CIA alumni are always cooking up something interesting, and with a network of more than 50,000 strong, there’s never a shortage of highlights!
Awards and Accolades
The annual James Beard Awards ceremony held Monday, June 10, and hosted, in part, by Amanda Freitag ’89 and Richard Blais ’98, awarded the following CIA alumni the prestigious recognition as the best in their field and region.
- Gregory Gourdet ’00, Kann; Portland, OR; Best Chef, Northwest and Pacific
- Lord Maynard Llera ’06, Kuya Lord; Los Angeles, CA; Best Chef, California
- Harley Peet ’02, Bas Rouge; Easton, MD; Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic
- Paul Smith ’02, 1010 Bridge; Charleston, WV; Best Chef, Southeast
- Ana Liz Pulido ’19, Ana Liz Taqueria; Mission, TX; Best Chef, Texas
Along with the Best Chef awards, two members of the CIA community were also recognized during the James Beard Media Awards:
- Sohla El-Waylly ’10, Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook won Best Book: General Category
- Pierre Thiam, frequent CIA industry conference presenter and guest lecturer in the Cuisines of Africa and its Diaspora in the America’s series, received the Cookbook Hall of Fame Award
The World’s 50 Best named three establishments with CIA ties to its 2024 list:
- #46: SingleThread, Healdsburg, CA, by Kyle Connaughton, CIA Board of Trustees Member and Culinary Arts master’s degree faculty member, and Katina Connaughton
- #40: Le Du, Bangkok, THA, by Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn ’12
- #33: Pujol, Mexico City, MX, by Enrique Olvera ’97
Roshara Sanders ’13, and Rupa Bhattacharya, executive director of the Strategic Initiatives Group made Food & Wine magazine’s annual “Game Changers” list. CIA alum and Brigaid founder Dan Giusti ’04, was also featured. For this year’s “class,” Food & Wine’s editorial team reached out to hospitality professionals, seasoned editors, and previous Game Changers to nominate people, companies, and products that are changing the way we eat and drink for the better. They received hundreds of submissions and narrowed the list down to just 17.
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Gabby Sanchez ’17 and Sam Lopez ’17 were named the grand champions of the Food Truck Championship of Texas on June 1. The pair, who are engaged, met at CIA and beat 49 other businesses to take home the $10,000 prize.
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Terrence Daley’s ’08 restaurant, The Daley Trade, in Titusville, FL, was featured by the USA Today Network as one of “15 best places to eat across the South.”
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Openings and New Beginnings
Eater NY covered the new role of award-winning Chef Gegory Gourdet ’00, of Kann, in Portland, OR. Gourdet was named the culinary director of the five restaurants inside Printemps, a new Paris-based department store anchored in the heart of the New York City financial district.
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The New York Times covered the return of Paul Carmichael ’02, the award-winning chef of Momofuku Seiobo, from Australia to rejoin David Chang’s restaurant group in New York City as an operations executive handling restaurant operation worldwide. In his new role, Carmichael will also lead the training of the next generation of chefs in the Momofuku system.
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Tom Silvestri ’94 opened his signature restaurant ORA, in Oradell, NJ, blending his extensive background in Italian cuisine with contemporary Asian and West Coast flavors, offering a unique dining experience.
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In The Telegraph, John Staurulakis ’17 discussed opening his new Italian and pizza restaurant, Trattoria di Napoli, in Perry, GA, and recruiting classmate Tim Harko ’17 as executive chef. The kitchen features an all-brick pizza oven and a menu with classic Italian cuisine from Naples.
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Dan Latham ’87 was profiled for starting The Table, a farm-to-table concept restaurant in the three Acres Development apartment complex in Jersey City, NJ, to the delight of his fans. The restaurant is the retail anchor of the complex and will feature vegetables grown on the rooftop.
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Dan Souza ’10, was promoted to chief content officer for ATK Brands, the parent company of America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Illustrated, and Cook’s Country. In his new role, Souza will oversee the content development across all media platforms for ATK.
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Lucas Grill ’03 was interviewed about the re-opening of his restaurant, Public, in Zeeland, MI, after a two-year hiatus. The re-opening was commissioned as part of the city of Zeeland’s downtown revitalization plans.
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Gizmodo sat down with Steve Ells ’90, founder of Chipotle restaurants, to discuss Ells’s founding of Kernel, a robot-centric quick serve eatery showcasing plant-forward menu items. Ells also shared what else he had been up to since leaving Chipotle in 2017.
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Interviews and Profiles
Fariyal Abdullahi ’14, executive chef at New York City’s Hav & Mar, Chopped contestant and judge, and finalist for the 2024 James Beard “Emerging Chef” award appeared on “The Dish” on CBS Saturday Morning.
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Johanne Siy ’12 was profiled in Prestige magazine. She talked about her journey from working as an accountant to training at CIA, and how that experience—combined with multiple stints in prestigious restaurants worldwide contributed to her win as Asia’s Best Female Chef.
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Ana Liz Pulido ’19, this year’s James Beard Award winner for Best Chef, Texas, discussed her life story from her upbringing in Mexico to attending CIA to perfecting her family recipes that are used today in her Mission, TX, restaurant, Ana Liz Taqueria.
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Aretah Ettarh ’15, was quoted in a Food and Wine feature on the legacy and history of Gramercy Tavern—a 30-year stalwart of the New York City restaurant scene. Ettarh shared her story of dining at the legendary restaurant for one last meal before heading to Greystone.
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Making a Difference
Bryan Young ’10, owner of Meadowlark Bakery and Café in Warminster, PA, launched “First Fridays,” a special events program encouraging participation of local musicians, artists, and other business owners to help build community.
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The Heat of Competition
Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars, a new FOX competition show, selected Philadelphia winemaker Nicholas Ducos ’12 to compete in this season’s entrepreneurial challenge in the hopes of winning a mentorship and prize money to build Mural City Cellar, his start-up wine company.
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Laura Ozyilmaz ’14, co-executive chef at Dalida, talked with Parade magazine about her Top Chef Season 21 journey and the support she received from her husband, Sayat ’14, while competing. She finished fourth overall.
In Memoriam
Marcel Desaulniers ’65, TV cooking show host and contributor, renowned pastry chef, winner of multiple James Beard awards, acclaimed cookbook author, restaurateur, and CIA trustee emeriti and Lifetime Fellow, passed away after a long illness on May 28, 2024. Known for his iconic cake creation, Death by Chocolate, and cookbook of the same name, Desaulniers’s extensive and storied career has been long recognized as the authority on chocolate by many luminaries in the baking and pastry world, earning Desaulniers the nickname, “Guru of Ganache.”
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James Beard nominee, Michelin-star chef, and CIA supporter and graduation commencement speaker, Jamal James Kent, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, June 15. Kent was the principal owner of the SAGA Hospitality Group.
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