Ritin Chakrabarti (Hospitality, ’18) came to the Institute of Culinary Education with an interest in pastry from watching the Cooking Channel and Food Network. After getting to know Ritin’s personality, an admissions rep invited the prospective student to sit in on a hospitality class. “One of Andrew Catalano’s classes was all it took,” says Ritin, who enrolled in ICE’s Hospitality & Hotel Management program in 2017.

The 2018 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: New York City, Missy Robbins (Culinary, '95) opened her second restaurant, Misi, in September. Her original Williamsburg restaurant, Lilia, and Misi both earned three-star reviews from The New York Times and are booked enough for Missy to call herself “a full-time reservationist at this point,” referencing constant text message requests for the coveted tables.

It’s 11 p.m. when my roommate finally gets home. That’s common — she’s in the service industry, and tonight she’s worked a double. I’m chasing a deadline, so I don’t get a chance to immediately ask about her day, but I don’t have to. To blow off steam, Irina cooks.

One of ICE’s first #CulinaryVoice Scholarship Challenge winners has progressed from barback to general manager with her Restaurant & Culinary Management diploma. We ask Samantha about her journey to ICE and through the ranks at Union Square Hospitality Group’s Porchlight in Chelsea.

Season 16 of “Top Chef” debuts this week with ICE alum David Viana (Culinary, ’04) competing in Kentucky, so we asked his fellow alumni for their best advice about cooking on TV. Here’s what season 15 runner-up Adrienne Cheatham (Culinary, ‘07) and more star chefs have to share from their appearances on air.

In 2005, Yoon Hee Kim enrolled at ICE’s New York campus while a mother of three in her 40s. Her professional pursuits in the tea industry were developing and she chose the Culinary Arts program to complement those endeavors. Yoon Hee returned to ICE 13 years later as a guest lecturer at our Los Angeles campus. Here, she discusses her research in Korea, career ambitions and advice for culinary students.

As far as winter ingredients go, ginger is as beloved and widely used as any in the pastry pantry. Though the highly herbaceous root of a perennially flowering plant can be found in everything from stir fries to fancy sodas, haute cocktails and punched-up teas, it receives special attention in dessert and pastry recipes during these cold, winter months.

ICE alum and chef-instructor Penny Stankiewicz is known for her custom cakes at Sugar Couture in Brooklyn. Dr. Oz invited the pro cake artist to take on the latest social media trend in sweets: desserts that look like real dogs. See if Chef Penny's edible dog looks as real as her cake flowers and other optical illusions — this time, she's making art out of ice cream.

After high school, I went to the Culinary Institute of America for a semester and had to come home because of my eating disorder. That regret and anger fueled the rest of what’s happened in my life, and I’m so happy with where I am today, that I know it was meant to be in a strange way.

The holiday season is a time for gifting and we’re celebrating ICE alumni who use their education to give back year-round. These chefs are passing education on or donating proceeds to charitable organizations through food and you can help by tasting, dining or donating.