Eight ICE Students Participate in San Pellegrino's “Almost Famous Chef” Regional Competition

New York, NY (July 2005)—The Institute of Culinary Education is one of ten schools from around the nation selected to enter San Pellegrino’s fourth annual Almost Famous Chef Competition. In this competition, students are judged on both their culinary skills and their potential star quality.

The New York City regional competition, which involves eight ICE students and recent alumni, will be held at ICE on Tuesday, September 27. A list of the eight contestants and the dish they will prepare is attached. The national finals will be held October 16 to 19 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

The nine other schools chosen to enter this year’s competition are The Art Institute of Dallas, California Culinary Academy, California School of Culinary Arts, The Culinary Institute of America, Culinary Institute of New Orleans, Drexel University, Johnson & Wales University, Kendall College, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The winner of each school’s regional competition will be a contender in the Las Vegas finals.

ICE has been selected to participate in the competition three out of the past four years. In 2002 an ICE student, Jon-Carl Lachman, was the national winner. Lachman is now an executive chef in Chicago.

An eclectic group of chef and media judges have been chosen for the September regional competition at ICE. The list includes:
• Chef Ivy Stark, Rosa Mexicano
• Chef Fortunato Nicoltra, Felidia
• Chef Scott Campbell, @SQC
• Brett Thorn, Nation’s Restaurant News
• Nelle Bauer, Food Arts
• Sylvia Carter, Newsday

The national winner will receive an all expense paid trip to a culinary school in Italy, one year of media/event tours and interviews, and various public appearances throughout the year. San Pellegrino is also collaborating with a publishing company to create a cooking book with contestants’ and celebrity chefs’ recipes.

ICE Students and Signature Dishes San Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Regional Competition:
• Tony Fong — Creamy crab croquette with a carrot coulis
• Melanie Pabon — Pan-roasted halibut with a tomato and avocado tequila sauce, spicy grilled asparagus and plantain beet risotto cakes
• Lynn Irwin — Moroccan style lamb t-bone with couscous, roasted eggplant, artichoke puree and pomegranate sauce
• Virginia Monaco — Citrus glazed duck breast over roasted chioggia beets and lemon-mint faro
• Joshua Laurano — Lasagna with lobster, seasonal wild mushrooms and roasted fennel served with corn and pea coulis, as well as lobster and truffle oils, and topped with crispy fried basil leaves
• Jaewoo Chung — Spicy grilled pork tenderloin with green tea rice mixed with baby greens salad and pickled daikon radish
• Troy Carpenter — Cherry-glazed duck breast with acorn squash puree, sautéed bok choy, black sesame crisps and sake reduction
• Jason Rooke — Pan-roasted lamb loin with pumpkin risotto and brussel sprouts

About ICE

The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE®) is New York City's award-winning center for culinary education. Founded in 1975 by Peter Kump, the school offers highly regarded 8- to 12-month career training programs in Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, Culinary Management and Hospitality Management. With an intensive curriculum, dedicated Chef Instructors, a strong record in externship placements and a clear entrepreneurial focus, ICE is widely regarded as a great pathway to begin or continue a culinary career. ICE also runs the largest program of hands-on recreational cooking classes and wine education courses in the country, with more than 26,000 enthusiasts taking any of the 1,500 classes offered each year. In 2008, ICE was named the International Association of Culinary Professionals' (IACP) Culinary School of the Year and a School of Distinction by the ACCSCT in 2006. ICE's 42,000 square-foot facility is open seven days and nights a week, 350 days a year and is located at 50 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010. More information can be found at www.iceculinary.com.