Food Start Up Help is a consulting group started by colleagues at ICE, which assists entrepreneurs in bakery-related startup concept definition and business planning, financing, menu profitability, production and operational efficiency. Today, we celebrate the success story of one of our clients, ICE Professional Pastry Program Alum and Chef/Owner of Cocoamains, Kathleen Escamilla-Hernandez.

What's it like to be the co-owner and executive chef at one of New York's most buzzed about restaurants? Just ask Daniel Holzman of The Meatball Shop.

It's almost Super Bowl Sunday, and we're gearing up with recipes for our favorite game day snacks. What's more, in the spirit of friendly (fishy) competition, we're testing two iconic dishes from the Ravens' and 49ers' hometowns: Baltimore Crab Cakes and San Francisco Cioppino.

There once was a time when bacon meant breakfast, but these days, both chefs and eaters can't get enough of this porky indulgence. As with all ingredients, Chef Virginia Monaco knows that quality matters, so she opts for these alternatives to basic, pre-cut bacon.

As the head chef of what is arguably New York's most popular vegetable restaurant, you would expect Amanda Cohen to be a vegetarian. She was, in fact, for 16 years - a life choice inspired more by teenage peer pressure than any moral qualms about eating meat. But as she trained to become a chef, Cohen realized the restaurants she frequented rarely offered vegetarian dishes that actually featured vegetables. It was an observation that led her to start eating fish...and later, to start her own restaurant.

It's been barely two months since Seohyung Im faced off with three of her culinary peers to represent ICE at the Northeast Regional San Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition. Since then, she not only met regularly with her chef advisor, James Briscione, to practice the various techniques required for her dish but also mentally prepared for the hectic media frenzy that would surround her in the kitchen.

Yesterday evening, students and alumni welcomed back ICE Alumni Hall of Fame inductee Chef Ivy Stark for a demonstration of Oaxaxan Chichilo mole and Agua Fresca.

Volunteer events are among the many opportunities for ICE students to further their craft. This weekend, Culinary Arts students supported an array of international chefs at the New York Times 10th Annual Travel Show.

In the European tradition, aspiring chefs would learn their trade through apprenticeships. Even in this age of professional culinary schools, all ICE graduates fulfill this traditional on-site training as part of their graduation requirements.

When we hear the word "start-up", typically what comes to mind is a small, forward-thinking, creative company in the technology sector. But in the food world, start-up ventures are equally exciting, innovative...and risky. That's why ICE instructors Kathryn Gordon, Jeff Yoskowitz, Jessie Riley and Alan Someck created Food Start Up Help, a consulting service for food entrepreneurs looking to launch a new business.