Cook Like Carmy at the Institute of Culinary Education
With the new season of the Bear just around the corner, I jumped at the chance to learn how to cook similar recipes that they feature on the show in real life. At the Institute of Culinary Education (also known as ICE to those in the know), they’ve been teaching this class since Season 2. Jeremy Allen White took an intensive bootcamp at ICE’s LA campus, so ICE felt it was only fitting to offer a course to other aspiring chefs.
The first part of class was meeting our fearless leader that would be taking us through all of these recipes. That man was Chef Roger Sitrin. Chef is the Lead Recreational Chef at ICE, so we knew we were in good hands. Secondarily, we needed to break up into teams, because to preparing 4 dishes in 4 hours was going to be a feat. I met fellow chefs Dennis and Ken in the lobby while waiting for the class and since they said they knew the instructor, I asked to join tthem. We then adopted Hailey, who takes ICE recreational classes often. I think our group was the best, but I may be biased.
The class included instruction on how to prepare The Beef’s Italian Beef Sandwich, Carmy’s Chicken Piccata, Michael’s Family Meal Spaghetti Pomodoro and Marcus’ Chocolate Cake. We started with preparing dessert since it would take the longest to set. This was the dish that was the most in my wheelhouse. Ingredients were all pre-measured so you could focus on making the dish what it needed to be in the short amount of time we had. All the ingredients were very high quality and we felt grateful to have access to them.
For the savory dishes, I’m glad I had a team because I felt a bit novice for what we had to pull off. The spaghetti was simple enough, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Chef had to come over and save us a couple times. That being said, the final product of everything we made appeared professional, tasted amazing and that’s what matters! I’m also glad they had a meat slicer for the beef since it made it so similar to what you’d get at the Beef. When we finished preparing all of our dishes, the assistants for the day, Dante, Reyna and Jess, set up stools for us to pull up and taste the fruits of our labor. They even had wine! We were exhausted and I can only imagine what it feels like to work in a working kitchen where they prepare dishes over and over again!
This class is only scratching the surface of what this facility offers. ICE is celebrating its 50th (!) Anniversary this year, but a decade in the current space in 225 Liberty Place. In addition to hosting an actual school, they also offer many classes just like this one for those that cook as a hobby and sessions where you can see notable individuals in the culinary community speak. For more on the anniversary, please visit here and to book a class of your own, please visit here.
