Pastry & Baking Arts student Stephanie Loo finished business school and a finance internship before finally giving in to her passion for pastry. Today, she's pursuing a fine dining career next door to the global bank she left behind. Here's how she came to enroll at the Institute of Culinary Education after gaining experience at Philadelphia restaurants.

Shiso, also known as perilla, is a green or red annual plant with tender leaves that is used in Asian and South American kitchens. Though related to the mint family, its flavor tends towards earthy, herbaceous and sometimes tangy, with a savory mouthfeel — mildly sweet and satisfying.

These students moved to Los Angeles from Spain and Southeast Asia for Health-Supportive Culinary Arts career training.

Simon Kim opened his first outpost of high-end Korean steakhouse, Cote, in Miami in the middle of the greatest challenge this industry has faced — a pandemic. With restrictions, reduced capacities and mandated closures, Simon never stopped pivoting and planning. He shared his tactics for building the business with Institute of Culinary Education students during a recent virtual event.

Croquembouche, profiteroles, beignets, churros, Parisian gnocchi, Paris-brest and gougères all have one thing in common: a deceptively simple dough like no other that creates seemingly endless varieties of deliciousness.

In his monthly musing, Dean of Wine Studies Scott Carney reflects on a recent class's commitment to blind wine tasting together despite pandemic limitations.

The Health-Supportive Culinary Arts curriculum covers the teachings of Dr. Annemarie Colbin, who founded the Natural Gourmet Institute on the belief that there is a correlation between food intake and maintaining bodily homeostasis. We dive deep into the theories of macrobiotics, Ayurveda, whole food dynamics, the longevity diet and the synergy of ingesting predominantly plant-based, whole foods. Similarly, adaptogens are thought to attune the body to a particular energetic pathway, generating a nonspecific homeostatic response.

Chef Kwame Onwuachi rose to stardom on "Top Chef" in 2015 and recently announced he'll return to the show as a judge. After working in D.C. restaurants and releasing a memoir, he spoke to Institute of Culinary Education students via Zoom for a virtual event this month.

The head of ICE's bean-to-bar Chocolate Lab, Chef Michael Laiskonis, explores the Italian delicacy gianduja, a chocolate and hazelnut spread from Piedmont, with moderate and advanced applications.