If you’ve followed this blog at all, you know I’m hardly one for fine dining. Which is why this feature is called “Dive of the Week”– I’m generally only eating at local hole-in-the-walls.
But when the Culinary Institute of America is nearby, even I’ll make an exception.
You might be wondering why someone who doesn’t go to a campus would go there– there are several restaurants of different types and styles within the main area, which the chefs-in-training work in to learn the various skillsets they must learn (front-of-house, working on the line, menu creation, etc). So, a friend and I set out to try the food in one of the restaurants, hoping a future James Beard award winner might be the one to prepare it.
Rocking up to the campus, I was blown away by the size of the main building: to me, it looked like the ‘Hogwarts of Haute Cuisine’ (yeah, I said it). Not all the buildings were so grand, but this definitely set a tone that proper future chefs were being trained here.
Founded in the 40s, and moved to Hyde Park in the 70s– this college offers associate, bachelor, and masters degree programs. About 2,500 students attend, at the hefty rate of about $17,000 per semester (whoa!). But if there’s a chef you know the name of? Chances are they went there.
Michael Symon, Susan Feniger, Richard Blais, Duff Goldman, Cat Cora, Scott Conant, Todd English, and many others got their start here– the Culinary-Institute-of-America-to-Food Network-Pipeline was clear.
Walking around campus, there was some hilarity mixed in– I laughed out-loud at the “Chef Crossing” sign that someone had made by using black electrical tape to modify the head of the walker into a tall chef’s cap. Adorable.
Once inside the hall, the Hogwarts analogy really came to fruition. The darkened wood and long hallways with arched windows and doorways felt downright gothic– and the halls felt almost haunted somehow by the ghosts of long-gone chefs.
Turns out, that was also true– the main hall had been renamed “Les Halles Anthony Bourdain” in honor of the beloved chef (and one of the most famous graduates of the Culinary Institute of America). The play-on-words will pop out to any of you who are Bourdain fans– his restaurant was named ‘Les Halles’ and the pun was apt to describe the great ‘hall’ on-campus.
A few well-placed windows helped visitors take a look at the creation of yummy foods in-progress, but I didn’t linger at them too long– the delightful smells wafting from the restaurant drew me there instead.
The bad news was, that given it was a weekday afternoon– most of the restaurants were closed. Definitely check the open-hours of the CIA’s restaurants before you go– this was the only time I could make it there, so I was left with the only option: a very casual cafe, the most casual of the bunch.
That’s not to say that it was standard fare.
The first thing my friend noticed on the menu was an Apple Cider Granita– the crushed ice beverage was sweet, but not overly-so. Cinnamon-y and spiced deeply, this was one of the most satisfying icee drinks I’d ever consumed: kinda like an “Icee”-brand drink for sophisticated adults.
The grilled cheese was absolutely awesome– charred and stringy (as you can see from the photos), the texture was magnificently crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. And the desserts were really quite good! We got a “deconstructed PB&J” (because you can’t go to a culinary experience and not eat something ‘deconstructed’)– which included a peanut butter mousse which was smooth as silk.
The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, is worth a stopover for lunch or dinner, if you get a chance. Check the times of service to be sure of your visit.
Posted by Sun
