The James Beard Foundation has announced The 2015 Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists. Congratulations to our alumni who received 14 nominations!

Each year, communities around the world celebrate #GivingTuesday—global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. In this spirit, we wanted to highlight just a few of the many ICC alumni using their culinary training to give back to their communities, working with their organizations to create change everyday.

So let me begin by telling you that ALMA, The International School of Italian Cuisine near Parma, where we went after 10 weeks at ICC in New York City, is amazing. The school is full of passionate instructors who have fantastic industry experience. In addition to cooking, we take field trips, have history classes, and get to live in Italy, of course.

Professional Pastry Arts student Meredith Adams-Spurrier on tackling her first day in a professional kitchen.