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CIA Alumni Lead the Way in Sustainability

September 2024

Herald Tribune reported that Paul Mattison ’87 planned to open Mattison’s, an upscale restaurant with a focus on sustainable sourcing, at Sarasota Bradenton Airport.

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Lee Rankin ’96 was inducted into the Western North Carolina Hall of Fame for her leadership and expertise in agricultural tourism.

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Roy Yamaguchi ’76 was interviewed by Travel Writers Radio. In the interview, he discussed how Hawaiian cuisine could develop into its own style utilizing local ingredients.

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In a look inside the luxury Chatwal Lodge in the Catskills, Forbes listed Karl Ulmer’s ’82 seasonal farm-to-table menus as a reason to visit.

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July 2024

Michael Milben ’19, Menus of Change® National Summit Conference panelist and sous chef at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, was one of six winners in 2024’s Health Care Culinary Contest. His recipe, Three Sisters Blue Zone Tacos, was chosen from more than 100 entries submitted.
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Lana Lagomarsini ’16, Diego Galicia ’10, and Nadia Casaperalta ’18, were chosen by the James Beard Foundation along with 12 others to participate in its Chef Boot Camp for Policy and Change program. They were selected for their commitment to sustainable food systems.
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The Press Democrat ran an article on the Roots Fund, which included mention that CIA Trustee Carlton McCoy ’06 as a board member. The non-profit, which seeks to empower and support BIPOC individuals in the wine industry. The article also mentioned Magdalena Morales ’18, who was able to work a harvest in 2022 through the Roots Fund and whom the Roots Fund planned to send to France to work a half-harvest later in the year.
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June 2024

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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Dan Latham ’87 was profiled for starting The Table, a farm-to-table concept restaurant in the three-acre 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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April 2024

Matthew ’98 and Tia Raiford ’98 spoke to ABC News about regenerative agriculture. The couple, who met at CIA, spoke about their work at Gilliard Farms, which has been in the Raiford family for six generations.
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December 2023

Brandon Collins ’01 of Unilever Food Solutions was interviewed on how Unilever is helping eliminate food waste. In an interview with Martita Mestey for Authority Magazine, Collins described food waste, its causes, and how Unilever and others can combat it.
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June 2023

Chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn ’12 was interviewed by The South China Post about his latest venture in Hong Kong, Niras, where he is making food that combines his Chinese and Thai heritages.
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Talequah Daily Press reported that Chef Byron Wilson ’02 was named executive chef of the Choctaw Casino and Resort-Pocola in Tahlequah, OK, where he will get the chance to tap into his Choctaw heritage.
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Happening Next shared a unique tea-tasting event called “Mindful Eating Through Tea” hosted by Tova Sterling ’18, in New York City which promoted a mindful connection between mind and body.
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May 2023

Nicole Routhier ’85 created a new menu for Asian and Pacific Heritage Month at Le Colonial, a restaurant that fuses French and Vietnamese cuisines.
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Kathryn Kelly ’10 was profiled for being at the helm of the growing gourmand-focused programming aboard Regent’s newest ships exploring where culture, cuisine, and curiosity meet.
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April 2023

Tabitha Yeh ’07 was interviewed about her role as senior culinary director for PLANTA, a vegan restaurant chain.
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March 2023

Daniel Corpuz ’19 taught a masterclass on chocolate in the Philippines, taking advantage of having local producers and celebrating the terroir of Philippine chocolate.
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December 2022/January 2023

Shirel Berger ’14 speaks on her dedication to Opa, her award-winning plant-based restaurant in Tel Aviv.
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November 2022

Paul Dimm ’87 opened Scarlet Knife, a farm-to-table concept restaurant in Latham, NY. The menu is inspired by the seasonality of the region and features sustainable and locally grown resources.
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August 2022

Michael Reed ’08, executive chef and owner of Poppy + Rose in Los Angeles, CA, was featured on the CBS Saturday Morning segment The Dish. He spoke to CBS News correspondent Jamie Wax about how he gives farm-to-table ingredients a whole new meaning.
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June 2022

Alex Beninato ’15 is teaming up with Top Chef Jason Cichonski to open a restaurant called Tulip Street Pasta in Philadelphia, PA. This sustainable and seasonal modern Italian restaurant will highlight locally sourced Italian cuisine.
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Restaurateur Nick Dedier ’03 will be opening Almighty Food Co. in El Dorado Hills, CA, later this summer. Almighty Food Co. will be a fine-casual restaurant, utilizing local farmers and sustainably sourced meats, with nearly all proteins sourced within 10 miles of the restaurant.
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May 2022

Katherine Gormaley ’19 joined the Catskill Chocolate Co. team in Catskill, NY, in 2021, as a pastry chef and chocolatier. Since joining the shop, Gormaley has developed new chocolates with the team and has expanded their pastry program. She is taking older recipes and putting her spin on them, creating cleaner and fresher products that use local ingredients.
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Blaze Pizza co-founder and Head chef Bradford Kent ’96 opened Bagel + Slice in Los Angeles, CA. This new joint serves organic bagels made from regeneratively grown wheat, along with pizza by the slice and a pizza bagel that combines its namesake.
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March/April 2022

Alexandra Yates ’11, coordinator of Orange Coast College’s Food Service Management program, started the Food Recovery Kitchen, an initiative that mitigates food waste by turning surplus food into meals for students, community members, and local shelters. Yates piloted the program in 2019, her work, supported, in part, by local and state grants, has also been recognized by the EPA as one of four California food recovery efforts to receive national awards.
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February 2022

Roy Choi’s ’98 Emmy Award winning show Broken Bread is back with a new season on PBS. Broken Bread explores social justice issues through the lens of food as he connects with people who use food as a platform in Los Angeles. Roy draws inspiration from Anthony Bourdain to display and help confront issues like gentrification, cultural erasure, and corporatization of food and farming.
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Matthew Raiford ’06 shared his seafood boil recipe and Gullah Geechee culture with the Connected Table from Sante Magazine. The magazine profiled Raiford in addition to the podcast episode, highlighting his culture, his return home after time in the military and working in various restaurants before returning home to his roots and his family farm.
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CIA alumni Buffy Arbogast ’04, Daniel Baganell ’16, Andrew Chase ’12, and Rachel Wyman ’04 talk to the Times Union about why they stayed in the Hudson Valley after graduation and opened restaurants there instead of heading to a big city. With the additional Influx of people moving upstate from New York City since the start of the pandemic, there has been a greater demand for authentic food made with local ingredients, both of which are a hallmark of the Hudson Valley.
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January 2022

Daniel Darves-Bornoz ’78 opened Josie’s Table in Albany, NY. Josie’s is focused on local, organic, and seasonal ingredients paired with organic wines, and cocktails made with locally distilled spirits. Daniel’s son, and fellow CIA alum, Peter Darves-Bornoz ’11 is the restaurant’s executive chef.
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Kishi Arora ’04 shared her journey to becoming a horticulturist: from having a small terrace garden in her second-floor apartment to an entire nursery that houses more than 1,000 plants. Arora uses the produce, both edible and decorative, in the catering business she runs with her mother.
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November 2021

Chef Dora Stone ’06 was featured on KENS 5 News for her TikTok videos, which focus on veganizing dishes from her culture, like tamales that feature jackfruit. She explains that the texture of the fruit is like shredded chicken. Stone has 170,000 followers on TikTok.
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Matthew Kassman ’14, executive chef of Second Story Restaurant and Liquor Bar in Scottsdale, AZ, is committed to creating a sustainable environment. He purchases local meat and produce, limits inventory to a daily cycle, and cross utilizes ingredients to reduce waste.
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Dennis Friedman ’03 chef and co-founder of Shouk, a plant-based restaurant, opened a third location in Rockville, MD. The restaurant features globally inspired local foods ranging from mushroom shawarma to pulled jackfruit BBQ and is planning to open a fourth location next year in Bethesda, MD. Shouk was also featured in the plant-based foods segment during CBS Sunday Morning’s “Food Issue” on November 21.
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September 2021

The husband and wife team behind The Baker and The Cakemaker, are being honored at Auburns State of the Community Awards for being Friends of Agriculture. Nathan and Alice Shreve’s ’02, artisan bakery and café features produce from local farms as much as possible.
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While attending the CIA, Chef Mark Fredette ’10 became enthralled with the Hudson Valley farm-to-table movement. After the success of his Clermont Café, he opened Iron and Grass in late August 2021. Iron and Grass features beef from local farms in Germantown, NY, duck from the Catskills, and more.
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Farmer Focus, a 100% organic and humane-certified chicken company, has promoted Sean McLendon ’92 to lead research and development. McLendon brings more than 25 years of experience in product research, creativity, and quality control. Before entering this new role, he led the development of Farmer Focus’ inaugural organic pre-seasoned product line.
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August 2021

Michael Elégbèdé ’13, chef and founder of Ìtàn in Lagos, shares how he is using his new restaurant as a test kitchen to reclaim Nigerian food from the foreign ideas of fine dining and how he is working to get rid of the commercial stereotypes around African cuisines.
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February 2021

Royi Shwartz’s ’05 Vienna crêperie is featured in Kurier, an Austrian daily news outlet. Shwartz produces and ferments many of his own ingredients and runs a no-waste kitchen. This article describes his journey to the CIA, highlighting how he went from baking in the Israeli military to saving up enough money to study at the college.
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