Culinary Institute of America

For master chefs the world is their oyster but there is a long learning curve to reach that level of expertise and renown. For many, that journey begins at the Culinary Institute of America, widely considered to be the world’s premier culinary college.

Renowned for its rigorous curriculum and experienced faculty, the CIA has multiple campuses, with its flagship campus in nearby Hyde Park NY and satellites in St. Helena CA, San Antonio TX and even Singapore.

Its bucolic Hyde Park campus, with its 30,000-square-foot terrace providing sweeping vistas of the Hudson River valley, is a serene backdrop for the elegance the students pursue in their food preparation studies. Adding to the experience for the chefs-in-training is the opportunity to learn about both the front and back end of the restaurant industry, as they rotate from immaculate kitchens to chic restaurants operated by the students.

In Hyde Park there are four restaurants for customers to choose from, each with a distinct dining experience. Those experiences range from fine dining to casual cafes—the American Bounty Restaurant (modern American cuisine), Ristorante Caterina de' Medici (Italian dishes served in a villa-style setting), the Bocuse Restaurant (sophisticated French fare), and the Apple Pie Bakery Café (a casual cafe offering freshly baked goods, sandwiches, salads and sweet treats).

The Post Road Brew House, which serves elevated gastropub fare and the CIA's own beer selections, is temporarily closed, scheduled to reopen later this summer.

The restaurants have become a go-to destination for lovers of good food and a recent summer visit found the sleek and strikingly contemporary Bocuse Restaurant buzzing with activity as students managed the food and beverage service.

The students in the kitchen and dining room are in their final semester of culinary or baking courses and work under the supervision of experienced chefs and hospitality experts. They spend the semester learning the inner workings of a real-world restaurant as part of their Hospitality and Service and Restaurant Operations courses.

Named for famous French chef Paul Bocuse, the school’s Bocuse Restaurant reimagines classic French cuisine using ultra-modern cooking techniques. Paul Bocuse is widely credited with introducing cuisine characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes that focus on quality and freshness with an increased emphasis on presentation.

Indeed, the dishes presented from the prix fix menu on the day of our visit —we chose the crispy duck confit, poêlée mushrooms and Pommes Salardaise and the heirloom stuffed tomato with niçois vegetables, rice and lemon potatoes—were feathery-light and fantastically flavorful.

A special treat was the full view of the gleaming kitchen with its toque-capped acolytes and the instructors that guided them. The Bocuse is just one of many student-run, faculty-led teaching restaurants at the Culinary Institute of America and these students and will soon graduate to become future leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators in the food industry.

If avant garde French dishes are not your preferred culinary selection, a visit to the American Bounty Restaurant offers diners contemporary and traditional American cuisine, prepared with an emphasis on regional and seasonal products.

When the restaurant was opened in 1982, the team of instructors that conceived it believed that American food could be as fresh, inventive and regionally based as its French counterpart. They researched American food traditions and ingredients and developed new dishes that elevated the cuisine.

While the restaurant has evolved for more than 40 years, it has always remained true to the exploration and exquisite preparation of new American dishes while paying homage to the past. The restaurant’s menu reflects the American populace’s growing interest in sustainability and the origins of the food it eats.

The menu changes frequently, reflecting the seasons, and is slightly more robust than the offerings at Bocuse. Here you might find a shepherd’s pie with garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables; a vegan option of grilled marinated eggplant with quinoa salad, white bean puree and a roasted summer vegetable ragu or even a Bounty Burger, a fifty-fifty mushroom-blended burger topped with thick-cut bacon, smoked cheddar, caramelized onions on a potato bun.

Love Italian food, but can’t make it to Italy this summer? The Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici, housed in a grand Tuscan-style villa overlooking a rose and herb garden, may be an antidote to that loss.
In 2001 the college opened the 18,000-square-foot Colavita Center for Italian Food and Wine, housing the college’s Italian-themed restaurant, Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici, classrooms and kitchens. Here, students prepare and serve regional Italian cuisine, from pizzas to risotto dishes to a variety of contemporary main entrées.

The building itself was designed in collaboration with a well-known Florentine architect to ensure that the students’ experience is as authentic as possible and many of its furnishings were imported from Italy.

Directly opposite the Colavita Center is the Shunsuke Takaki School of Baking and Pastry where students learn the skills needed to make everything from a classic croissant to decorative cakes to Dutch apple pie.

Their talents are on display at the Apple Pie Bakery Café, a reservation-free café that offers both dine-in and grab-and-go options. During morning hours guests self-serve for both take-out items and dining in but dining room service begins at 11AM. The hot lunch menu provides such items as a daily soup, pizza, mac ‘n cheese and cold salads until closing time.

Visitors can also choose to stop by to pick up a freshly baked breads, house-made jams and other CIA products. And for special occasions, custom cakes are available by pre-order. For wedding cake inquiries call 845-905-4500.

Students at the Culinary Institute of America are not permitted to accept tips but the school does include a 20 percent Student Support Surcharge on each check which is returned to the students through scholarships.

CIA is located at 1946 Campus Drive in Hyde Park, just minutes from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt estate. Reservations are recommended.