Pro Chef International helped get me started creating ice sculptures like this mermaid.
(However, getting to this point took a little while.)



*updated 1/12/12

A few days ago, 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. But Pro Chef looks like it hasn’t changed. I talked with Chie Iijima on the phone a couple of days ago and she remembered me, even though the last time I ordered anything from her was five years ago when I needed a particular chisel in a hurry. She told me that she was thinking about retiring soon. When I first started carving, I ordered all of my tools from her. Alice Connelly hadn’t started Ice Crafters yet and as far as I knew, Pro Chef was the only place I could get ice carving tools.

There is no website, just a phone number and an address. If you call and ask, Chie will 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...

Pro Chef International
12656 Mengibar Ave.
San Diego, CA 92129
858-484-6423
fax: 858-484-0504



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