This week, ICE made an appearance on Rocco DiSpirito’s new Food Network show Restaurant Divided.

When Michael Laiskonis got hired for his first job, scooping ice cream in Detroit, he probably never imagined that he would one day be teaching ICE Pastry & Baking students about the complex chemistry of frozen dairy products. In fact, Michael never intended to enter the food industry. Rather, he fell into it by accident, after deciding to abandon formal studies in fine arts and photography for what he describes as an "earn while you learn" approach. And so he entered the business, working the overnight shift at his roommate's brother's bakery.

My first thought on day one of the Culinary Management program was, "Oh boy." As in—oh boy, eleven textbooks is kind of a lot. Oh boy, this is a room of people I've never seen before. Oh boy, this is the thickest information packet of all time. Oh boy, I have a lot to learn.

More than fifty guests gathered at ICE for a book signing with internationally renowned pastry chef Francois Payard.

When you hear terms like “modernist cuisine” or “molecular gastronomy,” it brings to mind visions of mad scientist-like chefs using fancy machines to create concoctions that you’re not sure if you're supposed to eat or see on display at the Museum of Modern Art. But for Chef John Bignelli of the East Village hotspot Alder, modernist cooking is anything but.

Since the very beginning of my career as a pastry chef, I have always tried to keep one foot in the classics, while simultaneously pursuing new techniques and flavor combinations.

One of the most important aspects of both the culinary and pastry programs takes place outside the classroom—trailing. Indeed, I learned a tremendous amount about technique and working in professional kitchens through my trailing experience. However, if you had asked me several months ago what "trailing" was, I would have assumed we were talking about hiking. In fact, a friend recently told me that she thought I had been misspelling “trials” when posting about my trailing experience on Facebook. While my spelling was accurate, my friend was not far off in her interpretation of the word.

ICE was thrilled to host Executive Pastry Chef Joseph Murphy for a demonstration and discussion of his desserts at 3-Michelin-star restaurant Jean Georges, or simply “JG”, as he calls it.

Last week, ICE was honored to have a true living legend visit our school – Chef Alain Ducasse. Along with his longtime collaborator and Corporate Chef Sylvain Portay, Chef Ducasse came to debut and demonstrate his new app – My Culinary Encyclopedia : Recipes and Techniques by Alain Ducasse.