Honoring Excellence: ICE Awards & Honors

ICE’s faculty has received a number of noteworthy distinctions from leading culinary publications and organizations in the nation.

Noteworthy ICE honors include:

• Dessert Professional’s 2017 “Top Ten Pastry Chefs” — Chef-Instructor Kathryn Gordon.
• 2015 IACP “Culinary Educator of the Year” — Chef-Instructor Chris Gesualdi.
• 2014 IACP “Culinary Professional of the Year” — Creative Director Michael Laiskonis.
• 2008 James Beard Award for “Outstanding Pastry Chef in America” — Creative Director Michael Laiskonis.
• Dessert Professional’s 2010 “Top Ten Pastry Chefs” — Chef-Instructor Michelle Tampakis.
• First ever two-time "Chopped" Champion — Director of Culinary Research James Briscione.
• 2011 IACP Cookbook Award for "Wedding Cake Art & Design" — Chef-Instructor Toba Garrett.
• In 2011, ICE President Rick Smilow received an IACP Award of Excellence for "Culinary Entrepreneur of the Year”.
• Rick Smilow was also designated as an honoree by the New York Association of Culinary Teachers.

ICE students have won numerous scholarships, medals and awards from organizations such as Les Dames d’Escoffier, the U.S. Pastry Competition and Allagash Brewing Company’s “Cookin’ With Allagash” contest.

Additional highlighted ICE awards:

• Culinary Arts student Amanda Lee won the United States of Umami Culinary Competition in 2019.
• Pastry & Baking Arts student Fernando Diala won the national Ritz Crushed Crackers Recipe Contest in 2020.

Read more about student ICE honors.

From James Beard Foundation and IACP awards for outstanding achievements in the industry to media honors including Peabody Awards, Emmys and more, ICE alumni are regularly named among the most influential leaders in food.

Recent alumni ICE honors:

• Six ICE alumni were named as 2023 James Beard Foundation semifinalists:
  • Mary Attea (Culinary Arts, '11) for Best Chef: New York State.
  • Shenarri Freeman (Health-Supportive Culinary Arts, '21) for Best Chef: New York State.
  • Sohui Kim (Culinary Arts and Restaurant & Culinary Management, '02) for Best Chef: New York State.
  • Ayesha Nurdjaja (Culinary Arts, '07) for Best Chef: New York State.
  • Mashama Bailey (Culinary Arts, '01) for Outstanding Restaurant
  • Zoe Nathan (Culinary Arts, '01) for Outstanding Restaurant.
• Mashama Bailey (Culinary, ’01) won the 2022 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef.
• Mashama Bailey (Culinary, ’01) won the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast.
• Rachel Yang (Culinary, '01) was nominated for Best Chef: Northwest.
• Miguel Trinidad (Culinary, '07) co-authored "I Am a Filipino," which was nominated for the International Book Award.
• Semifinalists included Sohui Kim (Culinary/Management, '02) of Insa and Ann Redding (Culinary, '02) of Uncle Boons for Best Chef: New York City, and Missy Robbins (Culinary, '95) of Lilia for Outstanding Chef.
• Three ICE alumni won James Beard Awards in 2018:
  • Missy Robbins of Lilia in Brooklyn won Best Chef: New York City.
  • Stacy Adimando, author of “Nopalito” won Best International Book.
  • Vivian Howard, author of the Black Bean-Glazed Salmon with Ginger Cabbage recipe on pannacooking.com won Best Video Webcast.
• In 2018, Gail Simmons (Culinary, ‘99) emceed the International Association of Culinary Professionals Awards. Stacy Adimando (Culinary, '10) of Saveur brought home the award for Instructional Writing on Food or Beverage with Recipes for her piece, "Masa Appeal," while Clare Langan (Culinary, '11) accepted the award on behalf of the team behind the FYI Network series, "Scraps." Other nominees included Emily Peterson (Culinary/Management, '09) for her Edible Philly personal essay on scrapple, "Mystery Meat," and Gail Simmons (Culinary, ’99) for her latest book, "Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating."
• The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges honored Kerry Brodie (Culinary, ’17) with the 2018 ACCSC Outstanding Graduate Award for her work at Emma's Torch.
• In 2018, Adrienne Cheatham (Culinary, '07) made it to the final elimination challenge of "Top Chef" season 15.
• The Diner Bar at The Grey, with chef/partner Mashama Bailey (Culinary, '01) at the helm, was named one of the 2018 Best Bars in America by Esquire Magazine.
• In 2017, Greta Anthony (Culinary, ’95) took home a James Beard Media Award-Video Webcast, Fixed Location and/or Instructional for her role as producer of "Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph," which aired on marthastewart.com. Other finalists included Missy Robbins (Culinary, '95) of Lilia for Best Chef: New York City, Rachel Yang (Culinary, '01) of Joule in Seattle for Best Chef: Northwest, and Vivian Howard (Culinary, '03) for "Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South" in the American Cooking cookbook category.
• In 2016, Vivian Howard won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Food Personality or Host for her PBS series, "A Chef's Life." In 2014, Vivian became the first graduate in our history to receive a prestigious Peabody Award for the same.
• Two ICE alumni were named among StarChefs list of 2015 NYC Rising Stars: Mina Pizarro, pastry chef at Juni, and Ann Redding, chef/co-owner of Uncle Boons.
• Culinary Arts and Restaurant & Culinary Management alumni Georgianna Hiliadaki and Nikos Roussos received two Michelin stars in 2014 for their restaurant, The Funky Gourmet, in Athens, Greece, where it is one of only two establishments with two stars in the country.

ICE honors all of our graduates, and the above is just a snapshot of all of the incredible things our alumni are doing. Visit our Alumni News page for an updated list of our graduates’ most recent accomplishments.