Chef Mike Handal remembers the first time a restaurant chef ever appeared on the cover of Bon Appetit. “It was 1980 and Chicago’s Jean Banchet [was the first]. Then came a protégé of Bocuse. And then my chef, Jean-Jacques Rachou.” The 1980s in New York City was the wild west of fine dining. Chefs from abroad — many of them French — were shaping the city’s iconic restaurant style with elegant, old world techniques and innovative ideas.

My trajectory from culinary school graduate to ICE Chef-Instructor, author and entrepreneur didn’t follow the most conventional route. But luckily in the food industry, that’s okay. The more one gets to know other chefs and food professionals, the more you realize that there are many different paths to success in our field.

Does your restaurant have what it takes to thrive, or will it be just a flash in the pan?

Alfajores are to Latin American kids what peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are to American children: the preferred snack and a must-have in every child’s lunch box.

In November, I buy every food magazine I can get my hands on, forever seeking the current year’s trend in turkey preparation. Rarely, though, do I come across a recipe for turducken, the ever-daunting turkey that has been stuffed with a duck that has been stuffed with a chicken.