Throughout my life, I've learned to appreciate high quality ingredients—both in the food I'm cooking and dishes prepared by others. One of my biggest revelations on the road to pastry school was the first time I tasted the difference between a cake made from a boxed mix and one made from scratch. Ultimately, I feel infinitely happier consuming something when I know exactly what went into it to make it taste so good. However, it wasn't until pastry school that I truly understood the impact the best ingredients make in the final product.

When someone mentions “creativity” in the context of cooking, you might initially think about artful plating, unusual ingredient selection or innovation in cooking techniques. ICE alum and culinary director at Dig Inn Matthew Weingarten has built his career on a completely different type of creativity.

Over the course of more than 35 years in the hospitality industry, there’s little that ICE Dean of Hospitality Management Tom Voss hasn’t seen. His career spans the heights of both hotel operations and food and beverage management, serving as general manager of no less than three different luxury properties and numerous hotel restaurants.

“You’re going to get your close-up if you want it,” explains renowned chef and Food Network personality Alex Guarnaschelli. “But when it happens, what will you know how to do, and what will you have to say?” This week, Chef Alex spoke to a packed room of ICE students and graduates as she shared insights from her storied culinary career.

The first time I walked into an ICE kitchen, I could not wait to start cooking! I quickly found out how much there was to learn before I’d be allowed to craft a complete dish. Initially, I was disappointed that we weren’t going to jump right in and prepare elaborate feasts. That’s what I signed up for, right? As it turns out, consistently producing an amazing plate is harder than it looks. From knife skills to sauces to butchery, it’s amazing how many “basic” skills I learned in just the first two months of school.

“If you cook, you are going to get hurt.” The crowd that gathered for a panel discussion on modernist cooking erupted into laughter, but Wylie Dufresne’s observation was gravely accurate. Extreme heat (and cold—working with liquid nitrogen was the object of Wylie’s remark), sharp knives and heavy equipment are some of the perils cooks must navigate in their daily workplace environment. Add to the mix a dash of occasional chaos and the pressure to produce at breakneck speed, and it’s a wonder more chefs don’t bear hideous deformities.

I am constantly asking my students at ICE, “What role does this ingredient play in the recipe we are making?” In the case of butter—an ingredient most cooks take for granted—there are many answers. Most students immediately respond that butter adds flavor and richness to a recipe, which is correct. But did you know that butter could also be considered a leavening agent? (Think about puff pastry!) Let’s take a closer look at what—beyond flavor—butter is adding to all the fabulous baked goods ICE students are making in our classrooms.

“ As Minimum Wages Rise, Restaurants Say No to Tips, Yes to Higher Prices,” reads the New York Times headline. I experienced this seismic change firsthand on a trip to St. Louis. My son and I stopped for an impromptu lunch at a very modest neighborhood café (see: worn upholstery, paper menus and general shabby charm). Only two other tables were occupied during prime lunch service, and one look at the extravagant menu prices had me wondering if we were in for a taste of highway robbery.

In today’s food culture, ingredient-focused or “farm-to-table” cuisine has become so commonplace that many young chefs can’t remember a time before it existed. Before the dawn of Instagram, food blogs and YouTube videos, a generation of chefs willed this movement into existence through a series of earth-shattering cookbooks.

Of all the career changes ICE students have made over the years, figure skater to chef might be the most unusual. That’s just what ICE Culinary Arts alum Arnold Myint did, building on his talent for showmanship to develop a nationally recognized culinary brand.