Foie gras. Pâté. Offal. These niche food items may be familiar to us today, but in 1985, these products were unknown to many Americans. That is, until Ariane Daguin launched D’Artagnan, an inspired idea that became one of the largest and most trusted specialty meat distributors in the country. In celebration of the company’s 30th anniversary, we recently invited the visionary founder and CEO to ICE as part of our Meet the Culinary Entrepreneurs series.

Some of us are just born with the industry in our blood. Tony Trincanello started off as a busboy at 16, and by age 20 was already staging at a winery in Veneto, Italy. After graduating from ICE and externing at the legendary Le Cirque, Tony launched a successful catering company, worked as a wine consultant and eventually became the Food & Beverage Director at Santa Monica's Huntley Hotel. His latest venture, The Roost at LA Farm revitalizes one of the region's classic culinary landmarks.

“ Man with Machete Robs Upscale Chelsea Restaurant,” read the headline. Another terrible crime in the big city? Yes, for sure. Thankfully no one was hurt. But reading the story — and realizing that the incident occurred just a few blocks from ICE — made me reflect on certain safety procedures we often ignore restaurant operations.

In the process of preparing a multi-step dish, there are typically a few points of “no return.” Incorrectly butchering a protein, over-cooking the pasta or curdling the egg in your sauce are all-too-common ways to waste time and valuable products. Yet for all these stiff road blocks in the culinary kitchen, there are many more forgiving mistakes—opportunities to add in ingredients or seasoning you had forgotten, methods to smooth out overly reduced sauces or creative solutions for those improperly butchered proteins.

In the ever-growing buffet of possible food careers, sometimes it's hard to choose what will end up on your plate. Will I be a magazine editor or a restaurant owner? A cookbook author or an entrepreneur? Well, in the case of ICE alum Sara Deseran, she's having her cake and eating it too. At the mere age of 42, she's the co-owner of five restaurants, the food editor for San Francisco magazine and a cookbook author—and still, she's plotting to one day write freelance articles for the New York Times. Because why shouldn't you get to do everything you've always wanted to do?

In the course of any career, there are moments that change everything. For young restaurant manager Jeff Yoskowitz, a disagreement with his chef—in specific, one phrase: “You don’t like it? Why don’t you do it yourself?”—was all it took to spark a life in the kitchen.

A lot can happen in the time between pitching and publishing a cookbook—especially when that process takes seven years. Aside from the endless edits, re-writes, negotiations and time in the kitchen, life happens: trends are fickle, science can change facts, and various moving parts may drift away. It’s enough to make anyone go nuts.

Seldom does a week go by without my receiving a dozen or more of emails, phone calls or text messages, all looking for answers. "Do you have a recipe for...?" "Have you ever tried...?" “What would happen if…?” Far from being a burden, I happily participate in these personal exchanges because I believe there should be no secrets in cooking.