Writing & Photography by Justin Negard
It all starts with a bowl of grapes. “Is that it?” you think to yourself. “I came here for a handful of purple grapes and a bottle of water on a lunch tray?”
After all, this is the Culinary Institute of America (CIA)—the oldest, and some would argue the best, culinary school in America, and a mecca for food lovers on both sides of the kitchen doors.
“Where are the flame-engulfed seared scallops? Where’s the angry chef barking orders to a Vivaldi concerto?”
The instructions break your thoughts as the tour officially begins. You’re sitting in a classroom, and they start a video. “Close your eyes,” suggests Chef David Kamen, director of client engagement at the CIA. “Breathe through your mouth and take a bite of the grape.”
You comply.
“Now, add some salt,” Kamen instructs. Then, “Squeeze some lime juice.” (He pauses. You comply again.) “Now pour on a little bit of hot sauce.”
Again, you follow. Suddenly, the flavors shift, and the same grapes you started with are transformed, producing a cascade of new and unexpected tastes. You’re starting to understand.
Outside the classroom, students in chef’s whites walk briskly through Les Halles D’Anthony Bourdain on their way to class. The hallway is filled with photos of the late television host and CIA alumni. Homages to food icons like Bourdain and others can be found throughout the school.
Around the corner, The Bocuse Restaurant (named in honor of Chef Paul Bocuse) is open for customers, staff and students to eat and learn. This is one of five dining locations on campus for aspiring chefs to hone their craft, attend class and serve real-world guests.
Down another hallway is the school gift shop filled with cookbooks and kitchen devices. There are window displays devoted to the history of apple pie. Even the parking lots have food-related names, such as the Layer Cake parking lot. Food is everywhere.
The Culinary Institute of America is by no means a large school, but it is a busy one. Perched along the Hudson River in Hyde Park and housed in a former Jesuit novitiate, CIA is active with students looking to learn the ins and outs of the culinary world, from baking and pastry arts and applied food studies to food business management and sustainability. And visitors can enjoy the Institute’s restaurants and tours.
Yet regardless of which side of the plate you are on, if you’re spending time at CIA, you’re connected by one simple thread: a love for food.
The Culinary Institute of America main entrance. CIA is a historic hub for world-class culinary education and a must-see for food enthusiasts
From a street corner in New Haven
During World War II in the 1940s, the country faced significant food shortages along with a shortage of skilled cooks and chefs to help manage the strain.
Recognizing this need, Richard Dargan and Charles Rovetti, both members of the New Haven Restaurant Association, devised a plan to address the issue within their Connecticut community. They proposed creating a formal school dedicated to teaching returning veterans how to cook properly. With the support of the New Haven assistant district attorney Frances Roth and community leader Katharine Angel, their vision became a reality. In 1946, the New Haven Restaurant Institute was established.
Initially situated on a modest New Haven storefront corner, the school grew in popularity. In 1974, the school changed its name and then changed it again in 1951 to the Culinary Institute of America. By 1972, the school relocated to St. Andrew-On-Hudson, a former Jesuit novitiate, where it continues to operate to this day. Three more campuses in Texas, California and Singapore have opened since.
Getting in the kitchen
A student at The Bocuse Restaurant makes ice cream by hand while the kitchen is buzzing and the chefs-in-training craft culinary masterpieces in the background.
The primary focus of the Culinary Institute of America is to teach. Over the course of 1 ½ – 2 years (nine semesters for a bachelor’s degree and five for an associate degree), students are exposed to every angle of the cooking world.
“The school has 43 kitchens and bakeries on campus,” says Sharon Matyas, CIA’s campus events and community relations manager. “Most of those kitchens hold two classes per day and are open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. So it’s a pretty busy school.”
Justin Ilkhanoff, who graduated from the Institute in 2020, currently runs Traveling J’s, a food truck in Lancaster, PA, which serves up Middle Eastern cuisine.
We were seated next to him when we dined at The Bocuse Restaurant, and we struck up a conversation.
“I learned a lot at CIA,” says Ilkhanoff. “I gained the fundamentals, full terminology and name recognition. I’m able to tell people that I attended the top culinary school in the country.”
Courses here vary from the basics of cooking to managing the front and back of the house.
“The first credits you take are learning the fundamentals,” Ilkhanoff explains. “Knife cuts, cooking stations, sauces, preparing dishes for the chef. What is a knife, and how do you use it? That’s something that you would think you already know, but there’s so much more to it.”
Students take courses on everything from how to identify and break down different cuts of meat and fish to wine studies and banquet cooking.
“My day started early,” Ilkhanoff recalls. “I’d be up by 4:30 in the morning and in class by 5:30. I took classes like Introduction to à la Carte Cooking, which was an intense course learning line cooking and getting hands-on experience. I was also trained in high-volume kitchen production, and I had to feed around four to five hundred students in a single shift.”
Sitting at the table
While education is the focus at CIA, there is plenty of room at the table for visitors to dine and have fun. The campus features several restaurants, ranging from fine dining locations such as American Bounty and The Bocuse Restaurant to the more casual Post Road Brew House and Apple Pie Bakery Café.
Each restaurant is staffed by students nearing completion of their degree; it is an important part of their education at CIA.
“You have to work in two restaurants on campus,” says Ilkhanoff. “You start in the back of the house and then move to the front. Waiting tables, hosting and taking part in every step of the process.”
For guests, this means they can enjoy meals prepared by, as The Bocuse Restaurant website describes, “students in their final culinary or baking courses, and will soon graduate to become top chefs or continue in their studies to become future leaders, entrepreneurs, or innovators in the food industry.”
With this in mind, visitors to the fine dining locations can expect varied dishes ranging from oysters and mussels to strip steaks and lamb. There are also vegetarian options, including salads, pastas, soups and more. No one leaves hungry.
And there are certainly desserts to round out the meal, such as crème brûlée, apple tarts and sorbets. Their house-made vanilla bean ice cream is created right at the table, with a student hand-cranking the ice cream attachment on a KitchenAid stand mixer.
More casual visits to CIA can still include the Apple Pie Bakery Café, which offers Italian-style sandwiches, chopped salads and breads, as well as pastries. The Egg is their on-campus cafeteria, offering an open floor for both students and guests to walk around and pick out their meal in a more laid-back environment.
While the style of each restaurant varies, they all reflect a similar level of dedication, as reflected in the CIA curriculum.
Inside the halls at CIA in New York. Student chefs walk to class in chef’s whites, dressing for the role they’ll soon have professionally.
Fire up the stove yourself
For individuals who want to learn more about cooking but don’t foresee a lifelong career in the kitchen, CIA does offer one-time courses for the general public. Referred to as Culinary Boot Camps, they offer classes like Mexican and Asian cuisine, seafood, hors d’oeuvres, baking, pastry and more. Spanning anywhere from two to five days, these “camps” allow people to learn from professional chefs while working with industry-grade equipment.
Lighter classes are also available for those who are looking for a fun visit with the family, significant other or solo. Learn how to make delicious holiday cookies (or simply check out our recipes in this very issue), appreciate the perfect glass of wine or sake, and really get that artisan bread to rise.
Experience a little bit of the chef’s life without the long hours and angry head chef taking all his rage out on you.
Bon appétit
The Culinary Institute of America offers more than just an education in the food industry; it provides an immersive, hands-on experience that connects students and visitors alike through a shared passion for food.
A trip there may inspire you to rethink what flavors really mean, better understand the history of cuisine and respect each step of the food preparation process as a science and an art form.
This article was published in the November/December 2024 edition of Connect to Northern Westchester.
