New York, USA – The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) celebrated industry leaders and raised funds for student scholarships at its annual CIA Leadership Awards on Monday, May 5, 2025.
The prestigious event, held at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City, honored five “Taste Makers” with the Augie™ award for their significant roles as catalysts for change within the food, beverage, and hospitality sectors.
The 2025 Augie™ recipients recognized for their extraordinary impact were: Elizabeth Blau, Brandon Chrostowski ’06, Ann Cooper ’79, I. Pano Karatassos ’60, and Marcus Samuelsson. Each honoree was celebrated for distinct contributions that have shaped the industry.
Blau is recognized for transforming Las Vegas’s dining scene, Cooper for her work in school food reform, Chrostowski for creating EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute to support formerly incarcerated individuals, Karatassos for elevating Atlanta’s culinary profile, and Samuelsson for his acclaimed career, including numerous James Beard Foundation Awards and youngest-ever three-star review from The New York Times.
Proceeds from the event will directly support scholarships for CIA students, many of whom rely on financial aid.
More than 500 industry leaders, chefs, and other notable figures attended the gala. Chef Dara Yu ’21, winner of MasterChef season 12 and a CIA alumna, served as the event’s MC.
“Each of these honorees was bold enough to dream, to question, and to pursue and create the change they wanted to see,” said CIA President Michiel Bakker. He highlighted the recipients as inspiring examples for current and future students.
The Augie™ award itself is named in honor of famed French chef Auguste Escoffier, recognizing individuals who embody his principles of excellence, creativity, and professionalism.
Several CIA alumni served as guest chefs for the cocktail and dessert receptions, with 40 CIA students, including some from the Singapore campus, attending and serving as student ambassadors.
The event was made possible thanks to the generous support of various sponsors from the food and hospitality industries. Platinum sponsors included PepsiCo and Unilever Food Solutions. Gold sponsors were 400 Capital Management, Ecolab, Aditi Deeg, Bill Sanders, and Barbara Tober. Silver sponsors comprised Breakthru Beverage Group, Consigli Construction Corporation, Edlong Corporation, Highgate, KitchenAid Commercial Small Appliances, Molson Coors Beverage Company, and Steelite International. Bronze sponsors included Colavita USA, Farm Frites, Jones Dairy Farm, Katzman, George McKerrow, John C. Metz Jr. ’92, NR International, The Pier Sixty Collection, Restaurant Associates, and Dr. Regynald G. Washington, among many others.
Additionally, numerous suppliers from the food and hospitality sectors and individual friends of the CIA contributed to the success of the event.
Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute of America, headquartered in Hyde Park, New York, is the world’s premier culinary college dedicated to developing leaders in foodservice and hospitality. The independent, not-for-profit institution offers a range of degrees and programs across its campuses in New York, California, Texas, and Singapore, and its extensive network of nearly 55,000 alumni are innovators globally.
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