ICE Alum Missy Robbins is the Best Chef in NYC

An Extraordinary Win at the 2018 James Beard Awards

Davide Ragusa

When friends or out-of-towners ask for restaurant recommendations, there's always one place at the top of my short list: Lilia.

By Caitlin Raux

Caitlin was ICE's content manager from 2016 to 2018 before moving to Spain and opening a pop-up artisanal sandwich shop. Today, she is a food and lifestyle writer and editor in Paris.

May 10, 2018

That is, ever since 2015, when Missy Robbins (Culinary Arts, '95) opened the doors to her superb Italian restaurant on a relatively quiet corner in Williamsburg. Shortly after its opening, The New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells sang Lilia's delicious praise in a three-star review, which he began by succinctly proclaiming: "Missy Robbins is cooking pasta again." It was hardly a surprise when Missy Robbins took the top honor of Best Chef: NYC, at this year's James Beard Foundation Restaurant & Chef Awards. Because Lilia not only serves delicious food, each dish presenting Chef Robbins' thoughtful, fresh take on classic Italian cuisine — it's also a place you want to eat again and again... and again. As ICE's food writer, you may presume I'm biased, but when it comes to dinner, I'm anything but.

Prior to Lilia, Chef Robbins cut her teeth in some of the most serious pasta joints in the country, including Chicago's Spiagga and New York's A Voce. Said ICE President Rick Smilow, “I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Chef Robbins and eaten where she's cooked — in Chicago, Manhattan and Brooklyn — for almost 20 years. I’m thrilled that Chef Robbins has earned and received this professional recognition and honor.”

From all of your family at ICE, congratulations to Chef Missy Robbins and the team at Lilia.

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