NEW YORK, March 7, 2006—The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) has nominated the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE®) as a finalist in the best vocational cooking school category for the 2006 Awards of Excellence. The two other finalists are New England Culinary Institute and The French Culinary Institute.

ICE® alumnae Susan Stockton and Ramin Ganeshram also received nominations, respectively in the best compilation cookbook and the best Internet writing categories. Stockton was nominated for Food Network Kitchens Get Grilling (Stewart, Tabori & Change, 2005), authored in collaboration with her team at Food Network Kitchens. Ganeshram was nominated for her article “Dining in the Dark,” published by Dragonfire (dfire.org), an online publication of Drexel University.

IACP President Bill Wallace presented all nominations at the Cookbook Awards Press Reception at ICE® on March 6. The winners will be announced at the organization’s annual conference in Seattle on Saturday, April 1.

“ We are proud of the honor of this nomination,” said ICE® President Rick Smilow, “and hope that we make it all the way!”

Before the reception, the IACP held a two-hour seminar for food writers titled “Found in Translation: The Hows, Whys, and Wherefores of Writing About a Food Culture Not Native to You.” The seminar featured well-known writers Naomi Duguid, Greg Patent, Arthur Schwartz, Jessica Harris, and Grace Young, who offered their perspectives as cookbook authors and discussed the difficulties and rewards of writing about new food cultures.

About ICE
The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE®) is New York City's award-winning center for culinary education. Founded in 1975 by Peter Kump, the school offers highly regarded 8- to 12-month career training programs in Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, Culinary Management and Hospitality Management. With an intensive curriculum, dedicated Chef Instructors, a strong record in externship placements and a clear entrepreneurial focus, ICE is widely regarded as a great pathway to begin or continue a culinary career. ICE also runs the largest program of hands-on recreational cooking classes and wine education courses in the country, with more than 26,000 enthusiasts taking any of the 1,500 classes offered each year. In 2008, ICE was named the International Association of Culinary Professionals' (IACP) Culinary School of the Year and a School of Distinction by the ACCSCT in 2006. ICE's 42,000 square-foot facility is open seven days and nights a week, 350 days a year and is located at 50 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010. More information can be found at www.iceculinary.com.