A great bottle of wine—it often seems like such a simple pleasure. But the vision, planning, labor and skill required to infuse joy into every bottle is not always so apparent to the drinker.

Anytime you set out to do something that has never been done before, you can expect some people to react with confusion and fear. Especially if that involves messing with something that people have deep and personal opinions about, like food.

At ICE, our students come from a variety of different backgrounds and have a broad range of goals. The man or woman standing next to you in class could be a concert pianist, doctor, plumber, florist, marketing executive or a stay-at-home mother. Yet among the many fascinating life stories we've come across at ICE, alumnus Sharon Folta's is particularly memorable. After graduating from ICE, she has both pursued a career in healthful cooking as a Personal Chef/Cooking Instructor and authored a memoir, Little Satchmo, describing her experience growing up as the daughter of famed jazz trumpet player Louis Armstrong.

ICE was delighted to recently host a cooking demo with one of New York's true culinary phenoms, Chef Alex Stupak. Although only in his early thirties, Chef Stupak already has twenty years of industry experience under his belt. His professional career started in Chicago, where he worked at the award-winning, four-star restaurant Tru. Following his time in Chicago, Stupak went to work at The Federalist in Washington DC, and later, landed at Clio in Boston, where he gained national acclaimed for his talent as a pastry chef.

Since the coining of the first celebrity chef, there have been many professionals in the culinary and pastry fields that new students can look up to as role models. There are, of course, a number of brilliant female pastry chefs here in New York City—and around the world—whose work inspires the artist in me.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ takes great pride in the success and advancement of our staff and alumni. As we enter the culinary awards season, we are thrilled to recognize the wide variety of nominations, honors and awards that have been presented to members of our school community. From a Thai-inspired restaurant, to a chocolate-centric cookbook, award-winning turns on food television to the "Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America", their culinary accomplishments could not be more diverse.

Every year, ICE Culinary Management students are exposed to some of the greatest entrepreneurs in the business. These industry leaders generously take time out of their busy schedules to share their stories and offer advice to the next generation of restauranteurs.

Last May Nick Malgieri, ICE’s Director of Pastry and Baking Arts and author of Perfect Cakes, A Baker’s Tour and many others, traveled to Turkey to learn about Turkish pastries from experts in Istanbul and Gaziantep. He brought these traditions back to the states and recently shared them during a demonstration at ICE.

Chef-Instructor Vicki Wells brings an enormous amount of experience with her into the kitchen. She has worked in some of the country’s finest kitchens, including Sarabeth’s, Hotel Plaza Athenée, Maxim’s, Montrachet, Le Bernardin and Trattoria Dell’Arte.

Our culinary and pastry students are faced with a number of challenges on a daily basis. First and foremost, they're asked to learn recipes and techniques with foreign names and to reinforce that learning after class with homework and library assignments. While striving to produce professional quality work, they must also uphold the highest standard of efficiency and cleanliness. And as their lessons progress, students are expected to do additional fieldwork outside of ICE, which includes trailing (short-term stints in commercial kitchens) to plan and prepare for their externships.