ICE graduate Chef Suzanne Cupps recently opened Lola's, a new, seasonally-driven restaurant in New York City.
Chef Suzanne Cupps, chef-owner of Lola’s and Institute of Culinary Education Culinary Arts graduate, has carved out a niche in New York’s competitive culinary scene by staying true to her roots and focusing on local, seasonal ingredients.
Lola’s, located at 2 W. 28th Street in the heart of NoMad, opened in April 2024. It is the culmination of years spent working in some of the city’s most prestigious kitchens, where Chef Suzanne honed her craft and developed her unique approach to cooking.
From her early days at Gramercy Tavern to leading the opening of 232 Bleecker, the first sit-down restaurant by Dig Inn, Chef Suzanne has blended her South Carolina upbringing, Asian heritage, and commitment to fresh ingredients into her culinary voice. These experiences led to the creation of her own restaurant, where she brings personal history and professional expertise to every dish.
“Lola means grandma in Tagalog, and my dad’s Filipino,” Chef Suzanne says. “I wanted to bring my family into the concept. So while our fried chicken has a little bit of adobo flavors, we’re not exclusively serving Filipino food.”
Although she never had the chance to meet her grandmother, her story of resilience — escaping the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during WWII — inspired Chef Suzanne to name the restaurant in her honor. A photograph of her grandparents’ wedding is framed and displayed inside of the restaurant.
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While Lola’s carries the spirit of her Filipino heritage, the menu is broader, featuring a range of Pan-Asian and American-style dishes. Chef Suzanne’s culinary influences stem from a mix of her Southern roots and the techniques she learned at ICE and while working under renowned chefs like Anita Lo (of the now-closed Annisa) and Michael Anthony (of Gramercy Tavern). This eclectic experience shows in her menu, where seasonal produce and market-fresh ingredients take center stage.
Diners at Lola’s can enjoy dishes like Southern Chopped Heritage Pork with blue cornbread, string beans, and cherry tomatoes, or stir-fried egg noodles with bok choy and Japanese curry. However, the offerings frequently change based on what’s in season at the Union Square Greenmarket.
“We try to keep up with the market, so it’s definitely a seasonal menu,” she says. “The Greenmarket offers the freshest vegetables, and that’s a driving force creatively on the menu. Sourcing locally is really important to me.”
Despite her culinary prowess today, Chef Suzanne didn’t always plan to become a chef. Initially, she studied mathematics and worked in human resources at Walgreens. But living in New York sparked her interest in food.
Read: Chef Suzanne's experience taking over as executive chef of Untitled in NYC
“It wasn’t until I moved to New York and started eating out at restaurants and cooking a little at home that I got interested in the culinary world,” she recalls. “A friend took me to recreational baking classes at ICE, and that’s when I first thought about cooking school.”
Even though the idea of culinary school intrigued her, Chef Suzanne wasn’t ready to dive into another long academic program after finishing college. That’s where ICE's manageable program timing came in.
“Honestly, I had just graduated from college, so I wasn’t interested in moving out of the city or doing a longer program,” she explains. “ICE was shorter and more manageable for what I wanted at that point.”
The Culinary Arts program at ICE gave Chef Suzanne a solid foundation in the basics of cooking. She learned essential skills like knife cuts, organizing a station, and moving efficiently in the kitchen.
“Before ICE, I had no background in cooking,” she says. “It really introduced me to the fundamentals—how to work in a kitchen, understand processes, and build from there.”
Reflecting back on her externship — the last portion of ICE's Culinary Arts program during which students work in a professional kitchen — she remembers how she had to put her new skills into practice in the fast-paced environment. The experience of working alongside seasoned chefs gave her the repetition and real-world learning she needed to sharpen her abilities.
Now, with Lola’s up and running, Chef Suzanne is considering offering externships to current ICE students.
“We’re excited to work with students,” she says. “I’ve always enjoyed mentoring new cooks who are just starting out. It depends on the opportunities, but we’re definitely open to having students join us.”
As Chef Suzanne looks ahead, she’s eager to see what the changing seasons bring. Now that it's fall, she's excited to start incorporating autumnal produce into the menu.
“I love getting inspired by what’s available at the market and building dishes around those ingredients,” she says.
