The Institute Of Culinary Education Establishes Alumni Hall Of Achievement

NEW YORK, NY, April 10, 2006 - The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), New York City's largest and most active center for culinary education, has established the Alumni Hall of Achievement with an inaugural class of 50 outstanding alumni. An induction ceremony will be held at ICE on Monday, April 24 at 6 p.m.
The ICE graduates being inducted into the Alumni Hall of Achievement include such top names in the culinary world as Claudia Fleming, who won a James Beard award while a pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern; Allison Vines-Rushing, Chef/Owner of Longbranch in Louisiana; Nicole Kaplan, Pastry Chef of Eleven Madison Park in New York; Randy Zweiban, Executive Chef at Nacional 27 in Chicago; Susan Stockton, Vice President of culinary productions at the Food Network; and Lori Powell, Food and Entertaining Director, Ladies Home Journal.
"The success of our alumni is testimony to the quality of education we offer," states ICE President Rick Smilow. "Launching the Alumni Hall of Achievement was the best way to acknowledge them, along with our school's history."

An ICE committee selected the Alumni Hall of Achievement's inductees based on their achievements and dedication to the food industry, taking into account the level reached in their career, national and local recognition as experts in their practices, and entrepreneurial spirit. The list includes winners of James Beard and other top industry awards including Pastry Arts & Design's Ten Best Pastry Chefs, Food & Wine's Best New Chefs and Top People in Food and Wine Under 35, and Wine Spectator's Trendsetting Restaurants.
A full-color brochure, Alumni Hall of Achievement: Where Our Alumni Are Our Best Ingredients, features each alumnus and alumna, along with commentaries on their career history and mentors and advice to current culinary students. It will be updated as ICE inducts more alumni, which it plans to do periodically.

About ICE
The Institute of Culinary Education is New York City's largest and most active center for culinary education. Founded in 1975 by the late Peter Kump, the school offers highly regarded 6- to 11-month career training programs in culinary arts, pastry and baking, and culinary management, graduating 700 students annually. ICE, known as Peter Kump's New York Cooking School until 2001, also runs the largest program of hands-on recreational cooking and baking classes and wine education in the country, which serves over 22,000 students a year, in addition to hosting hundreds of corporate and private cooking parties a year in its 42,000 square-foot facility in the heart of Manhattan.
For further information or to obtain contact information for the inductees, please contact Communications Manager Anne E. McBride at 212-847-0797 ext. 209 or via email at amcbride@iceculinary.com.