Chef Donald Barickman Joins CIC Faculty

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Chef Donald Barickman as our newest full time chef instructor. Chef Barickman has over 20 years experience in the industry and is a veritable institution as a Charlstonian chef. Chef Barickman graduated from the CIA and went on to become the Executive Chef/co-owner of Magnolias, Blossom , and Cypress. His cookbooks have become Southern roadmaps to great food and cooking. We are very fortunate to have such a talented chef as part of our team. Michael Carmel CEC, CCE, M.Ad.Ed., Department Head Culinary Arts.

One of the South’s most notable culinary figures, Chef Donald Barickman is a 1985 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. His Charleston career began when the groundbreaking firm of M.&W. Associates hired him as sous chef The Wine Cellar, a legendary fine dining establishment. In 1987, M.&W. opened Carolina’s restaurant with Barickman as Executive Chef. His innovative development of old Southern concepts for the modern palate quickly established his reputation as a leader in contemporary Southern cuisine. Barickman subsequently went to the state capital to open Columbia’s for M.&W. , where his creative use of Southern ingredients brought him futher recognition.

    
In 1989, Barickman returned to Charleston to become a stockholder in and vice-president of Hospitality Management Group, Inc., which would subsequently open three of Charleston’s most prominent restaurants. Under Barickman’s culinary leadership, Magnolias opened in 1990 with Barickman’s menu of “uptown American cuisine with Down South flavor.” Barickman’s unique culinary style of recreating Southern food has been reflected in the Magnolias team for over two decades, with many of the original dishes remaining menu favorites today. Having achieved national acclaim for Magnolias, Barickman went on to lead the group’s culinary expansion, first with Blossom restaurant in 1993, then Cypress Lowcountry Grill in 2001, both of which also received numerous industry awards and accolades.
   
Chef Barickman is the author of two cookbooks: Magnolias Uptown Down/South Southern Cuisine and Magnolias Authentic Southern Cuisine. In the forward of Magnolias, Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence names Barickman as the creator of Lowcountry cuisine, at the forefront of this culinary revolution, and he was recognized in the Tyler Florence Food Network Chefography as Florence’s mentor. 
    
Barickman’s unique modern interpretations of classic Southern dishes have starred in the cookbooks of many others, including the Great Chefs of the South cookbook, The Charleston Chef’s Table, and Nathalie Dupree’s Shrimp and Grits. He has been frequently headlined in national media, including Esquire, Gourmet, Smithsonian Magazine, Southern Living, and the Food Network. A highly respected ambassador for Lowcountry cuisine, Barickman has often been a featured chef at the renowned James Beard House in New York and was a guest chef and instructor at numerous culinary programs across the United States, including the prestigious Cakebread Cellars American Harvest Workshop, La Varenne at the Greenbrier, Star Canyon in Dallas, and the Inn at Blackberry Farm.