A Year Marked by Excellence
- Alumni
- Awards
ICA GRADUATES SHINE WHERE IT MATTERS
On Monday evening at the 2025 Eat Out Awards, ICA alumni didn’t just attend — they dominated.
At a star-studded event in Cape Town, restaurants shaped by ICA-trained chefs amassed a remarkable 21 Eat Out Stars — a number that speaks not just to talent, but to the rigorous training that transforms skill into mastery and passion into profession.
A heartfelt congratulations to our exceptional ICA graduates for their well-earned recognition, and to every restaurant and chef who walked away with a star on the night. A huge salute to the Eat Out team for hosting an extraordinary event and for continuing to uphold a platform where true culinary excellence is recognised.
Honouring Culinary Excellence: Franck Dangereux & ICA’s Legacy
This year’s Eat Out Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed upon Franck Dangereux, a chef whose influence has shaped the South African culinary landscape for decades. His passion, creativity, and dedication to his craft have left an indelible mark, inspiring generations of chefs and food lovers alike. ICA celebrates his remarkable achievement and the legacy he continues to build.
In 2017, ICA Principal Letitia Prinsloo was honored with the same Eat Out Lifetime Achievement Award, cementing ICA’s place as the only South African culinary school to have ever received this recognition for one of its instrumental founding members. The pursuit of excellence, discipline and innovation that earned her this accolade continues to be at the heart of ICA’s training, ensuring that its graduates don’t just participate in the future of fine dining — they lead it.
Excellence is Earned, Not Voted For
Some achievements are loud, built on hype, hashtags and the fickle power of popularity. Others, like the Eat Out Restaurant Star Awards, are earned quietly through early mornings, late nights and an unwavering commitment to excellence. These accolades aren’t about viral trends or social media influence; they recognize the discipline, precision and relentless pursuit of quality that define the best in the culinary world.
This kind of recognition is not won in a single service or through a fleeting moment of online buzz. It is earned in the silence of a pre-dawn kitchen, where hands move with precision long before the first guest arrives. It is built dish by dish, day by day, in restaurants where consistency is the currency of trust. It happens when no one is watching, when there are no judges to impress, no influencer posts to amplify the effort.
The true measure of excellence is found in the quiet satisfaction of diners, whose experience speaks louder than any marketing campaign. And it’s not just in fine dining. Whether in a Michelin-worthy restaurant, a neighborhood bakery, or an innovative food product on retail shelves, excellence matters and quality counts.
ICA-trained chefs know this.
Why the Eat Out Stars Matter
In an era where some culinary awards are determined by popular votes and social media engagement, the Eat Out Awards stand apart. These stars are awarded based on skill, execution, and integrity — not follower counts. Restaurants don’t win because they are well-known; they win because they are exceptional.
This is why ICA-trained chefs are different. They don’t chase recognition; they chase perfection. Every technique drilled into muscle memory, every lesson in precision and discipline, every moment spent mastering the art of gastronomy prepares ICA graduates to stand among the best. Their work speaks for itself and when excellence speaks, the world listens.
21 stars today, countless more to come.
Be sure to get your copy of the 2025 Eat Out Magazine and read more about South Africa’s leading chefs and restaurants. On shelves shortly in selected book stores and Woolworths retail outlets.
