The Institute of Culinary Education: Peter Kump History

	OUR HISTORY


	The Institute of Culinary Education was founded by Peter Kump in 1975. From 1975 to 1995, The Institute was formerly known as Peter Kump's New York Cooking School. In 1975, Peter Kump, an educator and entrepreneur with a great love of food, taught five students the basic techniques of cooking in the cramped kitchen of his Upper West Side, New York City apartment. Not long after, The New York Times wrote favorably of the fledgling school. As a result of that article, Kump received numerous phone calls from potential students asking to study with him, and Peter Kump's New York Cooking School was born. Within five years, the school was flourishing. In 1979, an article in Bon Appétit quoted Kump as saying he hoped his students would not “leave here with a sheaf of spectacular recipes to repeat step-by-step ad infinitum. No. I want them to learn to develop taste. I want them to become free to improvise, to work without recipes. They should learn principles, the reasons for mixing and blending this with that. And techniques.” In 1983, Kump inaugurated the professional program to train aspiring chefs. He himself had learned from the best, and former teachers of his such as James Beard, Simone Beck, Marcella Hazan and Diana Kennedy all later came to teach classes at the school. Illustrious food world figures such as Julia Child, James Peterson, David Bouley and Sara Moulton were frequently guest instructors in the 1980s. In 1986, Chef Nick Malgieri's association with the school began. Former executive pastry chef at Windows on the World, and an award-winning author of five books, Malgieri launched the school's baking program and remains the driving force behind it today. Chef Malgieri is widely considered one of the world's leading pastry and baking instructors. Among his other activities, Kump, along with Julia Child, went on to establish the James Beard Foundation in 1985. The organization inspires and showcases American chefs through dinners, publications, culinary festivals and its prestigious awards program. The school's ties to the Beard Foundation remain long and deep. When Peter Kump passed away in 1995, an obituary in The New York Times proclaimed him “one of the most influential figures on the American food scene.”

	1995 to PRESENT
	In mid-1995, the school was acquired by Elm View Culinary Enterprises. Rick Smilow, an entrepreneur with a keen interest in education and the culinary world, is the President, founder and principal owner of The Institute of Culinary Education and the President of the school. Since 1995, the school has grown tremendously in terms of enrollment, programs and physical space. In late 1995, the school opened a second Manhattan location at 50 W. 23rd Street. In 1999, the school expanded to the 14th, 5th and 4th floors at 50 W. 23rd Street and concurrently closed the older east 92nd Street facility. In 2005, the 23rd Street facility expanded to the 6th floor and took additional space on the 4th floor, while renovating its existing kitchens, classroom and building a new resource library. At present, the school occupies over 42,000 square feet with eleven teaching kitchens that are among the finest in the nation. By 1997, the school's recreational cooking program had grown to be the largest in the nation. At present, ICE® offers over 1600 “hands-on” courses per year to the general public. To the best of the school's knowledge, there is no other cooking school in America (or the world) that offers the equivalent depth, breadth, and frequency of recreational culinary education. The school has taken great strides toward becoming one of the nation's premier culinary career training centers. In 1998, a career service and job placement department was established. In 1999, an innovative loan / financial aid program was initiated with Sallie Mae. Also, in '99 as previously noted, new career program teaching kitchens were opened at 50 West 23rd Street. And in 2000, the school's core curriculum was adapted to better meet the needs of the restaurant community. As part of that process, the program was lengthened 42% from 70 to 100 lessons. In 2000, the school was accredited by the ACCSCT (American Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology). In their institutional evaluation, the ACCSCT honored the school for achieving “levels of excellence” in four separate areas, a rare accomplishment. Those areas were 1) Student Satisfaction 2) Facilities and Equipment, 3) Faculty and Instructors and 4) Community Service. Since 1997 the school and it's graduates and instructors have won numerous awards and honors. In 1997, New York magazine named Peter Kump's the “best cooking school in New York.” In 1998, W magazine included the school in its “Black Book…the World's Best Addresses.” In 1998, Pastry & Baking Program Director Nick Malgieri was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's “Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America.” In 1999, Chef Malgieri was named by Pastry Art & Design magazine as one of “America's Ten Best Pastry Chefs.” In 2000, Joseph Wrede, a graduate of the school, made Food & Wine magazine's short roster of “best new chef's in America.” And finally, James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef awards were won by graduates Stephen Durfee, in 1998, and Claudia Fleming, in 2000.