Institute of Culinary Education

Traveled here to take an exam so I can’t say a lot about the institution itself but only speak from my experience of being there. It is beautiful on the inside overall. The receptionist at ICE was super friendly and helpful. We did see students come and go while we also were testing for our wine exam. It was a solid location for our exam with the classrooms and provided us what was needed. It’s nice that it’s inside a big building that offers lots of free seating areas, shopping and food so you don’t have to go far. The best part was the view of the river!

Great selection of classes. I've taken two recreational couples classes here and they make great dates. The sushi class was very popular and had 8 pairs of students (the max), which i thought was too many for a productive class. Every group was doing something different, so although we all got to roll the sushi, not everyone practiced slicing fish or making rice. We ended the class with a delicious group dinner and had plenty of leftover food to take home too! The duck class was less popular and only had three couples, the perfect amount. We got to do more and still had a great meal and food leftover to take home.

I am a dietetics student. Some of the instructors I have met in our cooking/food lab come from ICE. They are extremely friendly, enthusiastic, and incredibly knowledgeable in their field. I decided to come here for extra recreational classes to refine my cooking skills. The experience at ICE was more than anyone could expect - engaging, fun, and lots of hands-on skill building time. In addition, you get to meet new people who share the same passion as you. Class structure - Classical Italian Desserts 1. Intro - washing hands & putting on aprons; introduction from chef; kitchen orientation; talking through the recipes & steps; breaking into teams, divide and conquer. 2. Mise en place - prepping ingredients 3. Everyone starts cooking, chef and helpers are around for questions and demo. 4. If you are doing pastry/dessert, waiting for the products to bake/chill is the reason why your class hour is so long. Patience, patience, patience! In the meantime, you can enjoy a glass of wine and talk to other students or instructors. 5. Set and enjoy yours or your teammate's finished products. 6. The best part, you can bring your master piece home to share with your friends and family. They have disposables for take out; for eco-friendly advice, bring your own containers. Thank you ICE and absolutely loved it!

My wife and I took the basic knife skills class with Sue Gonsalves. Getting to the class was a little stressful because we were running a little late and it was hard, the first time, to figure out exactly where to go. However, the class itself was great! Sue is a fantastic teacher and she made the class delightful. I wouldn't say that I learned a lot, but I certainly refined some skills, and the class finally convinced my wife to give up the 5-6" knives that she preferred. We will definitely be back!

So much fun! Attended a party which included a class in making sushi. Learned some knife skills and prep skills, but really had fun doing it. Thanks to the chef for making it a night to remember. Although getting in and finding the place was difficult at first, it was worth it! Highly recommended!

Our class was great! The chefs were kind and encouraging, met everyone at their individual skill level, and gave all kinds of tips to make sure we could replicate the process at home. I've heard of some cooking classes where you go home still hungry, but that definitely wasn't the case here- we were completely full, and even went home with a few to go boxes! We'll definitely be looking at their calendar again soon!

This is an incredible place to begin your culinary journey! ICE offers a top notch, hands on learning experience with industry experts. It encompasses cuisine from all over the world. It is absolutely worth every penny it costs to attend. Considerate an investment for your future success! Enjoy!

Took a Korean BBQ course. Wonderful experience. Difficult enough for challenge and easy enough to finish. Great recipes.

Traveled here to take an exam so I can’t say a lot about the institution itself but only speak from my experience of being there. It is beautiful on the inside overall. The receptionist at ICE was super friendly and helpful. We did see students come and go while we also were testing for our wine exam. It was a solid location for our exam with the classrooms and provided us what was needed. It’s nice that it’s inside a big building that offers lots of free seating areas, shopping and food so you don’t have to go far. The best part was the view of the river!

Great selection of classes. I've taken two recreational couples classes here and they make great dates. The sushi class was very popular and had 8 pairs of students (the max), which i thought was too many for a productive class. Every group was doing something different, so although we all got to roll the sushi, not everyone practiced slicing fish or making rice. We ended the class with a delicious group dinner and had plenty of leftover food to take home too! The duck class was less popular and only had three couples, the perfect amount. We got to do more and still had a great meal and food leftover to take home.

I am a dietetics student. Some of the instructors I have met in our cooking/food lab come from ICE. They are extremely friendly, enthusiastic, and incredibly knowledgeable in their field. I decided to come here for extra recreational classes to refine my cooking skills. The experience at ICE was more than anyone could expect - engaging, fun, and lots of hands-on skill building time. In addition, you get to meet new people who share the same passion as you. Class structure - Classical Italian Desserts 1. Intro - washing hands & putting on aprons; introduction from chef; kitchen orientation; talking through the recipes & steps; breaking into teams, divide and conquer. 2. Mise en place - prepping ingredients 3. Everyone starts cooking, chef and helpers are around for questions and demo. 4. If you are doing pastry/dessert, waiting for the products to bake/chill is the reason why your class hour is so long. Patience, patience, patience! In the meantime, you can enjoy a glass of wine and talk to other students or instructors. 5. Set and enjoy yours or your teammate's finished products. 6. The best part, you can bring your master piece home to share with your friends and family. They have disposables for take out; for eco-friendly advice, bring your own containers. Thank you ICE and absolutely loved it!

My wife and I took the basic knife skills class with Sue Gonsalves. Getting to the class was a little stressful because we were running a little late and it was hard, the first time, to figure out exactly where to go. However, the class itself was great! Sue is a fantastic teacher and she made the class delightful. I wouldn't say that I learned a lot, but I certainly refined some skills, and the class finally convinced my wife to give up the 5-6" knives that she preferred. We will definitely be back!

So much fun! Attended a party which included a class in making sushi. Learned some knife skills and prep skills, but really had fun doing it. Thanks to the chef for making it a night to remember. Although getting in and finding the place was difficult at first, it was worth it! Highly recommended!

Our class was great! The chefs were kind and encouraging, met everyone at their individual skill level, and gave all kinds of tips to make sure we could replicate the process at home. I've heard of some cooking classes where you go home still hungry, but that definitely wasn't the case here- we were completely full, and even went home with a few to go boxes! We'll definitely be looking at their calendar again soon!

This is an incredible place to begin your culinary journey! ICE offers a top notch, hands on learning experience with industry experts. It encompasses cuisine from all over the world. It is absolutely worth every penny it costs to attend. Considerate an investment for your future success! Enjoy!

Took a Korean BBQ course. Wonderful experience. Difficult enough for challenge and easy enough to finish. Great recipes.

YES, CHEF! This is a great place if you're looking for recreational cooking classes. I took their 2 day cake baking workshop and feel a lot more confident now about my baking skills. The chefs are great and go beyond teaching you the basics. We made 4 different types of 8 inch cakes over 2 days, so it was a lot of content and the right pace. I would definitely look into more of their classes

Traveled here to take an exam so I can't say a lot about the institution itself but only speak from my experience of being there. It is beautiful on the inside overall. The receptionist at ICE was super friendly and helpful. We did see students come and go while we also were testing for our wine exam. It was a solid location for our exam with the classrooms and provided us what was needed. It's nice that it's inside a big building that offers lots of free seating areas, shopping and food so you don't have to go far. The best part was the view of the river!

4.5 stars! My partner and I had a really great seafood 101 class with Sue G. She prepped all of the ingredients for us beforehand so it was super easy to follow each recipe and it saved us a lot of prep time. She also did a lot of demos at the front of the class, including how to cut certain vegetables, do the enpapillote technique, deep fry, etc. I also love that the structure of the class is working in teams of 4. Although I wish I got to try all of the techniques and recipes myself, it was great to work with others to create a dish and a fun experience if you're with a group or solo! We finished 20-30 minutes early and got to enjoy our food with some wine. My only wish was that the instructor explained more about why certain ingredients were included in the recipe, how it complements or adds flavor to the rest of the dish (like what adding acid or fat does). Would recommend and take again if you can afford the $150

My company had organised a dimsum making class here, We were offered wine when we reached and were then escorted to kitchen, where we got printed recipes and worked in teams to prepare fillings for dimsums, spring rolls and shrimp shumai. Chefs were really helpful and fun. Hot to learn a lot. They had charcuterie board and wine while we were cooking too so it was really good. At the end all food was laid out in a buffet and they had set up proper tables with candles etc for us to eat and enjoy the food. We made veggie gyoza,shrimp shumai, pork spring roll, and baby back ribs. Every dish was delicious.. tastier than served in some restaurants. Really good bonding event with colleagues. They also served a dessert at end and the vanilla ice cream in it was simply the beat i have ever had. I would be back here to do some other classes. It could be done by people of any experience with cooking. Highly recommended.

I cannot recommend the cooking classes at ICE enough! I've done two classes so far and both were phenomenal. I did a pasta making class with my coworkers and it was an excellent experience. The drinks and appetizers were flowing as soon as we arrived, and all of our servers and chefs were amazing. The kitchen was very big so a group of 30 of us fit easily without being on top of each other. The meal came out excellent and it was truly a fun bonding time. We did the team building trivia which was also a nice touch. Outside of work, I highly recommend coming here for a date night. Between the friendly staff, great food, and learning some new cooking skills, you can't go wrong!

I would definitely recommend this place for any cooking classes or a fun date night idea. We took a burgers and beers class here as part of our anniversary and have no regrets signing up. It turned out more fun and engaging than I had in mind, the instructor was really great, I learned a thing or two, and the best part is of course the burgers and beers to be had at the end of it. I can't speak for the other classes, but instruction for the burgers class is not individually focused. It's instead a shared group effort, and you engage with one another to help make your ingredients. You can have any level of skill in the kitchen, but so long as you know how to cut an onion without hurting yourself, you should be good. The class provides a ton of ingredients for you to prep. We went through a process of cutting the ingredients, learning how to use a fryer, grinding meats, and prepping/cooking different styles of burgers. The instructor and her assistant is around to help navigate the kitchen and any cooking needs you have. Because of the group experience, things will move a little faster, unless someone is being a nuisance, which was not the case at all. At the end of our session, we had a ton of food. We prepped some burgers, fries and onion rings, pickles, and they supplied the beers. The only con was of course feeling starved while cooking, but the effort was worth it in the end. I would most definitely consider signing up for their other classes given our first experience. We had a coupon code for this class luckily, so I'd be on the lookout for those.

What great food preparation classes are given here, the Chef's that are teaching are top notch, and so down to earth. I was given a gift for the pizza making class and it did not disappoint. I regularly make pizza but I learned so many different secrets in dough preparation and how to bring out much more flavor in making the tomato sauce. Don't just be a Yelper that goes out to restaurants to enjoy food, take a few courses here and you'll be very surprised how easy and wonderful your creations will turn out. There are so many classes at ICE even down to knife skills. Definitely will be taking many more classes here and so easy to drive in on a Sunday morning and the building has valet parking. We should get a group of foodies from Yelp and take a class or two... would be a lot of fun! Ciao

While my skills in the kitchen are novice to say the least, I do see cooking and baking as a creative outlet and occasionally enjoy whipping something up every once in a while. I've taken a few classes at ICE in the past and had a great time, though before the other night I hadn't been in around 5 years or so. One of my cousins suggested we all take a cookie baking swap class at ICE to get into the holiday spirit, and since I always enjoy cookies I thought it would be a fun time. At their core, ICE is a culinary school, though they offer recreational classes for the general public which is my connection to them. They used to be located on 23rd Street but have since moved to Battery Park inside the Brookfield Place complex. Having been to both locations, I must say that their new spot is so much nicer - there's much more space and everything has a new, modern look (much like Brookfield Place as a whole). I took the Holiday Cookie Swap class. There were nine cookies we had to bake so we were split up into teams and made three each. Our instructor was chef Tracy Wilk - she was super personable and really made all of us feel comfortable. She gave a number of demos and answered any questions we had. Overall we made a boatload of cookies, and at the end we laid them all out on one of the tables and swapped so we all had some of each. I really had a great time, and recommend anyone looking to take a recreational class to check ICE out. There are a number of different types of classes for everyone's tastes, and I'll definitely be back to take more of their classes.

The best place for recreational cooking classes. The chefs are top notch. You will learn a lot.

When it's time to do something fun and different on a vacation, why not take an evening cooking class?! We've found they are a blast with consistently delicious results! The class is typically divided in to teams and we get to work together on multiple recipes. Everyone is always in a great mood which helps since we're all clearly amateurs. Tonight, we made multiple kinds of burgers and all the condiments. It was amazing learning how to make pickles and mayonnaise from scratch. In fact, I was whisking egg yolks, lemon and oil for probably 30 minutes as I helped create three different flavors... sriracha, curry, and garlic! Don't tell anyone but we doubled the amount of spice and garlic to make the mayo really pop! We've tried making Korean cuisine, sushi, barbecue and anything else that sounds like it might be fun! Chef Wai is the best instructor so I'd encourage you to seek him out when you sign up for a class. Tonight, one of the students who happens to work there gave us a tour of the school. It's huuggggeee. We also got to see the massive hydroponic garden which was truly impressive! I'm not going to be a professional chef like ever but, I certainly enjoy pretending once in a while!

This is now in the Brookfield place mall building. This whole experience was so dope. The cooking class was so much fun. Our chef Tracy Wilk was absolutely perfect. She made sure we were all on the same page and understood her instructions. We cooked steak, truffle mash, cocktail shrimp, cheesecake, and a ceased salad from scratch. We also made martinis and they had wine for those who don't like martinis. Had a great time and will be back for sure!!!!

I've taken three different recreational cooking classes at ICE in the past few months, and I've got mixed feelings about the Institute overall. Before I tackle the classes themselves, let me just say that the new facility is gorgeous. It's not exactly easy to find within the immense complex that is Brookfield Place, but once you do, it's clean and bright and well-designed. I may be a food nerd, but I actually got a little excited each time I walked around inside. I can't speak to the actual career program here (other than it looks very professional, and people appear to be learning everywhere you look), but when it comes to the recreational classes, it seems that your experience is almost entirely dependent on what class you take, and who your instructors are. I've had three instructors thus far, and I genuinely liked two of them. Those two were fun and knowledgable people, and both extremely funny (intentionally or otherwise*). The third was clearly very experienced, but (1) absolutely humorless and (2) disagreed with Jacques Pepin on certain fundamentals. I can't really abide either of those things on someone I'm going to spend a few hours with, cooking. Anyway, here are the classes I took, and a few thoughts on each. 1. Knife Skills 1. Quite honestly, I only took this class because they called it a recommended prerequisite for Knife Skills 2, which I was genuinely interested in. Just so you are aware (I wasn't), this is an extremely basic course. If you've done any cooking at all, you won't learn too much unless you ask a LOT of questions and piss everyone off. This will just be general practice for chopping onions, peppers, carrots and more. Definitely skills any home cook should have, but if you already know how to do this, you can skip it. If the description of the class was more detailed, I would have. 2. Knife Skills 2: Butchery. The description of the class reads in part: "You will learn to properly debone a raw chicken and fillet a flounder. You will see how to carve a roast chicken to perfection---and more." Sounds good. A three hour course, I expected to get a lot out of this one. Unfortunately, we neither learned how to carve a roast chicken, nor how to debone a raw chicken. We did learn how to break down a chicken, but I already knew how to break down a chicken. On the bright side, I did get a lot out of the experience of filleting a fish, and I did pick up some useful pointers, but I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the class (and the 'more'). Further, we spent the first two hours of the class on butchery, and the last hour "cooking" the chickens and fish we fabricated. What I signed up for was instruction on butchery; if I wanted to learn how to grill a chicken breast, I would've picked a different class. I can appreciate the fact that ICE may have wanted to offer more value, but send us home with the raw fish/chicken, and teach me for the whole class please, as opposed to 2/3 of it. 3. I signed my wife and I up for the Italian Cooking Party. Sometime after I paid and before the class happened, it turned into the Italian Cocktail Party. I thought it was my mistake at first, but the handouts for the class still read "Italian Cooking Party" and a couple of the other attendees told me that they were also expecting a cooking class. It seems as though we should've been informed of the change. Don't get me wrong, I love cocktails, and I had fun learning about the history and technique behind a few classics (although two of the three were Prosecco based, and extremely simple). But again, I didn't sign up to learn how to make cocktails. Happily, I thoroughly enjoyed the food provided as well, and please believe I ate my fill. However, I want to know how to make that beautiful porchetta. The new pizza ovens they have are amazing, and I'm glad the chefs allowed us to check it out and throw a pie in ourselves, but I would've much preferred to be learning how to make the dough and topping them ourselves, rather than mostly sitting around with strangers, waiting for our turn to make cocktails. It was a fun party, but with two of us, a pricey night out for something I wasn't trying to do in the first place. As I'm writing this out, I'm realizing that my main issues with ICE are actually administrative. The website is awful, but my real problem is that the descriptions (in each of the three classes I took) were either incorrect, imprecise, or both. The classes themselves were great for who they are geared toward...but they are not cheap, and I must say that when I drop cash and I get something different than what I paid for, there is a lot of room for disappointment. ____________ *At one point my Knife Skills 2 instructor was showing me something on a chicken and she said, "Peter, I have a little bone. Touch it." This had me and a couple of my classmates giggling uncontrollably for the duration of the class because we are 12 years old, emotionally.

My boyfriend and I recently took the Essentials of Korean Cooking class (purchased as a holiday gift) and it could not have been a more stressful and exhausting 4 hours. We had been looking forward to this class for so long and were really disappointed with the experience. After nearly an hour of "prep" which consisted of our frazzled instructor reading through the recipe packet and showing us how to cut a scallion, we were basically thrown into a line shift at a restaurant with little to no guidance or supervision. I think the class could have been much better structured. It needed more hands-on training of the actual recipes we would be making. It was frustrating to have the instructor just talk about the recipes and not actually have her help us or teach us. She was still in the room while we were cooking, but it was either hard to get her attention or it would be the quickest check-in. The few times she came over to ask how things were going, my consistent reply was "I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing." I would suggest capping class attendance at a lower # (16 people with 4 of us per work station made the kitchen far too crowded and chaotic). We didn't even sit down to eat our food until after 10:30PM!! At that point, we just wanted to go home. Overall a very expensive price-tag for a mediocre meal and a burnt finger. We will not be returning.

Went here for the Dessert Professional Magazine's top ten Pastry chef celebration and boy was I in for a delicious treat! Loved the space, the set up and the beautiful presentations of each of the top ten pastry chefs creations. It was such a wonderful experience meeting the creators and tasting their meticulously created desserts. Would like to go one day and take one of their classes to get hands on experience.

Came here for an event. The second annual bartender symposium. Event was well organized, learned some new techniques and the drinks/food served was great. Sponsor by Woodford reserves, edible Manhattan and ICE. I have been in ICE old location previously when my bestie was graduating from their pastry arts curriculum. But this new location is a lot bigger and more classrooms, wider space. Heighten security. The classes look well organized and they even offer late night classes. When I was there for the event there was still classes in session in the other rooms. The big event room we were in had small tables with high chairs and a demo kitchen for cooking/show and tell. Inside the back, there is a herb/plant garden that they use to promote a new way of growing herbs. We had a tour of the facility. If I had time I was thinking of taking a few classes at this facility. Seems like my neck of the woods. Worth checking out if you are interested in cooking, good, culinary, baking, etc.

My boyfriend and I took the Tuscan Favorites couples class this past Saturday 4/22/17 with Chef/Professor Melanie Cecilio. The class was fun and I really liked Chef Cecilio. She was very fun and took the time to help us out. It was exciting to be in a commercial kitchen and to be preparing new things. I had a couple of comments & complaints afterwards that may help other people thinking about taking a class here. I signed up for this class because I was interested in taking a few recreational classes at ICE since I can't afford a full-blown culinary education. I'm a passionate home cook who would like to work in food someday but currently am stuck in the interior design industry. Decided on a couples class because I didn't want to go alone for my first experience and my BF also cooks with me at home and loves food. The class cost $275 for both of us and was supposed to run from 6pm to 10pm but ended up running about 1-1.5 hours over. We were given a packet with the recipes which we reviewed briefly at the beginning of class. We were then paired up with another couple and were assigned 3 dishes to make. There is very little instruction or demo-ing, the chef/prof comes around and helps but we are basically thrown into the water with little direction which made the process intimidating. We were kind of all over the place. I had to delegate tasks in order for us to get anything done at all. Our team made chicken liver pate, fresh egg pasta, and a massive porterhouse steak. Other teams made the truffle butter sauce for the fresh pasta, porchetta, shaved fennel salad, and lemon olive oil cake. My biggest wish was that we'd been able to work as a couple and make all the dishes ourselves and eat it all and take leftovers home. For the price we paid, we got almost NO FOOD (see photo) and NO REAL LESSON. I learned some new things like how to properly slice onions, how to flambe without burning eyebrows off, and how to make a proper Negroni cocktail BUT I left the class having absolutely no clue how to make porchetta, lemon olive oil cake, or shaved fennel salad. I didn't even get to watch. I think there needs to be some restructuring as far as how the classes are taught. If you pay close to $300 for a class that promises to teach you a dish, you should learn how to make it. Yes, it's in the packet but I can find any recipe online. I went to a culinary school to be taught hands-on. I have mixed feelings overall, because on one hand, I had a lot of fun and would do it again, but on the other hand, for the very steep price there is very little teaching, learning and hands-on experience. And way too little EATING at the end of 4 grueling hours on our feet.

This is a second time I went to this school. This time I attended an open house and there were more information that I wanted to know more than the last time. There were cooking demonstrations and at the end was a school tour.

Took a cooking class here and had such a great time. It was the bourbon steakhouse class and we made a five course meal that came out delicious. The instructor (can't remember her name) was very nice and helpful. I had a lot of questions and she answered all of them. The cocktails that were served were also a delight. Overall a really fun experience. Would definitely come back and take another class.

I took the Pasta 101 class here with three friends. We all have decent cooking experience (cook multiple times a week), and I've personally made two of the 4 sauces covered in the class on my own before. We went for a fun bonding activity and to try and learn how to make fresh pastas and a couple of staple pasta sauces. What we got out of the experience was a lot of stress, caused by lack of guidance and a very pedantic attitude from our instructor, Chef Penny. The class we took ended up being a completely full 16 person class. It seemed like the very large class size and the one instructor did not meld well together. Issues were further amplified for my group since Chef Penny rarely went to us and offered us advice or guidance, even when we asked for help. When we tried to ask her for help on several occasions, she ignored us and continued to small talk with others in the class. At other times, we glance around the room and she was nowhere to be found in the classroom. Given the limited timeframe of the class, we were forced to proceed on with cooking without guidance, and sometimes made decisions that Chef Penny did not agree with. Chef Penny would come by and criticize what we did after the fact, and yell at us. She also constantly changed her mind about how to cook things and make the noodles - if you only heard one of her instructions from a couple minutes ago, beware - that instruction might be outdated and she might have whispered a modification or new instruction to another group, and expect you to miraculously have heard and know what to do! Another point of feedback - why have recipes if you want to modify everything about them? Why not customize and pre-modify the recipes before printing them out and handing them to the group? Why yell at students when they try to take notes based on recipe modifications you are making? All in all, I would not recommend the Pasta 101 class with Chef Penny. I have nothing against the ICE or the idea of the class itself, but think that our experience with Chef Penny stood out in a very negative way. We left with frustration and little additional knowledge gained. Only plus is we got lots of pasta that we made during the class and now know that making homemade pasta noodles isn't as intimidating as it might sound.

I have taken many classes here and have enjoyed each one. Great chefs and chefs assistants who are more than helpful and friendly with novice cooks.

Surprised my sister to the NOLA cooking class, and she had a lot of fun and really loved the class. It was one of the best cooking classes we have ever taken. Our instructor, Sandy Murzin, was so awesome - super cool, very experienced, patient, and very helpful. I highly recommend anyone to come take this specific class, whether you have been to New Orleans before or not. This will truly change you. The class was about 4 hours long (6pm-10pm), and the items we cooked were: 1) Oysters Bienville 2) Shrimp Remoulade 3) Crawfish Etouffee 4) Grillades and Grits 5) Jambalaya Classique 6) Dirty Rice 7) Bread Pudding w/ Bourbon Sauce 8) Cafe Brulot 9) Sazerac Cocktail Everyone was assigned a few specific entrees (see list above) to make. My sister and I partook in making the dirty rice, bread pudding w/ bourbon sauce, oysters bienville, and cafe brulot. It was very hands on, which was something we preferred...because you learn that way! We made a lot of mess, skin got scraped shucking a few oysters, and messed up one of the items above - but in the end everything worked out and the hard work paid off. All the foods everyone made was so delicious! After all the cooking, the entrees were beautifully placed in dishes on the table, and we all ate family style. Besides eating together, we also got to have a nice conversation with everyone. We really had a wonderful time, and class didn't feel rushed - will be looking forward to taking more classes here. Fantastic class, awesome instructor, excellent menu, and delicious foods. Highly recommended!

The recreational classes at ICE are great. The food dishes that we made were all delicious. The class was really hands on . The chef was very knowledgeable on the spices as the class was related to use is spices. Me and my friends had a great time cooking. I will definitely go again for another recreational class.

I graduated from Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) Professional Culinary Arts program in February 2020. The ICE is New York City's largest and most active center for culinary education. I absolutely enjoyed program. It covers everything from knife skills and butchery to the classic dishes of international cuisines, to pastry/baking and modern plating. Every year, there are free lectures and cooking demonstrations with the best chefs and entrepreneurs in the business. The career services team not only helps you find an internship at a culinary business specifically suited to your interests, but they also provide you with lifelong support in your job search. The best part of studying at ICE is undoubtedly the community--most notably, the instructors. They are so knowledgeable and their passion for cooking is inspiring. I highly recommend this school.

It was the 30th Anniversary "Chef's Night Out" sponsored by James Beard Foundation, Woodford Reserve, Tito's Vodka, S. Pellegrino, TomCat Bakery and others. The tasting menus and desserts were amazing -- made in collaboration with instructors, alumni and current students. Perhaps best part during the event that I saw was the Hydroponics and Indoor Farming. Herbs and small veggies GALORE!! The section was tucked away past the classrooms and kitchen areas; but it was worth the visit! It wasn't highlighted during the event because of course everyone was there to eat and imbibe ;-)

Open house was great. I am so so so happy Togo to the open house on August 6th. My dream is opening my own restaurant and I am very interested in taking a class at Institute of Culinary Education.

Was taken here to a cooking class as a surprise for my birthday by my sister. It truly was an amazing experience, I learn new skills, met new people and most importantly ate some delicious food that I still think about. It was awesome and I would def. recommend anyone who wants to learn how to cook or just wants to go out and try something new to take a class here. They have different types of cuisines, the one that we went for was New Orleans. The class was three hours, they give you all the ingredients to work with, the recipes and off you go and make it yourself with the advisory of the chef. Our class had total of 10 dishes and at the end you get to sit and eat it all. I was surprise myself on how delicious the food came out and I took part in making it. It was a lot of fun and I would def. go back and try to learn a different cuisine. They also do cakes and desserts, yay!!!

(3.5 stars) Do you ever wonder what it's like to work in a real restaurant? In ICE's classes, you get a real taste of that environment. However, despite being labeled as "recreational," be aware that you are going to work- and work hard- for several hours. We took a Sushi & Sake class at their new downtown location, which is pristine and absolutely gorgeous. The kitchens are stocked with every piece of equipment you can imagine, most of which you won't use (but was still cool to see). Our instructor started us with an hour of safety tips, a tour of the kitchen, and a general overview of the recipes we would be making. On for tonight: tempura vegetables, chilled soba noodles, steamed dumplings, and of course, lots of sushi. Here's where things started to (literally) get messy. Our class was divided into teams, each responsible for about a third of the menu. Despite having simple recipes, cooking was really rigorous. I constantly felt like I was in the weeds (like in a real restaurant!) and couldn't pay detailed attention to what I was actually doing. The instructor/assistant did a good job of making the rounds and helping us along, but we still ended up making a lot of mistakes when following the recipes. After prepping everything to the final stages of cooking, we all joined together and created a sushi-making factory, which was the best part of the night. We had a variety of simple ingredients (kani, crab, tuna, salmon, cream cheese, avocado, etc.) and created a ridiculous number of different maki rolls. You finish the cooking class with a big family-style dinner, complete with plenty of alcohol. The food wasn't restaurant quality at all, but then again, none of us were restaurant chefs. It was still delicious, and there was plenty to take home afterwards. The sushi was unsurprisingly my favorite part of the whole class; I doubt I would try and cook any of the other items again. I had a good time, but there was a lot of things I wasn't expecting or wish I could have changed. First, I wish the menu had been smaller or a bit more focused on sushi; the class was stressful trying to get everything done in a short time period, particularly since most of us had never cooked this cuisine before. Instead of having 1 or 2 quality dishes, most of what we put together was a little sloppy because we simply didn't have time to focus. Additionally, I wish that everyone in the class could have had a hand in making every dish. I know this wasn't possible from the work required for each and the number of people in the class, but there were a few things I wanted to make that I didn't touch at all. On the plus side, I want to hold my own sushi making party at home now that I know the basics. This was a fun night and great for bonding (or a great relationship test, depending on how well you and your significant other cook together). Now that I know what to expect and the pace of the classes, I'd consider trying another down the road.

Took a 3.5 hour course on Tuscan steaks and related dishes (risotto, tiramisu,and a few others). The instructor was fun and I think I learned a few things in the course although it was a little chaotic at times with more disorganization than I anticipated. The staff was great and friendly. At $125, a bit on the pricier side but it is a 3-4 hour experience and there are leftovers to take home. Worth a try

I never took a cooking class before and, frankly, am not a good cook. I love Asian Food so when my wife suggested we take an Asian Cooking Class I jumped at the opportunity. The School is absolutely gorgeous, state of the art, really, really impressive. There were 6 couples in the class, including my wife and I. As a class we tackled 6 dishes: - Chinese Pot Stickers - Bimbimbap - Pad Thai - Hot & Sour Soup - Steamed Whole Fish - Chicken Curry - Bulgogi - Friend Bananas with Vanilla Ice Cream Since I am quite useless I did most of the prep work for my team. The class was fast paced and I felt like I was working in the real kitchen. Fun and I realized that cooking is not a business for me. Never had any aspirations for it but anyway. It was a good experience, I learned that most of the Asian Dishes I love are not that difficult to make and are more prep than cooking. The Chef/Instructor was fun to work with and her assistant was very helpful. Most of the dishes came out good and whatever was left over was there to take home. There were some downsides though. - At times it seemed that there were not enough ingredients. - We did not have a chance to make the Bananas. Which was fine but they did not have the Vanilla Ice Cream. - The beer that was provided for dinner was warm. In the end though it was a good time and I would definitely take another class there.

Learning to cook is like learning to eat a fun thing to do. At ICE, you can have fun doing both, with professional equipment and someone else doing all of the cleaning and shopping.

Disclaimer: This review is referring to a one-night (4 hours), open level, recreational class. This was purely for a fun, new experience. No degrees, other than temperature, were involved. Also, this review will focus mostly on the class experience rather than the food (which was also great). Quick Overview Experience: A (This entirely depends on the class and instructor you take. I was fortunate enough to have an awesome instructor and a class I truly enjoyed.) Price: A (It isn't cheap. You would probably find cheaper deals on Groupon. But considering the prestige, location, quality of ingredients, and the amount of learning, it's fairly priced. Not to mention, you end up with 6-7 dishes, wine, and more than enough food to take home.) Food: ? (This is entirely dependent on whether you and the rest of the class are good cooks! You eat the food your class prepares. The quality of ingredients and recipes were great!) Even if it was just for a short 4 hours, in that moment, I caught a small glimpse of what it meant to be a chef. And by small, I mean 1/1000000 (one millionth) of what it means to be a chef. I can't speak about the courses that require multiple days, or the quality of education for those aspiring to be chefs as a career. I just took an open level, one night class. And let me tell you, it was intimidating and hectic. But, even with the mild stress and confusion, I was enjoying every minute of it. I was taken out of my comfort zone, and I think I grew because of it. I took the "Pork Belly Secrets" class taught by Chef Renee Marton. The setup of the class could be divided into three parts: 1. Short introduction/explanation of the recipes. Ingredients were introduced and techniques were demonstrated. 2. Cooking! 3. Feast! Enjoying what the class created. Anything not finished could be brought home. The food we made included caramelized pork belly, pork belly buns, collard greens with bacon, Hoppin' Johns, porchetta, chocolate covered bacon, and tortilla española. I was mostly concerned about the skill expected to take an "open-level class." I wouldn't say I'm a great cook, but I can definitely boil water, make some decent eggs, and cook my steaks to medium-rare. I can't chop vegetables at lightning speeds, nor do I know specific terminology. Fortunately, anything more difficult than measuring liquids and turning a knob was taught and demonstrated. What I liked the most about the class was that I was actually doing most of the work. I prepped the ingredients and I cooked the food (along with my partner). Chef Renee would walk around from station to station to give some assistance and advice if needed, but the students did most of the work. There is a sense of pride working independently and seeing the fruits of your labor being consumed (and hopefully, enjoyed). And what made me feel like a chef? Being able to use industrial equipment, sharp blades, and ingredients I wouldn't normally find in my own kitchen. Even the small things, like how to properly hold a knife and using it as an extension of my arm, made me live out my day dreams as chef. I found that the most difficult thing about the experience would be multitasking. You have one pot on the stove, a roast in the oven, potatoes frying in the pan, and you still have to think of prepping for the next dish. And as stressful and intimidating as it all sounds, it was fun! Would I come back? HECK YEAH! I'm already looking up classes, I now daydream for a top-of-the-line kitchen, and I foresee myself using these recipes for big events or for when I want to treat myself.

I recently completed the 7 month Culinary and Restaurant Management Program at ICE and am ultimately very happy that I did! After making a career switch into the Food & Bev/ Hospitality industries, I knew I wanted to build up my foundation of knowledge and connections and felt like ICE would help me gain the confidence and network I needed to take my career to the next level.  The program itself is organized very intuitively with each component of the curriculum focusing on a topic that is integral to a business model for a culinary business concept.  The instructors are all experienced restaurant consultants and the like who share real case studies and examples to color the classroom learning.  I started the program with in-person learning and transitioned to remote learning during the pandemic.  Although I greatly missed the in-person experience (interacting with culinary students, peeking into the kitchens to see what's cooking, attending elite chef demos, etc.), for the most part I still felt like I gained an invaluable education remotely as well and was able to continue networking via topical guest speakers. I would highly recommend this program to anyone looking to understand general business principles of the industry, whether you have previous experience in FOH, BOH or even no industry experience at all.

I am so grateful for the education I received at ICE. My education surpasses what is expected of me in the professional kitchen. Each day with every task given me at work, I recall the invaluable techniques my instructors have cemented in me. THANK YOU ICE!!!

I would not recommend a recreational cooking class at ICE for one reason. It's not a class. They give you a packet of recipes and all the ingredients and then tell you to go cook it. You work in teams and in my class there were 13 students and one head chef and one assistant. Definitely not enough "teachers" to help all of us. I took "essentials in Korean" and while I was exposed to certain things that I wouldn't have known by just reading a recipe at home, I certainly didn't learn enough to justify the cost. It ended up being a really expensive, really stressful late lunch. You will do just as well downloading recipes and watching YouTube tutorials- at least then someone is walking you through the steps.

**UPDATE** I just took another course -- this time a baking class with Chef Faith. If you are starting out in the baking world, for fun or professionally -- I highly recommend taking class with Faith Drobbin. As her bio says, she truly DEMYSTIFIES baking. I asked many questions during class, and she was patient and kind with me the whole way through. Even though the class was specifically about modern cake trends, I learned much about the science behind baking and traditional caking decorating techniques that I had been struggling with at home. Thank you Chef Faith! This review is for a recreational cooking class. My husband and I took the Texas Steakhouse class with Chef Sam. Both Chef and Regina, his sous chef, were extremely helpful and friendly. We had 9 people in our class and it was the perfect amount to handle the food, and also to get one-on-one instruction from Chef Sam. The food was was fun to make and we all learned how to properly cook a steak (Ribeye and Skirt). I do think it helps to have some experience/knowledge for prepping, as there was quite a lot. I found that part to be especially relaxing and fun. Pro tip -- Make sure you eat a snack before heading in as you cook for the first 3.5 hours and eat the prepared meal at the end of the class. ICE provided some nibbles (cheese/crackers/grapes) but since I took a night class after working all day, I could have used a light meal before heading into the class. Thank you ICE for a great time!!

Worst decision of my life, both financially and educationally, to attend the professional program at this "school". My friend finished the exact same program as I did several years ago and her extent of training and the professionalism of the instructors was FAR superior to mine. I would not be surprised to hear that most of the current instructors got their training off of YouTube videos and that they were NEVER taught in any capacity in the past. No control of the classes, unsure and unsafe kitchen protocol and all around miserable attitudes. Things have changed at this facility - and it is not for the better. I have learned more at my current culinary position (where the base pay was the same as a coworker with no "education") and so I advise others to do the same and skip this unnecessary step.

If your are a middle age Black women trying to further your education please don't waste your time. My counselor Adam Truelove never return calls or text, email . paid my $85.00 registration fee back in 10/05/2020 which is non -refundable . sent in all paper work that was required. promise time and time that i would start class. in the end March was told two day before the class starting 3/27/2021 that not accept with no explanation . Beware

We were on Spring Break 2016 visiting NYC and decided to take the Pasta 101 class with Peter Berley. We got so much more out of the class than we ever imagined. We now have confidence to make our own dough for all types of pasta and also learned the techniques to succeed! We broke up in groups of 4 and prepared full recipes that we all shared after making. It was so great to be able to walk around and also watch other groups making different pasta from our group. Peter was fully involved with all groups doing additional demonstrations and giving much needed guidance at times. Wine was served during cooking time which was nice. Wish we lived closer and could come back for more classes. We will definitely get Peters pasta/cooking books on Amazon!!

I had to give one star in order to post. I would give them zero stars if I could. Please do stay away from here if you're thinking about enrolling in the hospitality program. It's whittled together rag tag and you don't learn anything that you couldn't in the real world. It's extremely elementary and it's not worth the hefty price tag. Once they toss you into a useless externship they are done with you and offer no help. I can't even get them to email me back. Be warned.

I only wish I had more time to spend at the facility. It was a pleasure to spend time there for a recent corporate event, and get to work with the chef's and colleagues. What a great meal! If you are looking for a school to enhance your current skill set as a culinarian or learn to be an expert in chocolate or similar you must give ICE more than a thought. I recommend ICE for corporate events, further schooling as a culinarian or chef.

Pros: the class was fun, made some cool dishes and got to take home the leftovers Cons: chef hadn't reviewed what we would be making, all ingredients had to be found during class(weren't even in the classroom).

Not a cooking person but came with bf. He was super excited and we picked the Tuscany couple class. They split us up into teams so we can work on the 7 or 8 courses in 3 hours. I enjoyed it beacuse it was a different experience but since I am not a cooking person, I wouldn't say I loved it. I gave it 4 stars because of the beautiful and large facility, and an amazing instructor who was funny and very knowledgable. She was able to provide very useful tips that people can use every day and even my bf wrote down some notes. all in all a great experience. Will I do it again? Not sure because i had a difficult time with splitting up work since it was difficult to figure things out, but a lot of people in class who like cooking geniuenly enjoyed it, and it was a really fun crowd that we had.

I took a gluten-free bread class last week and I can say that I felt like I stepped into an episode of Chopped. The kitchens were terrific! The Chef (Michelle) instructing us was very thorough and explained things perfectly. She was very helpful in guiding us with,our techniques. I will go back again for sure!

This is the only place you should be taking cooking classes if you actually want to learn and apply your new skills. I'm an amateur chef and have taken classes at various schools around the city...then I took a cake decorating class at ICE. This is what a cooking school should look like--full cooking stations, enough burners and oven space for everyone, comprehensive directions and demonstrations, and top-notch tools and supplies. Can't wait to take more classes here!

I was a career student almost a decade ago at the old location on 23rd and I came back for a fun weekend with 3 classes. What a stunning new space. Great kitchens, delicious recipes, fun instructors, and well worth the time and money. I love the recreational classes and will be back for more....next time I'm bringing friends too!

My husband and I took Knife Skills 1 for my birthday, taught by Chef Wai. Chef Wai was totally professional, enthusiastic, and engaged, and I learned an incredible amount that, even as an experienced home cook, I hadn't known about using knives. The class was a good balance of learning and hands-on practice. And at the end, we got to eat a delicious salsa :). I'm looking forward to taking more classes here in the future.

This establishment may fit like a glove for others but not for me. I was disappointed in my experience there to say the least

Horrible. Finished their professional program. Would have been better off going to a culinary arts program at a community college. Totally over priced. Weak lineup of teaching Chefs especially outside of baking/cakes. Do not have as many employment leads or externship they market on. On my exit, their next incoming cohort had only 4 students. Big on promises, weak on performance. I highly recommend you do not waste your $$$ and come here. I swear a lot of these chef had neither restaurant experience or ownership experience. Possibly a bunch of Jr sous chef or a food journalism background as recipe writers. Never saw a organization with more miserable employees. Oh boy...

I was so excited for my girlfriend and I to do the Tuscan cooking class, but we both left extremely disappointed. 1. There were way too many people, to the point where we didn't actually get to do anything. I spent most of my time literally wandering around, looking for something to do, or taking turns with somebody else chopping onions. 2. Very little instruction. I'm all about allowing room for freedom/creativity in the kitchen, but I would not even consider this a "class." There's a little bit of time spent talking about things in the beginning, but then they just give you a print out of recipes, and you're on your own. Which sounds like it might be fun, if there weren't so many people. (You don't need 4 people to grill a steak). Literally "too many cooks in the kitchen." You'd be better off following a recipe at home. In the end, the food came out good, but overall, my girlfriend and I didn't get to do anything besides stand around for 3 hours. It was NOWHERE near being worth the price we paid. Would not recommend to anybody.