The map of Ted Siegel's culinary life is studded with epiphanies. First, there were the trips he'd make to Russ & Daughters on Houston Street with his father when he was growing up on the Lower East Side. "I was immediately hooked on the aromas in that store," he says. "That's my earliest food memory." Next came a job with a gourmet food store when Siegel was 15. Although hired to serve as a delivery boy, he found himself fascinated with the kitchen and continued to work there through high school and college. And then there was the copy of The Saucier's Apprentice by Raymond Sokolov that a chef gave him: the book inspired him to work his way through all the sauces in the classical French repertoire, and eventually to attend culinary school.

Upon graduation in 1982, Siegel moved to California and promptly landed a job at Chez Panisse. For three years he worked alongside Alice Waters, Joyce Goldstein, Steven Sullivan (who went on to found Acme Bakery) and Lindsay Shere. Eventually, he moved back to New York and cooked in the kitchens of Bistro du Nord, Orso, L'Acajou, Coco Pazzo and Danal. He joined the staff at the Institute in June 2001 and teaches in both the career and recreational programs.

"Teaching is a logical progression for me as I am entering my thirty-first year in the food service business," he says. "I love sharing my knowledge and experience with students, and I learn as much-maybe more-from them as they do from me."

Siegel reports that the diversity of the school's student body is a source of satisfaction to him. "I enjoy that my students are so varied in terms of age and other demographics," he says. "Every day is different, which keeps it fresh and exciting."