From award-winning restaurateurs and chefs to food media leaders, hotel managers and entrepreneurs, our alumni continue to rank among the most noteworthy names in the food and hospitality industries.
Graduates can pursue positions as executive, pastry or private chefs; event or public relations professionals; food policy or non-profit leaders; retailers or product developers; authors or on-air hosts; and, of course, wine or mixology experts. See how former students have achieved success in catering, hotel management, product sourcing and beyond.
Check out the recent headlines featuring ICE graduates below. And meet some of our all-star alumni here
ICE graduates make headlines with awards and nominations, restaurant rankings in the media, television appearances and great reviews. Read more about the latest restaurant openings and expansions, promotions and successes among ICE’s community of alumni.
A great way to network and find new opportunities in the culinary and hospitality industries is to get involved with industry organizations. ICE students and graduates participate in the most highly regarded institutions of their fields.
See above for a list of industry organizations.
Our graduates have pursued a wide array of careers in the culinary and hospitality fields with ICE diplomas and certificates, from cooking and baking positions to restaurant, bakery or food business ownership, hotel management, and events planning. See where an ICE education can take you.
Here are some of the ICE alumni who have inspired us in the past year:
The New York Times announced the chefs selected to participate in its inaugural food festival, including Matt Hyland (Culinary, '05), owner of Pizza Loves Emily, Emmy Squared and Violet, and Sohui Kim (Culinary/Management, ‘02), owner of Insa and The Good Fork.
Paras Shah (Culinary, ‘07) introduces fast-casual paella restaurant Valencian Gold in Las Vegas. “It’s important to create a place where people will want to spend their time, enjoy the food and experience good service,” he says. With positive coverage from Eater Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Weekly, it looks like Valencian Gold is just that.
In June, Carl Ruiz (Culinary, ‘00) opened La Cubana in the Meatpacking District, with live music, tropical cocktails and old-school Cuban food made fresh with modern ingredients. “The menu’s a mixture of my favorites growing up that my mom and grandmother would make and stuff that I picked up in Miami and Orlando, some old-school dishes that were disappearing,” Chef Carl says. “The traditional stuff is really satisfying to make.”
Photo by Nick Solares
The IACP Award for Baking cookbook went to Kristin Miglore (Culinary, '09) for "Food52 Genius Desserts: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Bake." She also received the award for Food-Focused Column for Food52's Genius Recipes.
Photo by James Ransom
The 2019 James Beard Award Winners were announced and executive chef of The Grey in Savannah, Georgia, Mashama Bailey (Culinary, '01) won Best Chef: Southeast.
Photo by Karen Mordechai
The James Beard Foundation announced its 2019 award finalists, which recognized restaurants and cookbooks from several ICE alumni: Rachel Yang (Culinary, '01) at Joule, Mashama Bailey (Culinary, '01) at The Grey, Marc Johnson (Culinary, '04) at Majordomo, and Miguel Trinidad (Culinary, '07) for "I Am a Filipino."
Thea Habjanic (Pastry ’10) is the executive pastry chef of Jose Andres’ new Spanish food mecca, Mercado Little Spain, opening in March at New York's Hudson Yards.
Zoe Nathan (Culinary, '01), co-owner and head baker of acclaimed Santa Monica restaurant group Rustic Canyon, is opening an eighth restaurant.
Photo by Emily Hart Roth
Executive chef and partner at Heirloom Kitchen, David Viana (Culinary, ’04) makes his debut as a contestant on "Top Chef" season 16.
Kerry Brodie (Culinary, '17), founder of Emma's Torch, was the recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Graduate Award from ACCSC, which accredits ICE and hundreds of career schools around the country.
The New York Times highlights the best cookbooks to look for this fall and four were written by ICE alumni: "Emily: The Cookbook" by Matt Hyland (Culinary, '04), "Korean Home Cooking" by Sohui Kim (Culinary/Management, '02), "I Am a Filipino: And This Is How We Cook" by Miguel Trinidad (Culinary, '07), and "Food52 Genius Desserts: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook" by Kristen Miglore (Culinary, '08), all available for order or preorder.
Mashama Bailey (Culinary, ’02), chef/partner of The Grey, in Savannah, Georgia, will be one of the stars of Netflix's "Chef's Table" series in season 6, airing 2019.
Photo by Chia Chong
Jared Male (Management, ’10) opened Randall’s Barbecue on New York’s Lower East Side. Jared gained barbecue experience at New York’s prominent Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and Hill Country Barbecue restaurants, followed by London's Big Easy Bar.B.Q & Crabshack. Randall’s Barbecue has offered catering and hosted pop ups since 2015; this is the first brick-and-mortar location.
Photo by Molly Tavoletti
Simone Tong (Culinary/Management, ’11), chef-owner of Little Tong Noodle Shop, received rave reviews for a new location on 53rd Street geared toward the Midtown takeout-lunch crowd.
Ayesha Nurdjaja (Culinary, '06) brought her Mediterranean fare to the James Beard House at its Summer in the Mediterranean event. Ayesha collaborated with the chefs from Shuka’s sister restaurants — Cookshop, Rosie’s and Vic’s — on a menu of Sicilian mezze.
A great way to network and find new opportunities in the culinary and hospitality industries is to get involved with industry organizations. ICE students and graduates participate in the most highly regarded institutions of their fields, including the following industry organizations:
