33 Notable alumni of
Culinary Institute of America
Updated:
Culinary Institute of America is 844th in the world, 308th in North America, and 287th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 33 notable alumni from Culinary Institute of America sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Anthony Bourdain
- Occupations
- travelerchefwritertelevision produceressayist
- Biography
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Anthony Michael Bourdain was an American celebrity chef, author and travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition.
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Anne Burrell
- Occupations
- television presenterchef
- Biography
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Anne W. Burrell was an American chef, television personality, and instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. She hosted the Food Network show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and was co-host of Worst Cooks in America. She was also one of Mario Batali's sous chefs in the Iron Chef America series and appeared on other programs on the network such as The Best Thing I Ever Ate.
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Michael Paré
- Occupations
- singertelevision actormodelfilm actorfilm producer
- Biography
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Michael Kevin Paré is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Streets of Fire (1984), and The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), and on the series Houston Knights (1987–1988).
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Geoffrey Zakarian
- Occupations
- restaurateurchef
- Biography
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Geoffrey Zakarian is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is the executive chef of several restaurants in New York City, Atlantic City, and Miami. He is featured on several television shows on the Food Network, including Chopped and The Next Iron Chef. In 2011, on The Next Iron Chef he won an opportunity to join Iron Chef America.
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Grant Achatz
- Occupations
- restaurateurchef
- Biography
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Grant Achatz is an American chef and restaurateur often recognized for his contributions to molecular gastronomy or progressive cuisine. Achatz has won numerous awards, including Food and Wine's "best new chefs" award in 1998, "Rising Star Chef of the Year Award" for 1999, "Best Chef in the United States" for 1998, a 2003 "Who's Who Inductee" from the James Beard Foundation, and a Jean Banchet Lifetime Achievement Award in 2026. His Chicago restaurant Alinea has won numerous accolades.
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Duff Goldman
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Jeffrey Adam "Duff" Goldman is an American businessman, pastry chef, television personality, and writer. He is the executive chef of Baltimore’s Charm City Cakes shop, which was featured in the Food Network reality television show Ace of Cakes, and Los Angeles’s Charm City Cakes West, which was featured in Food Network's Duff Till Dawn and "Cake Masters" series. His work has also been featured on the Food Network Challenge, Iron Chef America, Oprah, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Man v. Food, Buddy vs. Duff, Duff Takes the Cake, and Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time.
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Cat Cora
- Years
- 1967-.. (age 59)
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Catherine Ann Cora is an American professional chef, television personality, business person, and cookbook author. She is best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on Iron Chef America and as co-host of Around the World in 80 Plates.
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Roy Choi
- Occupations
- businesspersonchef
- Biography
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Roy Choi is a Korean-American chef who gained prominence as the creator of the gourmet Korean-Mexican taco truck Kogi. Choi is a chef who is celebrated for "food that isn't fancy" and is known as one of the founders of the gourmet food truck movement. In 2019, Choi began presenting a cooking series on Netflix with Jon Favreau titled The Chef Show.
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Richard Blais
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Richard Blais is an American chef, television personality, restaurateur, and author. He appeared on the reality show cooking show Top Chef, and is known for his take on classic American cuisine. Blais was the runner-up for the fourth season of Top Chef and returned several seasons later to win Top Chef: All-Stars.
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Rocco DiSpirito
- Occupations
- restaurateurchef
- Biography
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Rocco DiSpirito is an American chef and reality television personality based in New York City, known for starring in the series The Restaurant.
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Fatima Ali
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Fatima Ali was a Pakistani-American executive chef, restaurateur and television personality. She was known for her successful appearances on reality cooking shows Chopped and Top Chef, and for posthumously winning two James Beard Foundation Awards for her writing.
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Michael Chiarello
- Occupations
- television celebrity chefchef
- Biography
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Michael Dominic Chiarello was an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and businessperson, who was known for Italian-influenced California cuisine. He hosted the cooking TV shows Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello on Food Network and NapaStyle on Fine Living Network. He was the owner of a tapas restaurant named Coqueta and an Italian restaurant named Bottega and has locations in Napa Valley, California and San Francisco, California. He was a competitor on the fourth season of The Next Iron Chef.
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Maciej Kuroń
- Occupations
- journalistcook
- Biography
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Maciej Kuroń, was a Polish journalist and culinary publicist. He was a host of television culinary shows, which made him very popular in Poland. He was the son of Jacek Kuroń.
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John Besh
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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John Besh is an American chef, TV personality, philanthropist, restaurateur and author. He is known for his efforts in preserving the culinary heritage of New Orleans cuisine.
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Michael Mina
- Occupations
- chefrestaurateurwriter
- Biography
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Michael Mina is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He is the founder of the Mina Group, a restaurant management company operating over 40 restaurants worldwide. He is the executive chef at his two namesake restaurants in San Francisco and Las Vegas, which each have earned a star in the Michelin Guide. He authored his first cookbook in 2006 and has made numerous television appearances.
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Johnny Iuzzini
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Johnny Iuzzini /u-zee-nee/ is a New York City-based American pastry chef, television celebrity, and cookbook author. He served as executive pastry chef at Daniel from 2001 through 2002 and at Jean Georges from 2002 through 2011. Iuzzini is the author of two cookbooks and was a judge on the first three seasons of The Great American Baking Show. On November 29, 2017, Iuzzini was accused of sexual harassment by four former employees and the third season of The Great American Baking Show was pulled after one episode.
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Michael Smith
- Occupations
- cookrestaurateurtelevision presenter
- Biography
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Michael Dixon Smith CM is an American-born Canadian chef and cookbook writer. He has hosted The Inn Chef, Chef at Home, and judged on Chopped: Canada on the Canadian Food Network. Smith is Prince Edward Island's Food Ambassador, a nutritional activist, and an advocate for sustainable home cooking and farm-to-table cuisine.
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Ilan Hall
- Occupations
- restaurateurcheftelevision personality
- Biography
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Ilan D. Hall is an American chef, television personality, and restaurateur. He won the second season of Top Chef, and is owner-chef of Ramen Hood in Los Angeles.
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Spike Mendelsohn
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Evangelos Spiros "Spike" Mendelsohn is a Washington, D.C.–based chef and restaurateur best known as the fifth-place finisher of the fourth season of Top Chef, which aired 2008–2009. He is the chef and owner of multiple restaurants: Good Stuff Eatery, Santa Rosa Taqueria, and We, The Pizza in Washington, D.C. In the summer of 2017, Mendelsohn closed his restaurant Béarnaise in Washington's Capitol Hill and opened Santa Rosa Taqueria in its place. In 2019, Mendelsohn opened PLNT Burger, a vegan restaurant featuring Beyond Meat, inside Whole Foods Market in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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Roy Yamaguchi
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Roy Yamaguchi is a Japanese-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and founder of a collection of restaurants, including 30 Roy's Restaurants in the United States and Guam, the Tavern by Roy Yamaguchi and Eating House 1849. He is one of the founding members of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement.
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Gary Danko
- Born in
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United States - Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Gary Danko is an American chef. He combines French, Mediterranean, and American styles into his cooking. He is best known for his eponymous restaurant in San Francisco, California.
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Francis Lam
- Occupations
- radio personalitycolumnistculinary writerwriterpodcaster
- Biography
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Francis Lam is an American food journalist, cookbook editor, and since 2017 the host of American Public Media's The Splendid Table.
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Larry Forgione
- Years
- 1952-.. (age 74)
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Larry Forgione is a chef in the United States. He is known for his work at the An American Place restaurant in New York City and several notable chefs apprenticed with him (including Christina Machamer, David Shalleck, Melissa Kelly and Alexandra Guarnaschelli). His son, Marc Forgione, has his own restaurant and competes on Iron Chef America.
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Gabe Kennedy
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Gabriel Kennedy is an American businessman, chef, and TV host. He is the co-founder of Plant People, a health and wellness company focusing on mushroom and herbal supplements. Gabe is also the Chef and Partner at Checker Hall, a restaurant and bar in Los Angeles.
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L. Timothy Ryan
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Lawrence Timothy Ryan is an American chef and was the fifth president of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) from 2001 to 2024. Ryan, a certified master chef, graduated from the CIA in 1977 and joined the school's faculty in 1982, and later moved to administration before heading the education division. In 2001, he became the first CIA alumnus and faculty member to become president of the college. Prior to returning to the CIA as a faculty member, he spent five years as a chef in different aspects of the culinary industry.
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Alfred Portale
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Alfred Portale, in Buffalo, New York, is an American chef, author, and restaurateur, is widely recognized as a pioneering figure in the New American cuisine movement.
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Pedro Miguel Schiaffino
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Pedro Miguel Schiaffino is a Peruvian chef who has worked to highlight the foods of the Amazon jungle and Amazonian cuisine. Schiaffino's restaurant in Lima, Peru is called Malabar. He is also executive chef aboard the M/V Aqua. Schiaffino is known as the "jungle chef" and has been compared to René Redzepi.
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Greggy Soriano
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Gregory Paul Soriano also known as Greggy Soriano, is a YouTuber, content creator, chef, and cake designer. He is the star of the reality television show, Cakezilla on TLC, which premiered on July 25, 2018. He is known for being in the first season of Cake Boss: Next Great Baker on TLC. He was cast as "Greggy, The Self Proclaimed Gaysian" on Beauty and the Geek Season 5 on The CW Television Network.
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Bradley Ogden
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Bradley Ogden is an American chef who manages Bradley Ogden Hospitality.
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Joseph Johnson
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Joseph Johnson is an American chef and author best known for cooking the food of the African diaspora. He is the 2019 recipient of a James Beard Foundation Book Award, which he received for Between Harlem and Heaven, co-authored with Alexander Smalls.
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Brandon Chrostowski
- Born in
- United States
- Occupations
- cook
- Biography
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Brandon Chrostowski is an American chef, restaurateur, and politician currently residing in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the founder, president, and chief executive officer of EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute, a 501(3) non-profit organization that acts as both a French restaurant and a culinary institute located in Cleveland's Shaker Square. It trains and is staffed largely by former prison inmates and was the subject of the 2017 Academy Award-nominated documentary short, Knife Skills. Chrostowski is also a certified sommelier and a fromager. He ran for mayor of Cleveland in 2017.
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Thomas McNaughton
- Occupations
- restaurateurchef
- Biography
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Thomas McNaughton is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He is the co-chef and co-founder behind Flour + Water Hospitality Group which operates Flour + Water, Penny Roma, Flour + Water Pasta Shop, and Flour + Water Pizzeria in San Francisco, California.
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Michael Colameco
- Occupations
- chef
- Biography
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Michael Colameco is an American chef, author, and media personality. A 45-year veteran of the restaurant industry, he is the host and producer for Mike Colameco's Real Food television show, retooled from the original 3-part series "The Food Dude". Since 2006, he has hosted a live weekly radio show called Food Talk. Colameco is a long time contributor to Saveur, Edible Manhattan, Edible New Jersey, Snooth, and Guitar Aficionado magazines and in 2009, he published Mike Colameco's Food Lover's Guide to New York City with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
