Now celebrating its 20th year in business, City Bakery remains a favorite downtown spot to enjoy both exceptional, handmade pastries, as well as a fresh, market-driven lunch.

There are endless variations on the classic meatball. Whether you’re a purist looking for a traditional Swedish meatball or an adventurer willing to sample seafood meatballs, the meatball offers something for everyone.

When I was a kid, I grew up on hearty, home-cooked meat and potatoes meals every night of the week. Looking back on it now, I don’t know how I missed my mom’s Wonder Woman cape!

I found myself on the Upper East Side, killing time with the kids on one of those arduous, winter breaks in the city with nothing to do.

DICED has been sharing our interview with influential food writer Mark Bittman from the Winter 2012 issue of The Main Course, our school newsletter. Bittman is the lead food writer for the New York Times Magazine and an opinion columnist for the New York Times, for which he began writing in 1990. We’ve already looked at his career and his outlook on the food system and our current diet.

ICE releases our school newsletter, The Main Course, three times a year. Every issue is packed with classes, news, articles, and interviews. One of the favorite features is reading the in-depth profiles of our Chef Instructors. The depth and breadth of their experience continue to surprise us. This profile, from the Winter 2012 issue, taught us a lot about Chef Instructor Hervé Riou and the incredible experience he brings to our kitchen classrooms.

The Main Course is the much-loved newsletter of ICE. Published three times a year, every issue contains the upcoming schedule as well as interviews, articles, profiles, and recipes. In the Winter 2012 issue, former ICE Director of Center for Food Media Anne E. McBride took an in-depth look at the developments in sous-vide and how the Chef Instructors at ICE are integrating it into our career training programs and kitchens. We’re sharing the article here on DICED.

These days it seems that having a knack for baking is so much more than mastering cakes and cookies. Not only are bakeries around the country specializing in so much more, like macaroons, cake pops and truffles to impress the ever-changing demand of consumers, but bloggers and home cooks are starting to explore these more complicated treats.

Last week, we brought you part one of our interview with influential food writer Mark Bittman. Three times a year, ICE publishes The Main Course, our school newsletter full with interviews, articles and school news. For the Winter 2012 issue, we sat down with Mark Bittman, the lead food writer for the New York Times Magazine and an opinion columnist for the New York Times, for which he began writing in 1990.

ICE President Rick Smilow recently spent several days in Rome. As always, he had a few food adventures on his journey (regular readers will remember his trips to Mississipi and Chicago). In this account of his food tour through Rome’s Testaccio neighborhood, he shares how he did as the Romans do and ended up eating very well.