03.29.07
DOROTHY HAMILTON
EDUCATOR, ENTREPRENUER, FOUNDER & CEO OF THE INTERNATIONAL CULINARY CENTER & HOST OF CHEF’S STORY,
MAKES THE CULTURE OF FOOD HER BUSINESS
The founder and CEO of New York’s prestigious French Culinary Institute (FCI)—and its umbrella organization, the International Culinary Center (ICC)— Dorothy Hamilton is the host of Chef’s Story, the much-anticipated new public television series that will begin airing in April 2007 on PBS stations nationwide.
For this series she selected 27 top chefs for in-depth half-hour interviews taped in the International Culinary Theater on the premises of the French Culinary Institute, an ideal setting for the show.
Supremely well suited for the role of interviewer, Dorothy Hamilton is at the hub of the culinary scene in this country. The Chef Instructors at the FCI, amongst them, Jacques Pépin, Alain Sailhac, André Soltner and others, as well as the very successful alumni, including Bobby Flay, have given her the inside track on international culinary culture and trends.
Ms. Hamilton knows many of the chefs personally which made the task more challenging. “Interviewing them was harder,” she said, “because I had to look at them objectively.” Armed with extensive research, Ms. Hamilton was able to develop questions carefully tailored to each chef. Her colleague, food writer Peter Kaminsky, conducted pre-interviews and wrote the introductions to each episode.
Whether discussing the quality of Mexican food as compared to European cuisine with Rick Bayless, or speaking with Jean Georges Vongerichten about his early aspirations to become an engineer, Ms. Hamilton was able to draw out what was most interesting about each chef. For many, Chef’s Story was the first opportunity to talk in detail about their lives and work. Underlying each interview is their common aspiration to nurture others through the art of cooking.
Though the episodes are 30 minutes long, the interviews actually went on for over an hour and included cooking demonstrations, as well as Q&A periods with the students, food writers, and editors in the audience. This additional material will appear in the companion book to the series, AChef’s Story: 27 Chefs Talk About What Got Them into the Kitchen (Ecco, April 2007); on the FCI website; the home video release of the series; and eventually in podcasts and cellphone downloads.
According to Ms. Hamilton “American food has come into its own.” In the last 20 years food has become a cultural presence and the subject of political discussion —over the issues of sustainability, labeling, additives, genetically modified foods and more—for chefs and others involved in the food business. The publishing world, following the success of memoirs, has recognized that chefs’ stories can be even more popular than cookbooks.
Dorothy Cann Hamilton grew up in Brooklyn, and became interested in food at a young age, inspired by a grandmother who worked in a restaurant. As a child, her love of travel led her to consider becoming a missionary nun, but instead she contented herself with going to university in England. “The food was so bad!” that whenever possible she would steal off to France with her fellow students for a good meal. Following graduation, she joined the Peace Corps in Thailand where she worked as an educator and traveled widely across the country the years she was there. Returning to New York, Ms. Hamilton went to work with her father, the founder of the prominent Apex Technical School, eventually becoming its President.
As President of Apex, Hamilton consulted for the U.S. Department of Education, where along with other educators, she was invited to tour some of the top schools of Europe. “We visited the most prestigious professional cooking school in Paris,” she recounted. “This gave me the inspiration to open a culinary school along the same lines in New York City.” The French Culinary Institute opened in 1984.
“When we first started, all of our students wanted to be chefs,” she said. “Now they want to be on TV, to be food writers, or to own and manage a restaurant. Our course offerings have grown to reflect these new career paths. In fact, the profession has become so diverse—it has encouraged us to grow as well.”
In October, The French Culinary Institute created a new umbrella organization—
The International Culinary Center . This expanded educational center is New York’s most comprehensive destination for culinary education. Students can engage in classes in culinary arts, pastry, restaurant management, food writing and lab technology in both a professional and an amateur capacity. Located in Soho at 462 Broadway, The International Culinary Center is the home of the FCI, the recently launched Italian Studies Program, as well as other programs in food and wine education. This past fall the ICC hosted the first in a series of Annual Summits, a program that will bring to the ICC top chefs from abroad to discuss and share their craft. The debut Summit featured the legendary chefs from Spain, Juan Má ria Arzak, Ferrá n Adria and others.
Dorothy Hamilton’s dream is to expand the reach of the International Culinary Center, and to continue being a spokesperson in the media for innovations in the culinary arts. She’s already hard at work on her second book. Dorothy Hamilton, with her exquisite taste in food, also has exquisite timing.
Chef’s Story: Production Credits
Chef’s Story wasproduced by Douglas Hamilton, Soho Culinary Productions, Executive Producer; John Servidio, Lemnos Development (he produced the very successful series Inside the Actor’s Studio), Co-Executive Producer; Susie Heller, Full Plate Media, Co-Executive Producer; and Harry Bernstein, Full Plate Media, Co-Executive Producer. Bruce Franchini was the Series’ Director. For more information on the producers and the director see attached biographical information.
