Erin Gruber was genuinely captivated by the prospect of working with pastries in eighth grade, when her classmates were enticed by desserts during a mentorship program at a bakery. While the notion of

Sam loved cooking from a young age. A native Angeleno and an explorer of all cuisines, he describes that some of his favorite childhood memories took place around his family’s dinner table. With an

Aviv On began working at his parents’ kosher catering business, Bazilikum (Hebrew for “basil”), during his senior year at Beverly Hills High School. At 17 years old, working in the kitchen was simply

After serving in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) from age 18 to 22, Alon evaluated his strengths and weakness with his brother to determine a course of study and career trajectory. "I breathe food. I

Tanya thrives off of a busy schedule. Leaving behind a demanding corporate job as a manager to pursue a lifelong passion by attending culinary school, Tanya has proven that she can excel at anything

There is no (sugar-filled) challenge too great for Pastry & Baking Arts Chef-Instructor Norma Salazar. Case in point: Prior to joining ICE, the classically trained, foundationally French chef was

Chef Natsume is a classically trained pianist and music composer. She inherited her family's love of food growing up and pursued a career in music before she got burnt out and disillusioned, and the

Joshua McCain (Management, ‘18/Pastry, ‘21) didn’t always love to cook. At first, he simply made food to help his family. As the oldest of four children to a single mother, Joshua was often

From a young age, food was a major influence for David Schneider (Culinary, ‘02). “I grew up in a family of foodies,” David says. “In Huntsville, Alabama, there weren’t a tremendous number of great

In July 2020, Alex Clark, Kenji Alexander Chang and Patrick Claytor put on their chef whites to begin their post-military journeys at ICE. From F-16s to Food Trucks Alex Clark grew up in New York City

Although Genna has found her true calling in the culinary industry, she admits it didn’t come to her immediately. "Right after high school, I went to art school in San Francisco, and I quickly learned

The first thing Chef Stephen Chavez remembers baking, with his mother’s help, was a pineapple upside-down cake that he discovered flipping through the pages of an issue of the children’s magazine,