NEW YORK The Culinary Institute of America held its annual fundraising gala Thursday night, honoring the very best of the industry.
Proceeds of the $1,000-a-plate dinner benefited the Hyde Park, N.Y.-based college’s scholarship endowment. The honorees were Cat Cora, executive chef at Bon Appétit magazine, the founder of Kouzzina in Orlando and of CCQ in Costa Mesa, Calif., and a regular Iron Chef on the TV series; Chris Muller, executive chef of Le Bernardin in New York; and Eric Ripert, partner/chef of Le Bernardin.
SLIDE SHOW: View the evening’s honorees and gala attendees.
Dr. Tim Ryan, president of the CIA said each of the award winners “exemplify the very best in our industry. Cat, the one and only female Iron Chef is a killer. I wouldn’t want to compete against her.”
Cora thanked her mom, Virginia Lee Cora, and Julia Child, who suggested she study at the CIA because it is the “Harvard of the culinary world. I wouldn’t have been where I am today without that education.”
Honoree Muller harkened back to his small-town roots.
“I come from a small town in Wisconsin,” he said. “It has been a long journey for me and it started with the foundation that I got at the CIA.”
He also said he appreciated the two scholarships that he received to attend the cooking school when he was 18 years old.
Another honoree, Ripert, said an education is a “blessing and essential for building a future. The CIA is the best culinary school in the U.S. and the world.”
Celebrating its 64th anniversary, the not-for-profit Culinary Institute of America has campuses in Hyde Park, N.Y., St. Helena, Calif., and San Antonio, Texas. More than 40,000 have graduated from the three locations and a fourth location is planned in Singapore.
Contact Pam Parseghian at [email protected].