The Institute of Culinary Education is a private for-profit culinary school in New York City. ICE is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, and offers career training diploma programs in Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, Culinary Management and Hospitality Management. The school runs one of the largest program of hands-on recreational cooking classes and wine education courses in the country, with more than 26,000 enthusiasts taking any of the 1,500 classes offered each year.
History
ICE traces its roots to 1975, when Peter Kump opened Peter Kump's New York Cooking School, one of the first culinary schools in New York City. Kump's philosophy was to concentrate on teaching cooking techniques and flavor development at a time when most other cooking schools were only teaching recipes. In 1983, Kump inaugurated a professional program to train aspiring chefs. A number of his former teachers, including James Beard, Simone Beck, Marcella Hazan and Diana Kennedy taught classes. A number of other notable chefs, including Julia Child, James Peterson, David Bouley and Jacques Pépin, were frequent guest instructors. When Kump died in 1995, the school was acquired by Rick Smilow, an entrepreneur with an interest in education and the culinary arts. After the acquisition, the school’s professional programs expanded, requiring a move to a new location in the Flatiron neighborhood of the Manhattanborough of New York City at 50 W. 23rd Street, where it then expanded twice, in 1999 and 2004, growing to 45,000 square feet over seven floors. In 1999, the older East 92nd Street facility was closed. In 2001, the school's name was changed to The Institute of Culinary Education. In 2015, the school relocated to a brand new, 74,000 square foot facility in Battery Park City that includes such amenities as the nation's first education-focused bean-to-bar chocolate lab, a hydroponic herb and vegetable garden, a culinary technology lab and a state-of-the art mixology bar.
Facilities
ICE operates out of a single floor, 74,000 square foot facility that includes 12 teaching kitchens, a demonstration kitchen, three traditional classrooms and various special amenities, including:
Culinary classrooms equipped with gas, French top and induction burners, representing the full range of preferred cooking methods across the globe
Pastry kitchens outfitted with Hobart mixers, steam-injected triple deck ovens, specialty chocolate equipment, blast freezers, high volume dough sheeters and more
Culinary Technology Lab featuring modernist cooking equipment, as well as specialty tandoor, plancha, rotisserie and stone hearth ovens
A featured kitchen outfitted with a Jade island range – ideal for teaching “brigade” style cooking
The nation's first education-focused bean-to-bar chocolate lab
Dedicated spaces for mixology and wine studies
An indoor hydroponic herb garden and vegetable farm
Awards and honors
In 2016, ICE was named the best culinary school in America by The Daily Meal website. Edinformatics
In 2015, ICE received the International Association of Culinary Professionals award for "Culinary School of Excellence." ICE has previously won IACP awards in 2003, 2008 and 2011 including “Best Vocational Culinary Institute” and “Best Recreational Cooking School."
In 2006, ICE was named a “School of Distinction” by the school’s accrediting agency, the ACCSC, and in 2010 ICE’s Career Services Department received an ACCSC commendation for excellence.
ICE’s faculty have received a number of noteworthy distinctions from the leading culinary publications and organizations in the nation. Honors include:
2015 IACP “Culinary Educator of the Year”—Chef Instructor Chris Gesualdi
2014 IACP “Culinary Professional of the Year” – Creative Director Michael Laiskonis
