Love What You Do!

Chef’s Story on Radio!!!

Dorothy — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:28:20 +0000

If you haven’t heard, my old PBS show, Chef’s Story, is now a radio program. You can tune into Heritage Radio Network and listen every Wednesday at noon Eastern for an insightful, in depth conversation with today’s top chefs. The show is broadcast from the inimatable restaurant compound of Roberta’s in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Jacques Pepin, Roberta's, Brooklyn, NY

Jacques and Dorothy

The debut was last Wednesday with Jacques Pepin. You can download the interview from Heritage’s site and hear all about Jacques’ father in the French Resistance, his philosophy of techniques and all round fascinating conversation from a true Renaissance man.

One of the great benefits of being on the show is that my guest chef and myself get to eat Roberta’s fabulous pizza for a post- show lunch. Since it was Jacques, the kitchen crew also sent out some pasta with a fabulous goat braised stew. He smacked his lips and said, “this is really good!”

Tune in Wednesday, May 16th, when I have Chef Dan Kluger from New York City’s ABC Kitchen as my guest.

I’m just loving it!

HRN's Founder Patrick Martins, Producer Jack Inslee, Jacques & Dorothy

Six Winners at the James Beard Awards

Dorothy — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:11:36 +0000

Christina Tosi

It was as stellar night with alum Christina Tosi of Momofuku Restaurant Group leading the way, winning Rising Star Chef of the Year. We couldn’t be more proud of her! We’re equally proud of the following winners from our ICC family. Bravo!!!

Dean Emily Luchetti- Who’s Who of Food & Beverage Inductee
Dean Alan Richman- Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award
Fundamentals of Wine grad, Tim Cushman of o ya, Boston- Best Chef: Northeast
Culinary Alum, Tory Miller of L’Etoile, Madison, WI- Best Chef: Midwest
Culinary Alum, Jamie Tiampo- Best Video Webcast

Jamie Tiampo

Tory Miller

Tim Cushman

VP Culinary Operations Chef Candy Argondizza, students Liza Greifinger and Cayla Evans Marvil

Jose Andres Named Our Newest Dean

Dorothy — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:18:36 +0000

It was a banner week at The International Culinary Center!

25 Superstar Chefs and Some Happy People

Dorothy — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:41:19 +0000

Well we did again. We teamed up with New York Magazine for our 4th annual New York Culinary Experience! The Experience showcases the top chefs in New York with hands on classes for their adoring public. And the public is not limited to New Yorkers. We had participants from California, Austin and Florida. For many it was their 4th year in a row.

Michael Lomonaco

Anita Lo

Jacques Torres

Jean-Georges and some chiles!

Jacket for Two with David Bouley

Our dinner with Gilt City was outstanding and intriguing. Forget pairing food with wine, we paired Wylie DuFresne (cutting edge chef of WD-50) with Andre Solter (M.O.F., revered chef/owner of Lutece and a Dean of The International Culinary Center). It was not the new and old. It was better and best! Matt Tropeano of La Silhouette, NYC, prepared a scrumptious foie gras with crispy plaintains, and I ate the most delicious charlotte of my life, rhubarb no less- the bread crusts crisped with brown butter balanced by the acidity of the rhubarb was genius! And no wonder, it was the sweet ending prepared by Chef Emily Lucchetti who is also one of our Deans and the chef/proprietor of Farallon and Water Bar in San Francisco.

Don’t worry we will have our 5th Experience in spring 2013…keep watching our website and just know we will spend the rest of this year trying to make our next Experience even better!

L to R: Andre Soltner, Wylie Defresne, Gillian Duffy, Dorothy, Emily Luchetti, Matthew Tropeano, Scott Carney

Wylie Defresne and Matthew Tropeano

Gillian Duffy and Francois Payard

Remembering Julia Child with Judith Jones, Sara Moulton and Anne Willan!

Dorothy — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:37:32 +0000

The International Culinary Center had the opportunity to host a panel called “Remembering Julia.” Anne Willan, the legendary founder of La Varenne, Sara Moulton who worked with Julia on Good Morning America, and none other than Julia’s famed editor, Judith Jones, joined me for a rollicking good remembrance of Julia. I can attest that these ladies really did know Julia…and very well. In fact, Judith Jones was even portrayed in the movie, Julie and Julia. However, Judith says that particular scene never happened!

We reminisced on what an inspiring and iconoclastic person Julia was. She broke the mold in so many ways and was such an independent thinker. She loved good authentic food. She hated phonies. She never endorsed a product. She took under her wing many young people who wanted a career in food. She loved politics (a staunch democrat) and was a true believer in human rights.

Anne Willan, Sara Moulton and Judith Jones sharing memories of Julia

Sara Moulton, Cynthia Peithman, Anne Willan, Judith Jones, Annette Tomei, Angela Dimino, Dorothy Hamilton

She loved reverse martinis, a good hamburger and soignee food. Judith Jones relayed that last statement. Julia had said it on a stage in a small town in Vermont. People didn’t know what soignee meant. Julia said, “well, its when you take a perfectly ripened green bean, snip the ends, take the strings off, place an appropriate amount on a properly sized plate, a slight butter bath and sprinkle with fleur de sel”. Now, when you realize that the actual definition of soignee is “well dressed and groomed, showing sophistication”, one realizes that Julia’s vocabulary was heavily weighted with food in mind!

August 15th would be Julia’s 100th birthday. Let’s all celebrate her life and work with some good, honest, soignee food and a glass of good wine. And have you ever had a reverse martini? Perhaps on August 15th, you should try one in Julia’s honor. She was a true hero of mine.

The cake!

Hooray! We just won Best Vocational Cooking School in America by The IACP!

Dorothy — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:51:32 +0000

At the New York Times Center Monday evening, April 2nd, our 28 year-old institution once again won the Vocational Cooking School of the Year in America from International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). We are very honored and thrilled, and I want to thank the staff, instructors, faculty, graduates and students of our schools.

Every year we grow. We are now in California, Parma and New York, and we continue to add new courses: Italian, wine and sommelier, food blogging and management, but the bottom line is we are dedicated to an authentic, quality education in the culinary arts. Thank you IACP for recognizing the wonderful people I work with!

Especially Chef Candy Argondizza, who also won an award that evening- as Best Cooking Teacher in America.

Chef Instructor & Director of Culinary Programs, Candy Argondizza, Sr Vice President of Education, Student Affairs, Facilities, Christopher Papagni and Dorothy

Wow! Employers Wait-listed to Hire?

Dorothy — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 18:23:39 +0000

I am smiling for the economy. So far in 2012, The International Culinary Center has listed five jobs per graduate. We even experienced a waitlist of employers to join our career fair on Wednesday, March 21! The 215 students and alumni who attended the event had the chance to set up trails for positions with 58 premier employers. For example, soon-to-graduate culinary student Lorraine Palazzo now has trails with Dan Barber’s celebrated Blue Hill at Stone Barns, the Michelin-starred Public, and the premiere caterer Abigail Kirsch. Wow!

Students lining up for interviews!

Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Dan Rafalin and Brad Farmerie, Public Restaurant and AvroKO Hospitality Group

Ben Pollinger and Jansen Chan, Oceana

Also in attendance at the fair: ABC Kitchen, Oceana, Batali Bastianich Hospitality Group, Craft Restaurant Group, Dean & Deluca, The Dinex Group of Chef Daniel Boulud, Marlow & Sons, The Meatball Shop, The Mercer Kitchen, Mina Restaurant Group, Olivier Cheng Catering & Events, The Standard Hotel and The Standard Hotel East, Union Square Hospitality Group, and many more.

Let’s hope this is the bellweather for the whole country. But one thing for sure the graduates of The International Culinary Center are in high demand! Good luck to them all and a big thank you to all our restaurant and hospitality supporters. It was quite a day!

Union Square Hospitality Group

Marc Restaurants (A Voce)

The Meatball Shop

Craft Restaurants

The Mercer Kitchen

Dean & Deluca

The Dinex Group

Cuban Paladares

Dorothy — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:53:19 +0000

Cuba… is truly not what you expect. An architectural city frozen in time, crumbling before your eyes but seething with life, culture and dignity. I have been to many Caribbean islands and have always searched for a glimpse of the past and a taste of the culture. I always have had to cock my head, squint my eyes and imagine. Not with Cuba. Because of its political situation, the country is frozen culturally. Very few buildings are post 1959, same with cars, food and culture.

You walk down the street (there are no advertisements) and the buildings and public parks are on full display. Music abounds. Cuban music. You do not hear pop, rap or blues. You hear salsa, reggaetone and Cuban inflected jazz. The streets are spotless, as is the countryside, and everyone walks around in clean and pressed! clothes. The restaurants are long on atmosphere and less on taste, most are state run and in iconic buildings. The food rather uneventful, few vegetables and the usual suspects of tropical fruits. The pork, however, is extraordinary and the langoustine is super sweet. Christians and Moors, which is rice and beans cooked together, is fun.

There is a new breed of restaurants though called paladar. In 1990, Perestroika in Russia cut aid to Cuba and their economy went into free fall. Food was scarce and Cubans lost 20-30 percent of their body weight. The government relaxed entrepreneurial restrictions and allowed restaurants and private food vendors to open. These restaurants are in people’s beautiful homes and their home cooking shines.

Cuba is filled, and I mean filled, with gorgeous, stunning homes and dining rooms and the spaces are used ingeniously. One restaurant actually had dining tables in the bedroom! The tableware is from family heirlooms. The chandeliers are Lalique. The furniture is from England, France and Spain. You feel you are sitting on a movie set, yet you know it is not phony or trying to recreate a period or time. This is real time. Every place we ate had musicians playing music in the background. You walk down a street and just hear music wafting from the windows. You smile. They smile.

Flour+Water =Magic

Dorothy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:52:59 +0000

Okay, maybe it’s because I’m a San Franciscophile but somehow my staple foods always taste better in that city. Everyone has been writing about Flour + Water for a while and I finally got there. I love restaurants that take the lead and have their own personality. F+W definitely does. The restaurant takes half reservations and half walk-ins. (Anne Hathaway and her boyfriend walked in and had to wait a half hour at the bar.) The winter tasting menu was all pasta!!

I immediately chose it. See below. It was scrumptious and exciting at the same time. And, I had my first pasta dessert! All dishes except dessert were served family style. The portions were perfect and the wine pairings could not have been better if they had been poured by Bacchus.

Flour+Water would be a favorite….even if it were next to our school in Parma. Bravissimo!!!

AIWF-30th Anniversary

Dorothy — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:32:10 +0000

It was a walk down memory lane with old friends, including Margrit Mondavi, Tor Kenward, Clark Wolf and fellow New York chapter member George Faison. We all met in Napa, and reminisced about the old days as the next generation of the American Institute of Wine & Food took to the conference rooms and planned the next 30 years.

I was thrilled to see Margrit (Robert Mondavi’s widow) who is vibrant and beautiful as ever. I told her I was planning a vacation to Cuba and she told me she was traveling there later in the year! No grass grows under her feet…and she is still showing us all what a beautiful and elegant life looks like…especially with that glass of wine in our hands.

Happy Birthday AIWF!

Margrit Mondavi