There are people who take years to decide to pursue a career in food, and there are those who know they were always destined for it. Lee Knoeppel, (Culinary Arts '09) falls in the latter camp. Most recently, he's made waves as the first ever contestant on The Taste to get voted "Yes" by all four judges—Marcus Samuelsson, Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefevbre. Tune into ABC at 8pm EST on Thursdays to track his progress!

Do you love cooking and being around food? Spend hours watching cooking shows and reading cookbooks? Daydream about rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty in the kitchen? Then make 2014 the year you pursue a fulfilling, creative future in food.

It’s no secret among aspiring culinary professionals that the restaurants within Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) are world-renowned for their hospitality and staff-training programs. Much like at ICE, USHG demonstrates its commitment to employees through robust internal education programs on topics ranging from cheese to craft beer, spirits, and of course, wine.

In the culinary world, it is often said that we eat with our eyes first. If something doesn’t look appetizing, people won’t want to eat it, regardless of whether the flavor is on point. You know when you are scrolling through Facebook, minding everybody else's business and are suddenly bombarded with a picture of some blurry, washed-out mess on a plate? “Home-cooked dinner!”, the caption proudly boasts. I’m sure your spinach lasagna tastes great, Aunt Susan, but right now, it looks like the Wicked Witch of the West just melted into a puddle on your plate.

What exactly makes a "Top Chef"? Well, you could win a contest on a popular TV show, or perhaps run top-rated restaurants — or better yet, both.

While working for Emeril Lagasse in New Orleans, I become quite interested in ways to use bay leaves in sweets. Emeril has laurel trees in his backyard, so we were lucky to have fresh leaves picked by Chef himself, and used them in just about all of his savory dishes. I found the flavor of fresh bay leaves similar to mint when lightly steeped in cream—perfect for a pannacotta.

Since my last post, big changes have occurred: I have gone from pastry student to a pastry cook! Yes – it's official: On December 9th, my Pastry and Baking Arts classmates and I celebrated the end of our coursework and the start of our externships. While I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment, I must admit—it feels a little odd to no longer be in class for four hours hours every morning, covered in flour, sugar and chocolate.

Many of my favorite holiday memories include making cookies in various sizes, shapes and flavors. The aroma of fresh baked cookies around the holidays triggers memories of the amazing Christmas celebrations I had as a child. Having grown up in a Italian American household, there was never a shortage of anise shortbread cookies, florentines and of course, all manner of biscotti.