People of The Institute       Alumni Profiles           Missy Robbins Culinary Arts '95     Missy Robbins, top chef at Chicago’s acclaimed Spiaggia restaurant, remembers every major meal she’s eat, and that includes a dinner at La Gavroche in London when she was just 12 (onion soup, rack of lamb, petit fours). She took her early dining clues from enthusiastic parents who often packed up the family and headed from their Hartford, Connecticut, home to dine out in New York City and traveled throughout Europe. In fact, says Robbins about her career as a chef, “Sometimes I think my parents are more excited about it than I am.” Robbins studied art history and psychology at Georgetown University, but when internships and office work bored her she found herself working in the restaurant 1789, a Georgetown institution, by her senior year. She stayed on at 1789 after graduation from college, but left for New York City and ICE®’s culinary arts program in 1994 New York was it as far as Robbins was concerned, and she spent the next few years between Anne Rosenzweig’s Arcadia and Lobster Club and Wayne Nish’s March. But Italy beckoned, and she headed off to do internships in three different restaurants in five months, getting an exposure to the food and culture that she couldn’t have got state-side Robbins returned to New York to take a job at the Soho Grand Hotel, eventually becoming sous-chef and getting experience that she still appreciates today. “I had always worked in smaller places, so getting exposure to a bigger operations, like a hotel, was invaluable. I couldn’t do what I do today if I didn’t have that experience.” What Robbins does today is run a 95-seat Italian commonly considered the best in Chicago, and acclaimed nationally, plus a café that seats 70 and numerous special events. The restaurant has Chicago’s only cheese cave, plus an extensive wine program, and Robbins feels its been a perfect fit for her diverse background while at the same time giving her a space to learn and grown in Does she miss New York? We would assume so, but she’s quick to how much she enjoys exploring Chicago and eating out in it’s many restaurants. “Plus,” muses Robbins, “I do appreciate the larger apartment here.” . 2005