Pro Chef International helped get me started creating ice sculptures like this mermaid. (However, getting to this point took a little while.)
updated 8/21/23: Not surprisingly, Google now lists Pro Chef International as permanently closed 😢 But this entry will remain, because Chie and Pro Chef International were an important part of ice sculpting here in the U.S. (added seo and some slight tweaks.)
Pro Chef International flashback
I remember going to the mailbox and it felt like I got a piece of mail postmarked 18 years ago. The price list from Pro Chef International came just as Chie said it would. It looked almost like the first price list I ever saw from Pro Chef, filled with chisels I could never afford, but would still dream about. The best I could do was pick out a couple that I knew I really needed. Then, I’d either try to scrape together the cash or drops hints to relatives if my birthday or Christmas was coming up.
Fortunately, I don’t have to drop hints anymore; I can usually afford new ice sculpting tools when I need them. But Pro Chef looks like it hasn’t changed. I talked with Chie Iijima on the phone and she remembered me, even though the last time I ordered anything from her was years before when I needed a particular chisel in a hurry. She told me then that she was thinking about retiring soon.
When I first started sculpting ice, I ordered all of my tools from Chie. Alice Connelly hadn’t started Ice Crafters yet and as far as I knew, Pro Chef was the only place I could get ice sculpting tools. I’m sure Victor Rede told me about Pro Chef.
There was no website, just a phone number and an address. If you called and asked, Chie would send you a black and white price list that consists of a few pages stapled together. But there’s good stuff there, stuff that ice sculpting dreams are made of…
Google Maps still has all this info for them, just like on the price lists:
Pro Chef International
12656 Mengibar Ave.
San Diego, CA 92129
858-484-6423
If I can find one of the old price lists, you better believe I’ll post some photos!
links and stuff
This post is listed on the ice sculpting tools page, and you could also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page, especially if I find one of the old Pro Chef International price lists in my old papers. You can comment there as well as below. And if it won’t LET you comment below, then definitely comment on fb and/or IG. Thanks!
