Top-Notch Facilities: Pro Kitchens
Our kitchen spaces are large, professional, and equipped with professional-level machines of all sorts. This is of course a critical component to our summer cooking class configuration, and one of the best reasons to choose our program. Before you choose any program, call them and ask about their actual kitchen. If they mention hot plates and school rooms, you know to run! Our program is built on two main components in integrity: Pro kitchens and Pro chefs. Professional – level kitchens are a must!
Working on techniques with pro chefs at campusNYC
“Amazing summer cooking experience! Recommend expanding the (summer cooking class). I loved my time outside of class, I loved my class, and I found the chef to be knowledgeable about the subject matter.”
– Keeley, summer 2015
Specialized equipment and dedicated space:
Equipment and gear: As always, the heart of the program is professional-level equipment and supplies. At ICE we have literally the best venue and partner we have ever had in this program and we are thrilled to return there again this year. We will be using multiple kitchens again this year at ICE.
Our Summer Cooking Class Staff
It is our staff that makes the program so spectacular. Our summer cooking class is about skill-building. It is about trying things yourself, over and over. It is in friendly competition, where everyone helps everyone, and the spirit of try-and-try-again lives on. Our staff will SHOW the students what to do, how to do it, and right in front of them… and then step back and allow the students to go for it! We will help the students gain critical understanding. And we will bring in outside chefs for class sessions in things like sushi making and desserts. If we know an expert in a certain area – and we know a lot of them – we will bring them in and let them go nuts in our kitchen. Food and flour flying everywhere and suddenly we’ve made the most delicious cake… and so on and so on….
Chefs & Special Guests
We have had specials in: sushi rolling, salt of the world, spices of the world, chocolates, and even a guy who spent an hour talking and tasing nothing but cheese of the world. A few years in a row we had Jimmy Prince, The Butcher of Coney Island. He has been featured in tons of magazine and newspaper articles and has 50+ years of experience working as a butcher and running his own shops. We try to mix this up, and we are committed to connecting these lessons to the curriculum in the kitchen.
Skill-building
We have program-wide skill building classes, where we spend time learning skills that will serve our student chefs for life. Our knife skills sessions are critical to safety and fun in our summer cooking class… and while we are learning, we are also prepping for later recipes. We find ways to embed skill building within the lesson plans as well. As always, we take each student from wherever they are skill- and ability-wise and take them up many levels!
