiest new restaurant. The New York Times journalist Pete Meehan noted the restaurant’s immediate cult status. “(T)he restaurant has been full nearly since the minute it opened,” wrote Meehan. “As it settles into a more seasoned groove... the throngs are likely to grow denser.” Once again, Rick demonstrated that characteristic ability to envision possibility in an otherwise unremarkable space — and then turn a profit.

Opening any restaurant is a daunting task. But to open a successful restaurant with stellar reviews in downtown NYC, you have to go beyond just a passion for food. You have to be a smart businessperson. “That’s something that our industry needs more of,” says Rick. “People who not only understand the culinary business, but business in general.” Since Fatty Crab, which expanded to several other iterations, including international locations, Rick has consulted with many restaurant and hospitality entrepreneurs on launching or improving their businesses. Says Camac, “I love strategizing about business in general. I love building things and seeing concepts come to life.” As ICE’s new Dean of Restaurant & Hospitality Management, students will benefit from his expertise and mentorship, as they bring their own concepts and careers to life.

Find out more about studying restaurant or hospitality management with Rick.

Hospitality Management Restaurant Management Restaurants

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ICE Alum Missy Robbins is the Best Chef in NYC

CRaux — Thu, 10 May 2018 08:04:20 +0000

ICE Alum Missy Robbins is the Best Chef in NYC CRaux Thu, 05/10/2018 - 04:04 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/davide-ragusa-102337-unsplash.jpg.webp?itok=wrIHd7rg Davide Ragusa An Extraordinary Win at the 2018 James Beard Awards May 10, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

When friends or out-of-towners ask for restaurant recommendations, there's always one place at the top of my short list: Lilia.

That is, ever since 2015, when Missy Robbins (Culinary Arts, '95) opened the doors to her superb Italian restaurant on a relatively quiet corner in Williamsburg. Shortly after its opening, The New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells sang Lilia's delicious praise in a three-star review, which he began by succinctly proclaiming: "Missy Robbins is cooking pasta again." It was hardly a surprise when Missy Robbins took the top honor of Best Chef: NYC, at this year's James Beard Foundation Restaurant & Chef Awards. Because Lilia not only serves delicious food, each dish presenting Chef Robbins' thoughtful, fresh take on classic Italian cuisine — it's also a place you want to eat again and again... and again. As ICE's food writer, you may presume I'm biased, but when it comes to dinner, I'm anything but.

Prior to Lilia, Chef Robbins cut her teeth in some of the most serious pasta joints in the country, including Chicago's Spiagga and New York's A Voce. Said ICE President Rick Smilow, “I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Chef Robbins and eaten where she's cooked — in Chicago, Manhattan and Brooklyn — for almost 20 years. I’m thrilled that Chef Robbins has earned and received this professional recognition and honor.”

From all of your family at ICE, congratulations to Chef Missy Robbins and the team at Lilia.

Ready to launch your career in the culinary arts? Learn more about ICE's career programs.

News Alumni Culinary Arts James Beard Foundation Awards and Honors

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So, You Want to Pursue a Food or Hospitality Career?

CRaux — Mon, 07 May 2018 15:14:53 +0000

So, You Want to Pursue a Food or Hospitality Career? CRaux Mon, 05/07/2018 - 11:14 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/anthony-delanoix-43718-unsplash_1400.jpg.webp?itok=6jsmyu1k Anthony Delanoix ICE's Hospitality Management Program Can Get You There May 7, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

Tired of checking Instagram and pining for an exciting career that takes you to beautiful destinations around the globe? A diploma from ICE's Hospitality & Hotel Management program can get you on the path toward a fulfilling career with, literally, a world of opportunities.

While some ICE hospitality graduates, like Rommel, pursue careers in hotels and resorts, you may be surprised to learn that others decide to pursue culinary-focused roles, landing positions with acclaimed restaurants, restaurant groups, event planning and more.

Christina Delli Santi (Hospitality Management '15) knew she wanted to study hospitality. "I really love the idea of meeting people," she says. "Giving them something that they wanted and something that they need, listening to their story, and making them feel good – that was really hospitality to me.” Though she rose through the ranks to Director of Front Office at the Ace Hotel (in two years no less), she began her career with an externship at Chef April Bloomfield's famed restaurant, The Breslin, located inside the Ace Hotel.

Watch the video below to learn more about Christina's path from ICE to NYC's coolest restaurant and hotel.

Get more info on ICE's Hospitality & Hotel Management program.

Hospitality Management Alumni

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The 2018 James Beard Award Winners Announced

CRaux — Thu, 03 May 2018 12:55:53 +0000

The 2018 James Beard Award Winners Announced CRaux Thu, 05/03/2018 - 08:55 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/james-beard-2015-940.jpg.webp?itok=O1E8bFjz Check Out Which ICE Alumni Won Big May 3, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

At this year's James Beard Awards, three ICE alumni took home top honors.

ICE alum Chef Missy Robbins (Culinary, '95) won big at the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards. The chef-owner of perpetually packed Brooklyn restaurant, Lilia, took the title for Best Chef: New York City. Chef Robbins opened Lilia in 2016 with the goal of bringing "the best of Italy to Williamsburg, where wood-fired seafood, handcrafted pastas, classic Italian cocktails and warm hospitality come together to create a casual dining experience."

At the James Beard Foundation Media Awards, in the International Cookbook category, Stacy Adimando (Culinary, ‘10) won for "Nopalito: A Mexican Kitchen," a collection of 100 regional Mexican food recipes co-written with acclaimed chef Gonzalo Guzman of San Francisco restaurant Nopalito. Stacy, who's currently executive editor at Saveur, has penned several cookbooks and earned her stripes in the kitchen of Peter Hoffman's Savoy.

Chef Vivian Howard (Culinary, ‘03) took home the award for Video Webcast (Fixed Location and/or Instructional) for her work with Panna Cooking. The chef-owner of the North Carolina restaurants Chef & the Farmer, Boiler Room and Benny's Big Time, Chef Howard also recently won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Culinary Program as host of her PBS series, "A Chef’s Life."

Ready to launch an exciting culinary arts career? Learn more.

News James Beard Foundation Awards and Honors

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This ICE Grad is Expanding a Burger Empire

CRaux — Thu, 03 May 2018 06:23:14 +0000

This ICE Grad is Expanding a Burger Empire CRaux Thu, 05/03/2018 - 02:23 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/sfl-free-burger-at-shake-shack-20170208_0.jpg.webp?itok=Jsvd1Iht Meet Tanya Edmunds, Shake Shack's Director of Training & Development May 3, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

Back when she was a tween, ICE alum Tanya Edmunds (Culinary/Management, ‘09) took an interest in makeup. This being before the days of Pinterest and YouTube tutorials, her mom bought her makeup books filled with pages of application instructions. Tanya would spend hours in her room carefully studying the tutorials then replicating them on herself until she mastered each lesson. From the beginning, it was clear that she would be drawn toward creative, hands-on pursuits. Though she studied theatre at NYU, practical considerations and a knack for whipping up delicious home-cooked dinners led her to enroll at ICE.

Fast forward to present day, Tanya has found a calling that allows her perfectionist qualities to mesh with her creative flair and passion for food: as director of training and development at Shake Shack. If you’re not familiar with the brand, it’s the fast-casual burger chain with a cult following and scores of customers waiting to dig into reliably fresh, juicy burgers on pillowy potato buns — the need for well-trained employees to feed the hungry masses is without question. Spend five minutes chatting with Tanya and you’ll realize she’s got the confidence and the energy to manage training of those employees.

Tanya chatted with us about landing a gig at New York’s favorite burger mecca and offered some advice for those looking to follow a similar path.

How did the idea of attending culinary school come about?

It was my dad’s suggestion. I moved home after my undergrad years at NYU, and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do — what I was passionate about. While I was home I didn’t have to pay rent but cooking dinner was my responsibility. I started looking up different kinds of recipes online and watching cooking shows a lot.

Tanya Edmunds during a recent visit to ICE

My dad is very entrepreneurial at heart. He started his own business, leaving behind a successful sales career. We started talking about whether it would be feasible to open my own restaurant someday. I looked at all of the other things in my background — managing people through stage management when I was in college, my creative side and inclination toward stage design. I thought with my skills and interests I could keep up with a restaurant.

So, how did you take these skills and start in the culinary business?

Education was the first thing that I looked into when we came up with this idea to open a restaurant. With my love of New York City and its amazing food scene, I knew that was where I wanted to be. Ultimately, I chose ICE for a very unique reason. I focused on the environment I was going to be happiest in.

It sounds like from the beginning you had a clear vision of what you wanted from the programs.

My hope was to manage a restaurant and not let anything stand in the way of being successful. So I wanted to have as much information as I could. I ended up loving the Culinary Arts portion — being hands-on and creating new dishes each day. That spoke more to my creative side. It was a nice balance, going from the intellectual ideas of my culinary management classes to the hands-on creativity of the culinary lessons.

Don’t judge your path. Work towards things that make you happy.

How did you go from ICE to Shake Shack?

After I graduated from ICE, I was looking for jobs in the management field and the kitchen. My first job was in the pastry kitchen at Maialino. I had a great connection with my chef there and we’re still friends to this day. I got to make croissants and brioche from scratch and work a shift that was 10 p.m.-8 a.m., then commute back to New Jersey. My dad would pick me up and we’d go have lunch at my favorite diner and then I’d go home and go to sleep.

What a schedule!

It was a cool experience but I wanted to move back to New York City. A neighbor from New Jersey was the director of banquet services for Restaurant Associates in the Bank of America tower. I landed a job there as assistant pastry chef and worked in corporate dining for 14 months. That opened my eyes to another part of the culinary world. I went from a rustic, Roman-Italian restaurant run by Danny Meyer, to working in a huge corporate restaurant kitchen for Bank of America. I learned a lot there, but I kept thinking about management and how I could work in that area.

Tell me about landing your first gig at Shake Shack.

I checked ICE’s alumni job listings every Thursday and had to apply when I saw a position for restaurant manager at Shake Shack. At the time of one of my interviews, Shake Shack was serving a special eggnog-flavored custard for the holidays. As I was waiting for the general manager to interview me, he apologized for being late because they’d run out of the custard needed for recipe. I said, “I have a background in pastry and I make ice cream all the time, can I help?” I looked at the recipe and told him a way to make it faster. I think that might have been one of the things that threw me over the top.

At what point did you transition to training manager?

I was promoted about two years ago.* I’ve been with Shake Shack for over five years. I’m in charge of overseeing everything that happens at new openings and our in-person classroom-style management training. I also collaborate with other departments to make sure we’re executing our manager training as needed.

When you’re sent to a new city to train a new team — what’s a typical day like?

Everywhere is a bit different — whether it’s Tokyo, Texas, Boston or Orlando — and I gather information before I go. Typically the area director will tell me something about their team, such as the staff is made up of all high school students. So I’ll tailor the training for the younger staff, include mentions of Snapchat. I want the audience to engage with the training.

I’ve come to realize I’ve got the coolest job in the world. I get to meet managers from all over the country. I get to teach people about what Shake Shack does as a company and what they do for their employees and share my passion for this company. It’s amazing to see people walk in thinking they got a job at a typical fast food restaurant and seven days later they feel completely different about it. They’re excited and engaged.

What advice would you give to students considering going into management, particularly with a huge brand like Shake Shack?

I would say: don’t expect it to happen quickly. Allow your path to be what it’s going to be. Don’t feel like it’s too long or too short because it’s going to happen naturally. My path was unexpected. If you had told me in 2009 that I was going to be leading the training for over 3,500 employees, I would probably tell you that you’re full of you-know-what. So don’t judge your path. Work towards things that make you happy.

One thing I like about your story is that it seems that you were constantly reassessing where you were and where you wanted to go — which I think is important for people at the beginning and throughout their careers.

I’ve been with Shake Shack for five years. Every time I open a restaurant I ask myself what was successful about it? What was challenging about it? Do I want to keep doing it? And the ultimate answer is always yes. As a student, as you’re continuing to learn, it’s good to explore, to try things, to ask for new things. In a sense, I’ve been able to write my own job description, but I’ve worked hard for that. *After our interview, Tanya was promoted from training manager to director of training and development.

Ready to launch your career in the food? Click here for more information on ICE's career programs.

Alumni Culinary Arts Restaurant Management

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This Cookbook Has Flavor Pairings Down to a Science

suzanne.zuppello — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 19:37:40 +0000

This Cookbook Has Flavor Pairings Down to a Science suzanne.zuppello Thu, 04/12/2018 - 15:37 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/IACP_Culinary-Trust_Taste-and-Toast_2.24.18-42.jpg.webp?itok=yOW65COz February 26, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

Chef James Briscione, ICE’s Director of Culinary Research, has a healthy obsession with flavor pairings. So much so that he and wife Brooke Parkhurst, a writer, cook and ICE recreational instructor, teamed up to write, “The Flavor Matrix: The Art and Science of Pairing Common Ingredients to Create Extraordinary Dishes.”

Chefs who have gotten their hands on this groundbreaking ingredient-pairing guide are singing its praises. Said acclaimed chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud, “This comprehensive book is a great tool for any student looking to strengthen his or her knowledge of ingredients, flavors and textures. The opportunity to study and understand the science of these elements is a great advantage to today’s generation of cooks. They should all make use of it!”

In between classes at ICE, where Culinary Arts students enjoy daily face time with ICE’s resident flavor master, we caught up with Chef James to chat about his forthcoming book.

What was your motivation in writing “The Flavor Matrix”?

This project really began right at ICE when we were working with IBM on the Chef Watson project. Through our work with Chef Watson, I started to learn about the critical role aromatic compounds play in creating flavor in food. And further, how these compounds could be predictors for exciting new ingredient pairings. Understanding these concepts helped me grow exponentially as a cook and in my own creativity in the kitchen.

I wanted to continue learning about this science and exploring these, so I set out to find resources for this information and realized that they did not exist. I decided then that I had to create it.

How did your work with IBM’s Watson change your approach to flavor pairing?

Working with Watson gave me the ability to see hidden connections between ingredients created by chemical compounds — links I never would have been able to decipher through simple tasting or smelling. Learning about these connections forced me to put aside all of the preconceived notions I had about what ingredients “go together.” It forced me to start from a completely blank slate. Approaching the cooking process in this way actually fed my creativity, leading me to be more thoughtful about each ingredient and how I used it.

As a chef and culinary school instructor, which cookbooks do you rely on again and again?

It’s a wildly varied list! I often look to Alfred Portale’s “12 Seasons Cookbook” for seasonal cooking inspiration. Also Paul Bertolli’s “Cooking by Hand” because of the deep, thoughtful and passionate approach he has to cooking, and it’s a rich guide to modern Italian cuisine. Typically, when I turn to a book it is to understand the question of why something is happening in cooking — understanding the why answers dozens of other questions that may come up along the road. My favorite resources for those questions are “Ideas in Food” by Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot, and “On Food and Cooking” by Harold McGee.

Tell us about your process — how did you go about planning, testing and writing this cookbook?

It was an incredibly complex process. We set out to create something that had never been done before. This book took nearly two years to create. It began with a deep dive into the physiology of flavor and taste. Then I had to learn the chemistry of flavor well enough to explain it to others.

Next I had to conceptualize how to convey flavor profiles to readers. I finally settled on the Flavor Matrix. The matrix is a visual representation of the aromas that make up the flavor of an ingredient or category of ingredients. I like to describe each matrix as a “fingerprint” of an ingredient’s flavor profile, meaning that each matrix is unique to the specific ingredient and no two are identical.

After creating the template for the matrices, we independently researched each ingredient for basic information like growing season, genetic relations, native climate, taste profile, etc. Next, we created pairings and then scores for each pairing (60-80 per matrix). We did over 4,000 calculations to generate the data for the matrices. Then I worked with a data visualization specialist in the Netherlands to help bring the Flavor Matrix to life.

Can you share with us your most unusual or surprising flavor pairing?

Some of my favorites are:

Blueberry and Horseradish
Chicken, Mushroom and Strawberry
Asparagus and coconut
Blueberry and cumin
Cauliflower and fig
Truffle and vanilla
Caramel and fish sauce
Carrot and coffee
Venison and pineapple
Oyster and pomegranate

“The Flavor Matrix” will be available on Amazon on March 6, 2018.

Want to study the culinary arts at ICE? Learn more about our career training programs.

Cookbooks James Briscione Culinary Arts Chefs

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New York's Most Delicious Donuts Are Sold at a Car Wash

suzanne.zuppello — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 17:50:44 +0000

New York's Most Delicious Donuts Are Sold at a Car Wash suzanne.zuppello Thu, 04/12/2018 - 13:50 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/underwest-donuts1400x680.jpg.webp?itok=YnejLsYX Yeah, You Read That Correctly March 28, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

What happens when a former Chanterelle sous chef takes up donut-making? For one thing, New Yorkers get a fresh supply of amazing-quality, artful (read: Insta-friendly) donuts. Add a healthy shake of scrappiness — an essential ingredient for anyone crazy enough to open a 116-square-foot artisanal donut shop inside a busy carwash on the West Side Highway — and you’ve got yourself a quintessential New York story. There’s even a line of yellow cabs in the background.

With his hugely popular Underwest Donuts, Scott Levine (Culinary Arts, ‘04) has elevated the hole-y donut to new heights, and has managed to do so in a place where most fledging owners wouldn’t look twice. But in a space the size of most suburban closets, Scott saw an opportunity to reinvent a New York staple and ran with it. Suddenly, Westside Highway Car Wash had a new stream of customers, more interested in the “Car Wash” glazed donut (vanilla-lavender flavor) than an actual car wash. Riding on the success of their first location, Underwest Donuts opened a second outpost in a similarly transit-heavy area, just a few steps from Penn Station.

Recently we caught up with Scott to chat about his unlikely entry into the artisanal donut game and his definitive stance on a very heated topic — dunking.

Caitlin: Can you explain the success of Underwest Donuts?

Scott: I believe it started with having an interesting story. I don’t think that’s a prerequisite for success, but it just happened to be what I had in advance of opening Underwest — the fact that it’s in a unique location in a carwash. Especially at a time when leases and commercial kitchens are extraordinarily expensive, especially in Manhattan.

Part of it was luck, part of it was timing, but most of all, there was an interesting story and a good product to back up the whole thing, which was the clincher. The story would have faded if the product weren’t good.

ICE alum Scott Levine during a visit to ICE

And you have a fine dining background too, right?

Yes. I worked at Chanterelle (Ed. note: helmed by ICE Director of Culinary Affairs, David Waltuck), and that was my longest tenure in the finer dining restaurants. I also worked at Del Posto and Le Cirque for shorter amounts of time, before I ended up at Danny Meyer’s Union Square Events, which used to be a catering company. That wasn’t fine dining per se, but it was a catering company started by the folks of Eleven Madison Park, so they had high standards. That was my culinary background – but none of it was in the pastry kitchen.

So why donuts?

Originally, I wasn’t considering donuts. I saw what Shake Shack had done to hamburgers, and I wanted to take the same approach to bagels. I liked how [Shake Shack] took something that was so commonplace and put it on a higher plane. Then the real estate issue came in. Not being independently wealthy, I needed some help on that front. My father-in-law, who’s a car wash owner and operator, had some space in his car wash on the West Side Highway, and I decided to open something in that 116-square-foot closet-like space. I thought, If I’m opening a food establishment here, what can I do with the space I have? The idea of coffee and donuts was born out of the fact that there’s a big morning business at the car wash, and I wanted to capitalize on that – coffee and donuts were a no brainer.

It’s kind of brilliant because you have the regular customers and then you have the crowd that just goes there for the donuts and, ya know, the Instagram.

Right. I learned quickly that my product doesn’t speak to the folks lining up to get their car washed in the morning like it does to folks who are coming just for the donuts. The price runs a little high for some people. I can understand them not wanting to spend that much money on a coffee and a donut.

How did you train yourself to become a donut expert?

I had no experience in donuts, so I bought a hand-held donut depositor. It looks like one of those contraptions at the diner that they make pancakes with. You press the button and out drops pancake batter, in a measured way.

I bought one and just started doing it in my apartment. My wife was pregnant at the time, so we say that our first child was nourished with donuts. I started training myself at home. Although I never worked in the pastry kitchen, I think ultimately it fits my personality better as far as just being more recipe-driven, and more exacting in a lot of ways. I felt comfortable operating in that world. I took three or four donut recipes from different sources, and then made them as the recipe called for them, then slowly I learned what certain amounts of certain ingredients did. It’s all about ratios.

I started tinkering and playing until I got my formula, and then once you start adding different ingredients, you have to tweak again. For example, if you add nut paste, you’re changing the fat content, so you have to compensate. If you add fruit purée, you’re adding water content, so you have to compensate. I went down these different avenues and adjusted until I got something that I could call my own. I think it took me six months to come up with recipes that worked well on my stovetop.

When I got a commercial donut fryer and started making donuts at Underwest, I learned very quickly that recipes that worked well on my stovetop did not work well in a commercial donut fryer. So I was opening a donut shop in a week and couldn’t make donuts.

Oh my gosh. That’s a curve ball.

It was a little shocking. But there was no turning back — you sink or swim. You figure it out. And here we are today.

Back to the donuts — besides being delicious, they’re also super Insta-friendly. Do you ever create things with an eye toward social media?

Our approach to donuts always puts an emphasis on presentation, so the Instagram-ability is a byproduct of that attention to detail. I would say that we consider in advance what works well from a photographing standpoint.

When we’re changing the menu, we think about the lineup and what colors are included. If we’re going to make a springtime donut, do we want to use certain colors? When you’re making donuts for a foodie event, you have an opportunity — there’s a good chance a lot of people will take photos so you want to bring something that looks good and that people can post. We want to continue to have that strength on social media.

It was a little shocking. But there was no turning back — you sink or swim. You figure it out. And here we are today.

What is the best donut you’ve eaten in recent memory?

The coconut lime donut that we have on our menu right now — it’s maybe my all-time favorite.

Yum.

I’m really excited about a new springtime donut that’s coming out soon, too. It’s going to be very honey-focused, with some floral notes like chamomile. It’s still a work in progress.

Coming down to the last question and it’s a tough one: what is your stance on dunking?

What’s my stance on Dunkin Donuts or dunking?

The verb of dunking the donuts.

The action of dunking donuts. Hmmm… I don’t think about my donuts as something that I would dunk, but a plain old-fashioned donut for sure. Dunking cookies in milk, donuts in coffee, I’m all for it. But with our donuts, I wouldn’t want that flavor attached to whatever donut I’m eating. But for a plainer donut, that would be great, sure.

All right. So pro-dunking in certain situations.

Yeah. It’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all model. Again, in the right situation, dunk it.

We can call it qualified dunking.

Exactly.

Ready to embark on a career in the culinary or pastry arts? Click here for more information on ICE’s career programs.

Alumni Pastry Arts New York City

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Why I Chose to Study Hospitality Management at ICE

suzanne.zuppello — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 16:57:53 +0000

Why I Chose to Study Hospitality Management at ICE suzanne.zuppello Thu, 04/12/2018 - 12:57 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/Hotel%20Bell_0.jpg.webp?itok=j1BaLM47 March 7, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

Here’s a question: What inspires students to enroll in ICE’s hospitality management program? Several of our students, past and present, answered that question and turns out there are myriad reasons why students choose to study hospitality management at ICE.

For Rommel Gopez (Hospitality ’14), it was an unquenchable thirst for international travel combined with a love of meeting new people that led him to the hospitality industry. In his words, “I love talking to people from all over the world. I’ll talk to someone from one country and then think, ‘Oh, I should travel there next.’ And when I do travel there, I already have a friend.” After spending years working on international cruise ships, he decided to enroll at ICE. Rommel explained, “I wanted the diploma to go with my work experience. And I learned so much [during my time at ICE]. I learned about hotel industry unions, management skills and the culinary side of hospitality. We also had the chance to get in the kitchen and prepare food. I love cooking, so that was a great experience.”

For Madison Malchiodi (Hospitality ’15), a job at Subway during college sparked her passion for service. As she recalled, “Over time, my job taught me something about myself: I took pride in serving as the shift manager, in taking on the responsibility of opening and closing the store.” This first brush with hospitality led her to ICE — a place where she could “boost [her] knowledge of management and service.”

For Ryan Kim (Hospitality ’16), a native of Seoul, South Korea, ICE’s hospitality management program was the perfect fit for a food lover who preferred to work outside of the kitchen. Ryan explained, “As much as I loved cooking and baking, I knew I wasn’t passionate about spending the rest of my life working as a pastry chef. I was looking for a way to be around food, but realized I would rather manage an establishment than be in the kitchen.”

Reeya Banerjee, a current ICE student with nearly ten years’ hospitality experience under her belt, chose ICE in order to catapult her career to the next level. “Between the classroom component and the externship requirement, the Institute of Culinary Education has a hands-on practical approach to education that appeals to me.” Another current student, Julie Milack, was drawn to ICE’s flexible schedule options — with morning, afternoon and evening schedules beginning on a rolling basis. According to Julie, “I chose ICE due to its flexible schedule that fit perfectly into mine.” With an intensive program spanning just 12 months, ICE is the best route for professionals looking to make a career change.

Though many paths lead them to ICE, our students share a passion for hospitality and service. From hands-on training with the latest property management systems to field trips into NYC’s premier hotels and resorts, ICE gives them the tools and experience to turn that passion into a career with endless opportunities around the globe.

Ready to launch (or advance) your career in hospitality? Click here for more information on ICE’s career programs.

Alumni Career Hospitality Management

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Beyond the Bakery

suzanne.zuppello — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:09:58 +0000

Beyond the Bakery suzanne.zuppello Thu, 04/12/2018 - 11:09 8 Exciting Career Paths for Pastry Grads March 14, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

Students enroll in our pastry arts program for many reasons — for some, it’s to mix flour, eggs and sugar for the first time and launch a budding pastry career. For others, it’s to hone their skills and enhance their existing experience. Diploma (and whisk) in hand, our pastry grads set out on a range of career paths — from recipe writers to startup chefs to educators and more. Here’s a snapshot of the many possibilities of what you can do with professional pastry training from ICE.

Flex your restaurateur muscle like Zoe Nathan Loeb, whose restaurant group, Rustic Canyon Group, was named a 2018 James Beard Award Semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurateur. Rustic Canyon Group owns several popular California eateries: Rustic Canyon Wine Bar & Seasonal Kitchen, Huckleberry, Sweet Rose Creamery, Cassia and Esters Wine Shop & Bar.
Boost your kitchen confidence and enhance your resume as a food writer or editor like Lauren Katz, Associate Recipe Writer at Blue Apron.
Run the pastry program at LA’s most ‘gram-worthy resto with a “major cult following,” like Meadow Ramsey, Pastry Chef of Kismet.
Conquer the world of cake like Elisa Strauss, chef instructor in ICE’s Cake Decorating program, who started a boutique cake company and a cake design consultancy (not to mention, penned a few cake cookbooks in her spare time).
Use the skills and discipline learned in the pastry arts program to launch your own business… be it bar or bakery, like Ben Wiley, co-owner of five bars in Brooklyn: Bar Great Harry, The Owl Farm, Mission Dolores, Glorietta Baldy and Cardiff Giant.
Follow in the footsteps of one of your pastry chef mentors and go on to lead the pastry kitchen in an acclaimed NYC restaurant like Thea Habjanic, who, after being hired at Le Bernardin by Chef Michael Laiskonis, went on to become Executive Pastry Chef at the restaurant where Chef Michael designed the dessert menu, La Sirena.
Help train the next generation of pastry chefs like Andrea Tutunjian, ICE’s Dean of the School of Pastry & Baking Arts and Director of Education at ICE.
Join the dynamic world of startups like Michal Shelkowitz, Pastry Chef of the San Francisco-based meal delivery service, Munchery.

Ready to embark on your career in the pastry arts? Click here for more information on ICE’s career programs.

Career Alumni Pastry Arts Baking Arts

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Why an Octopus is Chef Greg Proechel's Spirit Animal

suzanne.zuppello — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 15:14:48 +0000

Why an Octopus is Chef Greg Proechel's Spirit Animal suzanne.zuppello Sun, 03/11/2018 - 11:14 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/Greg-Proechel_ICE-alum_1.19.18_72dpi-3.jpg.webp?itok=YRK8fsQI February 12, 2018

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

There are several good reasons why Greg Proechel (Culinary Arts ’10), Executive Chef of Ferris, has an octopus tattooed on his right arm. For starters, the former college football player has an octopus-like dexterity in the kitchen, a skill that earned him the nickname “pulpo,” — that’s “octopus” in Spanish — from famed Spanish chef Jesus Nuñez, whom he accompanied on Iron Chef in, coincidentally, the octopus battle.

The eight-armed mollusk, which can grow an arm if it loses one, is a symbol of regeneration, a theme that resonates with Greg. Less than a decade ago, he was working a desk job as a financial analyst. Today, he’s leading a new restaurant that’s already garnered praise from the New York Times, the New Yorker, and was named one of Eater’s Hottest Restaurants in Manhattan. His career path 180 began with his decision to enroll in ICE’s Culinary Arts program, where he began with zero professional kitchen experience and ended with a paid position at one of the best restaurants in the world — Eleven Madison Park. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better example of regeneration. And Greg continues to grow and make waves with his honest cooking and cheeky presentations of serious food.

Culinary school may have seemed an unlikely destination for a Wesleyan graduate who majored in economics. But to Greg, it was clear that a desk job wasn’t for him. “I need to do stuff with my hands. I always have,” says Greg. “I was a very avid drawer and I was always building stuff. I think I built every piece of furniture in my parents’ house. I knew I’d have to do something tactile.” So, college athlete, artist, carpenter — when did cooking enter the picture? “Cooking was always a big part of my life. All memories of my family revolve around food,” explains Greg. “I really wanted to go to culinary school as soon as I graduated.” To appease his parents, however, Greg worked as an analyst for a couple of years after college, all the while planning his next move. “I kept researching culinary programs, and when I got home from work, I’d practice my kitchen skills.” In 2009, just after ICE won its second IACP award, Greg applied to ICE’s Culinary Arts program — his first turn toward the professional life he truly wanted.

As the restaurant’s website will tell you, “Ferris is an amalgamation of everything Proechel has done in his New York restaurant career.” Greg laid the foundation for that career with his first externship during culinary school. Acting on the advice of ICE Chef Ted Siegel, Greg applied for an externship at Eleven Madison Park, which had just received its four-star rating from the Times. Despite the steep learning curve and inevitable slip-ups out of the gate, the learning experience was well worth it. “In the beginning, I messed up every single day,” says Greg, “but towards the end, I started doing well. And then I was hired.” It was during this time that Greg learned not necessarily what to cook, but how to work. Explains Greg, “To this day, I still use the methods I learned from my sous chef at EMP.” With the methods of a well-oiled Michelin-star machine under his belt, Greg was ready to start innovating in the kitchen.

Ferris’ Cote de Boeuf with all the fixings (photo courtesy of Ferris)

From Eleven Madison Park, Greg went on to Graffit, a modern Spanish restaurant led by Chef Jesus Nuñez, where he delved into molecular gastronomy. For a fledgling chef in the heyday of El Bulli, it was an exciting place to be. It was also the first place where Greg was given free reign to experiment in the kitchen. “That’s why I picked this career,” says Greg, “because you get to express yourself through food — and that was the first chance I got to do that all the time.” Four months into his stint at Graffit, Greg joined Chef Nuñez on Iron Chef, where they went head to head with Chef Michael Symon in the octopus battle. “That was just 16 months into my cooking career, so it was insane,” says Greg, “but the chef really believed in me.”

Then, with a reinforced sense of kitchen creativity and confidence, Greg joined the team at Blanca, the pioneer of extravagant tasting menus in the then up-and-coming Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Working alongside chef-owner Carlo Mirarchi, Greg found a warm welcome for his values, like carefully chosen, immaculately prepared products, and his inventive cooking. Together, these experiences prepared him for his ascent to executive chef at Le Turtle, where Greg created a menu of food described as “regularly excellent and at the very worst, interesting,” and set the restaurant world abuzz with his Sasso chicken — the chicken — served in its glorious, crispy skin entirety on a bed of hay. Advancing with a seemingly blind sense of determination, the young chef was already making a name for himself in New York City.

Ferris’ Cote de Boeuf with all the fixings (photo courtesy of Ferris)

Once the world caught wind that Greg was taking the helm of a new restaurant venture, Ferris, diners eagerly awaited what promised to be a bold menu. Judging by reviews, he has delivered on that promise, with “insistently innovative dishes” emerging from the tiny, five-person kitchen. Greg seems to have taken no small amount of pleasure in channeling his experience and his favorite things into every item on the menu. Take, for example, the cote de boeuf served with “all the fixings” — various iterations of the onion — inspired in part by Eastbound & Down (Danny McBride fans will recall his character’s affinity for feeeexins), and also a nod to the standard procession of plates that come with any meal in nearby Koreatown.

“When I go to Miss Korea in K-Town, they bring all of these different plates and sauces — that’s how I love to eat.”

In other dishes, like the infamous roasted Sasso chicken, which isn’t on the menu but is served based on availability, you’ll find Greg’s childhood memories of farms in New Jersey, his home state, and his grandparents’ farm in Vermont. In terms of the theatrical element to Greg’s cooking, like the cote de boeuf presentation that brings the entire dining room to a hush as fellow diners look on enviously, it’s impossible to ignore the wink to the restaurant that wrote the book on theatrical dining — Eleven Madison Park.

Asked about the restaurant’s name, Ferris, Greg says it doesn’t have one origin, but rather, evokes a certain kind of feeling: the excitement of a kid on a Ferris wheel; the joie de vivre of the protagonist of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Greg, no doubt, is excited about food, and that excitement is contagious in his small, subterranean dining room. There’s also the idea of coming full circle, like a Ferris wheel, as Greg has done — from the days of being an analyst with a pipe dream of breaking into the culinary industry to today, an octopus-tatted chef who’s creating delicious dishes that are a joy to eat. It’s a story of hard work, tenacity and regeneration, and it began with a decision to change his life’s course.

As the precocious Ferris Bueller once said — Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Greg isn’t missing it.

Alumni Chefs Culinary School