Restaurant & Culinary Management Instructor Nancy Selzer studied wine through the Sommelier Society of America and Spain Wine Academy. She was the service director at Babbo early in her career and her wine lists at Tarry Lodge restaurants have earned more than 10 Wine Spectator Awards of Excellence. Nancy has built two private-label wine brands and won Best Medium Sherry Pairing at an international wine competition in Spain.

Dan Mezzalingua (Management, '15) might have been the most enthusiastic 41-year-old intern to enter New York City’s competitive restaurant scene after completing ICE's Restaurant & Culinary Management program. After 14 years in the tech industry and five years in private equity, the political science grad couldn’t shake his love of cooking and desire to open a chicken concept.

On August 15, 2018, Julia Child would have been 106 years old and hopefully very proud to learn that the Institute of Culinary Education opened a campus in her hometown this year. Yes, Pasadena, California, is the birthplace of "The French Chef” and home to ICE’s first location outside of New York City. Julia was very familiar with the school and a critical part of its history. In 1995, Peter Kump founded what was first called Peter Kump’s New York Culinary School, where Julia was a frequent guest instructor and good friend of Peter's. She remained a staunch supporter of ICE as the years went on and the school grew and changed.

Dana Pollack (Pastry, '11) worked as a magazine photo editor for a decade before quitting her job and enrolling in ICE's Pastry & Baking Arts Program. "I’d always loved baking," she says. "I'd been baking since I was very young; that’s how I would relieve stress, make people gifts and entertain. It’s always been something that I was passionate about but never really thought about doing for a living – until I had that light bulb moment."

I have always been fascinated by the process in which salt transforms proteins into preparations that have the appearance of being cooked, but are truly not — and yet, are safe to consume. How does this happen? It is a very simple process that dates back thousands of years in human history when meat, poultry and fish had to be stored without any type of refrigeration as we know it today.

I moved from South Florida to Southern California just one week before the first day of class. In the days prior, I said goodbye to my loved ones and crammed all I could fit into my SUV to embark on a cross-country road trip to my new state. After five long days of driving, I finally made it to Pasadena, California. I couldn’t believe it: I was finally going to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a chef.

My first ruffle cake appeared in New York Weddings magazine, which coincidentally was my first cake in print. A mixture of buttercup yellow and periwinkle, it had a tapered-in center section and ruffles zig-zagging back and forth across it. The tops of the ruffles were adorned with small, glittery, handmade sugar sequins. I soon realized that there would never be enough glitter or gold on cakes for my taste. A ruffle rosette cake I made after that became a very popular design and was featured in Brides magazine. You can say I have a special place in my heart, and my cake toolbox, for ruffles. Since that first go at it years ago, ruffles have really developed into an art...

As the CEO of Fatty Crew for more than a decade, Rick Camac operated kiosks in Central Park and the Financial District, and concessions in Barclays Center. His Pullcart, Fatty 'Cue and Fatty Snack concepts were well reviewed but short lived. Now ICE's Dean of Restaurant & Hospitality Management, Rick shares what he learned and what to consider and anticipate when pursuing mobile eatery success.

Chef Diego Lozano is on a mission to expose the pastry world – and his own countrymen – to Brazil’s multitude of exotic and largely unknown ingredients. The owner of pastry school Escola de Confeitaria in São Paolo spends one month a year creating new recipes and developing new techniques for classes. His prerequisite before updating the curriculum? Testing his findings out in master classes around the world, like he’ll do at ICE's Center for Advanced Pastry Studies this month.