Culinary Inst. America comments?

my wife and I ate there about a year ago and enjoyed it. it's rather expensive (appetizers $5-10, entrees $15-25, everything a la carte). the desserts were wonderful. the appetizers (I _think_ they call them tapas, but they aren't all Spanish food) were excellent. I won't try to remember precisely which ones
 I  liked best, because they change the menu often. I had the paella, which I thought was disappointing, my wife's fish entree was better.

  Someone wrote:
>
> Has anyone eaten at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa?
> How was the food?  Prices?
>
> thanks.
>
>   - Bryan Gros
>     Oakland, CA
>     [email removed]
>
>

Yes!  The name of the place is: CIA Greystone, the restaurant goes by: Wine Spectator's Restaurant at CIA Greystone.  The Wine Spectator magazine coughed up a lot of dough to help build the restaurant... and the wine list shows their influence.

It's a beautiful place, the food is fabulous and moderately priced (especially compared to other fine eateries in the valley.  The menu has small portion "tastings" which are based on the Spanish tapas idea, where you are able to try lots of good stuff without getting overly full.  The dishes are from all over the mediteranean and change with the seasons.

The people working in the restaurant are not students.  They are full time restaurant staff.  The cooking school is like a grad school for chef's but also offers short term classes to the novice cook.

They offer tours of the school and there's a gift store with oodles of good stuff in it.

Enjoy!

I suggest "bellying up" to the bar-- Turn appetizers into a lunch. They were fabulous.  Don't miss the kithchen shop.

On Wed, 15 Apr 1998 09:36:17 -0700, Bryan Gros
wrote:

>Has anyone eaten at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa?
>How was the food?  Prices?
>
>thanks.
>
>
>  - Bryan Gros
>    Oakland, CA
>    [email removed]
>