Can it be that another year has flown past? When we look back at the successes achieved by ICA graduates and alumni throughout the industry this year, we are extremely humbled with gratitude for an amazing year filled with culinary highlights!
We celebrate the end of 2022 by recognizing the immense challenges that chefs, restaurants and the broader culinary industry faced in the wake of a pandemic that shook the world, especially unsettling the foundations of the hospitality industry.
We honour the creativity, innovation, perseverance, effort, grit and commitment that guided chefs in their pursuit of excellence, even when the odds were stacked against them.
We honour humility and teamwork, going the extra mile and over and beyond the call of duty to ensure success.
We honour mentorship through trying times where younger generations could be inspired by those who have gone before them, following in the deep and steady tracks of passionate and skilled industry professionals.
We honour each and every person involved in each and every corner of the food industry – an incredibly rewarding world of constant creation in all aspects of the culinary arts.
It was indeed another exceptional year.
S. PELLEGRINO WORLD’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS
Our most prestigious accomplishment to date. Graduate Peter Tempelhoff (class of 1996), climbs the global culinary ladder as an ICA-trained chef and is celebrated amongst the very best in the world on the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Peter’s Cape Town restaurant, FYN, proudly took 37th place! Read the full story here.
S. PELLEGRINO WORLD’s 100 BEST RESTAURANTS
Two ICA graduates were awarded on this coveted list of the best in the world in 2022! Kobus van der Merwe (class of 1999) joins Peter Tempelhoff in the top ranks and reaches no. 91 in the Top 100 selection, keeping Wolfgat in Paternoster on the global culinary stage. Read more.
GALLIOVA FOOD WRITERS AWARDS
ICA graduate, Herman Lensing (class of 2004), has been winning Galliova Awards since his early career in food media. This year, Herman walked away as the overall Galliova champion! As the editor of Sarie Kos, Herman is a proud ICA ambassador for all things food-media-related.
EAT OUT BEST RESTAURANTS LIST
Of the 42 restaurants shortlisted, no less than 9 were headed by ICA-trained chefs! Out of the total number of stars awarded on the night, 15 now proudly shine next to the names of chefs who received their culinary training at ICA. See the full list here:
ICA alumni in alphabetical order, awarded one, two or three Eat Out stars:
JHP GOURMET GUIDE
No other South African culinary school trains more chefs on the country’s most prestigious restaurant lists than the ICA. In the latest edition of the JHP Gourmet Guide, ICA alumni once again dominate the culinary ratings of the best South Africa has to offer in 2023.
3 Plates:
2 Plates:
1 Plate:
Most of all, we honour ALL ICA STUDENTS – past, present and future.
The news that isn’t written about in the media, that doesn’t make it onto social media feeds is how well ICA students are doing in the industry. After having completed their rigorous 1st, and 2nd-year academic blocks, ICA students are now gaining hands-on experience in top-rated kitchens around the country.
They have been meticulously prepared. They are armed with outstanding culinary skills. They possess the mindsets and character to set the benchmarks for others to follow. We are watching their progress during their industry placement period and look forward to welcoming them back on campus in 2023 with newly acquired growth and development.
The ICA wishes our students, parents, staff and partners a wonderful and safe festive season. May all the highlights of 2022 lead us into 2023 with enthusiasm and hope for yet another fulfilling and meaningful year.