The Culinary Institute of America

We heard that CIA is not only a place to meet up with a group of young cooking talent, but also an opportunity to try out their culinary dishes at a fair price, so we came all the way from Manhattan, with the total driving time being close to two hours, just to enjoy a sort-​of formal lunch prex-​fixe.
The school indeed had a better view. Inside the main building, four restaurants (three formal full-​course ones and one bakery/​café) were grandly located on the first floor while lecture rooms on higher levels. We tried their French one, and everyone liked their food. On the service side, we found some improvement (our waiter accidentally spilled over our wine, splashed some left-​over food into our wine glass, and another one was really shaking when he brought over our dishes). I could literally tell how nervous he must be at that point. Yet everything starts from beginning and people are allowed to make mistakes — it was actually a very unique experience for me as well
The most important lesson I learned from here was that it took a long time to be mature and become a great chef; however nothing should be stopping you once you have a dream.
Good stuff CIA.

Came here on s bus trip. It’s a beautiful campus with wonderful views of the Hudson River. We had reservations at the Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici which provided authentic regional Italian food.
We had s fixed menu for the trip consisting of heirloom tomato salad, chicken breast with carrots semolina gnocchi. Dessert consisted of chocolate lava cake. The wait staff were all students from the CIA who were learning part of their craft.
I would assume that individuals can come for lunch. There are several other restaurants including the Bocuse Restaurant which offers modern French Cuisine and the Apple Pie Bakery Café.
The CIA offers boot camps for cooks looking to boost their skills

Fantastic institution! We spent the day at the CIA and we had a great time. We had lunch at Bocuse which is the French inspired restaurant and everything was impeccable from the service to the lunch!
I had the duck confit with frisée salad to start, then the veal as a main course, and a chocolate dessert. It’s honestly hard to explained what we ate because there was a lot of stuff described on the menus and on the plate! Chutneys, sauces, reductions, veggies, all cute delicacies that were so gorgeously presented! I think my photos will speak for themselves! Everyone at our table raved about the excellence of the food and the service the entire time and thereafter.
We then took the tour of the school! It is very much worth it as you learn about the history of the school’s creation, the way the school operates, you see classes and you get to peak at future chefs as they learn how to please palates!
Excellent time!

We came for Valentine’s Day & for: A Culinary Event to Benefit Project LIFE and the CIA’s Side Towel Scholarship.
The place is as Grand as far as the eye can see and you can feel the hard work in the kitchen past through the walls here. It’s the future where some of our restaurateur & hospitality industry will rise from.
The food was as impressive as the staff of fresh graduates. Young and full of flavor and excitement. From the chicken to the desserts & wine & cocktails the night was elegant and warming even though the temperature in Poughkeepsie was zero and real feel was minus 18 degrees fahrenheit .
We plan to come back when is warmer & try the rest of the campus restaurants.

The CIA has a quaint café on the ground level as well as many other restaurants on the campus. I stopped by CIA with the help from a local friend. We had already eaten lunch, so we decided to get coffee and some dessert. We ordered tiramisu, macaroons, and coffee. All three were top tier dishes. The tiramisu came in small mason jars and was spot on. Tiramisu is a dessert I usually try at most establishments when offered, and this was definitely on my top five. The macaroons were a great balance of texture and creaminess without being too sweet. The coffee was the second best cup of coffee I ever had. I have had the opportunity to taste imported coffee from around the world as well as local coffee from a variety of countries, and this one at CIA was awesome. It was late in the afternoon so I ordered decaf, but they accidentally brought out regular. When they brought out the decaf they left the regular coffee, so I decided to try it as well. This was their own custom blend of Colombians grinds roasted locally, and it was awesome! The decaf was ok, but had a hint of raspberry and I am not into fruity coffee. The Colombian blend had a deep rich aroma which went down smooth without the acidity or bitterness. One of the best cafes I have ever been to with great service because the service staff is students working for credit.

If your serious about a career in the food industry, I highly recommend the The Culinary Institute of America. Notice I didn’t say chef. The Culinary Institute of America offers many different levels of education.
The New York campus itself is situated on 170-​acres in the beautiful Hudson region of New York. Coming to this campus and graduating is a good stepping stone to your career.
If you read some of the celebrity chef books like Anthony Bourdain, he said The Culinary Institute of America is expensive and they’ll be glad to take your money. What most folks do is after they have the cooking basics, they’ll study abroad or work in a successful kitchen under (hopefully) a not so crazy chef. (Trust me, they all are crazy)
One of my friends graduated from Cornell with a degree in Hospitality management. You can study anywhere, The Culinary Institute of America is a degree sought after from many high end establishments.
Good luck in your decision!

I have nothing but great memories from CIA. I’ve taken the 5 day boot camp as well as Saturday Kitchen class.
Chef Speckamp (Boot Camp) — it was such an honor to leant from you and pick your brain as a Certified Master Chef! As a budding chef who doesn’t have the time to commit to culinary school full time, I gained a lot of skill and insight from taking this course. I took the basic skills course and we had lectures as well as cooking that implemented what we learned.
The ratio of students to prof was 16:1 and allowed for us to get one on one time. I especially loved the demonstrations. I learned so much, more Han I thought I would. And it was great to sit down each evening and eat each other’s food!

Their macaroons may just be better than the ones I had in Paris. Everything I get here is always fantastic. You just can’t beat it! The students are also always very courteous too!

This is an outstanding culinary experience that is worth the trip. It’s casual but the food is serious and the menu has something for everyone. The CIA is world renowned and everything here speaks to high quality and creativity. You place your order, find a table and it is delivered by well trained and very pleasant students. I’ve tried soup, salads, sandwiches and of course the desserts! Don’t miss having a dessert or at least buy one to take home. The café is open midweek only and you should check the hours. It’s a 65 mile drive for me but the food is worth it! Be sure to visit the school store as well.

We ate at Catherine de Medici. The grounds and space are beautiful. The service was excellent. The food was uneven.
We shared a pasta as an appetizer — it was excellent. Our main courses were disappointing. I had the duck I was served two small medallions. The crust was flabby, not crisp and the medallions had more fat than meat. My spouse had the swordfish. Pieces were crammed on a skewer and therefore unevenly cooked. Swordfish was somewhat «fishy» as well. We had a great Nero D’Avola and a scrumptious chocolate molten cake for desert.
One other low point. We ordered a pre-​dinner martini while waiting for our table. The bartender was slow in mixing the drink and served a very watered down martini. They charged $ 16.00 for the cocktail — a lot for what was functionally iced water.

I made a warm brownie batter cake today. I had a very good one the other day at a restaurant and I thought I would duplicate it at home. I was taking picture of it to show friends on Facebook of my creation. Before I knew it, the ice cream melted, and hot fudge weren’t cooperating. My food styling teacher at CIA, the great Dolores Custer, would call this brownie — dead. Hahahaha.
It has been awhile since my time at CIA. Damn, I had certification in food styling and recipe writing from the best culinary school in the world and I failed a brownie today. Well, to my defense, I haven’t practiced it in years. Most people know me now as a car freak who love to cook and bake. However, tonight just reminded me on how cool it was learning how to make ice cream that won’t melt here at school. I also learned to make perfect roasted turkey like those on Bön Appetit cover on Thanksgiving and various other tricks stylists use to make food pictures just tantalizingly mouthwatering.
This is truly the school to go to if you want a career in culinary. There’s no culinary school quite like this. I was very fortunate to have the chance to learn from some of the best here, walked the same hallways and washed dishes at the same kitchens as Achatz and Bourdain when they were nobody. Going to class every morning, I was just at a constant awe. Not to mention, the campus was breathtakingly beautiful.
I remember gaining a lot of weight when here, eating three course meals two three times a day cooked by students but they tasted so delicious. Those kids are chefs with their own restaurants probably now. This is the location where a student called me and said that I looked like chunky Catherine Zeta Jones. Yeah — not sure if it was a compliment or a shot but my mouth was probably stuffed with a Brioche and couldn’t respond to it with anything smart.
Also, I have to mention eating at all the campus’ restaurants that were just simply awesome. They were better than many restaurants anywhere. If you’re ever in Hudson Valley and specifically in Hyde Park, NY, try some of these restaurants: Caterina de Medici — fantastic Italian food. The famed American Bounty is also just wonderful if you can get in. Lastly, my favorite, Bocuse — classical French cooking that’s done by the book. I had a skate wing with brown butter here and it was so memorable to me even though they called it Lobster bait. To this day, If I see skate in a menu, I’d go for it.
It was such a fun time studying here and it was an experience I would cherish forever. Funny to think that at one time I used to work in a professional kitchen with a team of chefs concocting new food products. Though culinary is just a hobby now, I will never forget my time here. I may forget how to style food for photographs now; but, I still have it in my back pocket. Just watch out. :)
I highly recommend to visit the campus if you are ever in the area. It’s pretty damn cool and it’s not just a campus. It’s the CIA!

We visited the American Bounty Restaurant last night for my wife’s birthday and had been to the CIA at least 6 or 7 times over the years. We both agreed this meal tonight was the best meal we’ve ever eaten in our life as well as the best meal we’ve ever eaten at the CIA. We took our 14 year old daughter with us and she was speechless and in awe of the great food. She enjoyed watching the pastry chefs from the window.
We were provided a complimentary ham and cheese pinwheel which came with arugula salad in a spicy mustard sauce. EXCELLENT. We each started with the mixed green salad which came with pecans, dried strawberries, blue cheese, and a very tasty vinaigrette. The portion was very huge and needless to say delicious.
I should mention by now that we were given Parker House rolls which were hot and buttery and literally melted in your mouth. We went through them real easy and ordered another tray of them.
Our main entrees consisted of the swordfish steak, the roasted farm chicken, and the grilled rib eye. WOW! Each of our meals were cooked fresh and we were in awe of the seasoning and taste which was beyond outstanding. We couldn’t believe how moist the chicken and swordfish came out. My steak was cooked perfectly and seasoned nicely. None of us had to reach for any additional spices. We ordered sides of the mashed potatoes and asparagus which I would recommend in addition to what comes as the sides of your entrée.
For dessert we ordered the carrot cake and the chocolate & raspberries. Don’t think for a second you’re getting a slice of carrot cake like at a regular restaurant. We received two small spirals of carrot cake with small piles of chopped nuts and candied walnuts. Phenomenal! My daughter said she wanted to cry when she was eating her chocolate &raspberries dessert because she didn’t want it to end.
We had the french press coffee and tea. Hot and tasty.
The service was excellent on all ends and the meal itself is what you would expect from a world class cooking university. The portions aren’t huge but the quality of your meal is extraordinary. Don’t worry about the prices and just go and enjoy the overall experience. Like I said, tonight’s meal was the best I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.
After we expressed our appreciation to our server, we were lucky enough to be asked if we wanted a behind the scenes tour of the kitchen and meet the chef. Of course we did. The kitchen was organized and most importantly, clean.
We will be back!!! The CIA is a beautiful campus overlooking the Hudson River and a must when you are visiting within a few hours of this area.

For decades, I have read about the CIA in far off Hyde Park, NY. My friend, back in the 1980s, told me his son was a graduate and he raved at the quality of his food. Around the same time, a small restaurant opened around the corner from my mother’s house in Fort Lee, NJ called Hyde Park — run by recent graduates. I treated my mom to a birthday dinner there and she actually like the food — something she rarely ever did! I loved it, especially the fried ice cream.
However, the rumor was always that you needed to make reservations months in advance and even then, you would be lucky to get a seat. Boy, was I wrong! To celebrate a wedding anniversary, I went on line and asked for a lunch date for two. To my great surprise, we got in with no problem and with hardly any lead time.
We ate at the Italian restaurant and were treated to a dining experience that made our special day even more special. Service, atmosphere, taste of the food (most critical) and price were wonderful. It’s clear that the students are being well trained and that they love what they are doing.
My wife told her foodie friend about our experience at the CIA and she joined us for a second visit. As with the first meal, this too was a memorable outing.
I urge you, if you love good food and if you want to encourage the next generation of great chefs and other food professionals, go on line and book a visit. You will be treated to a great meal on a scenic campus overlooking the Hudson Valley.
Highly recommended.

Fabulous campus with a scenic view of the Hudson River Valley.
Beautiful brick buildings adorn the campus and the gardens were all very well maintained. It was enjoyable to walk around both before and after our meal on this quaint college’s grounds.

What a terrific afternoon. The waitstaff were happy to answer questions if asked, and if not, served the meal professionally.
The meal was exquisite. The atmosphere was a class act. In fact the whole Hudson Valley/​River experience was a class act. We can’t wait to do this again.

Gourmet Student Chefs and a beautiful campus make for a wonderful afternoon.
The Culinary Institute of America has a lot of history (by American standards) and has been providing top tier chefs to the world for nearly 70 years and the education, if it can be based upon the culinary samples we enjoyed, is truly stellar.
For the quality of the meal you will experience, the price is very reasonable; and you would never guess everything you taste is made by students because it tastes better than most of the professional restaurants I’ve had the good fortune to experience. This place is a foodie paradise!
If you find yourself in Hyde Park, New York, you really must make time to have lunch at the Culinary Institute — You won’t be disappointed.

Like Antonella P. I too want to attend school here. Not to acquire any culinary skills. With the panoramic views, I’d want to major in leisurely admiration of the great outdoors. No, entrance to the school would allow me to sneak into the kitchens to steal food.
We finally made it to C.I.A after years of misses, months of rescheduling. The fresh air and the verdant mountainside already whetted our appetites. We had settled on American Bounty because the Italian restaurant is closed on the weekends and Bocuse, the French one, was booked well in advance. When a place is this popular you take what you can get.
Dining in American Bounty was like being one of the elite academia enjoying a meal in some grand old college hall. The room was airy, with high celings, brick walls. We didn’t get the window view overlooking the garden but the room had a lightness that permeated. Service by the students, while gracious and friendly, was hit and miss in spots, something we kindly overlooked as they were learning. Though at these prices, a regular restaurant would have lost Unilocal stars. The food itself seemed to follow the service, though perhaps it was merely the type of cuisine.
The Parker House (dinner rolls): light, fluffy, buttery. We asked for seconds. We forgot to tell them we wanted our leftovers. We cried. We took a kitchen tour. I wanted to steal some. Bread that turns me into Jean Valjean when I am not even starving: 5 plus stars. We talked about the rolls for days.
The appetizers:
Mushroom Gnocchi: three of us ordered the mushroom gnocchi and three of us, in between eating, oohed and aahed. This dish was extraordinary, the gnocchi light, the mushroom flavor intense, the sauce delightfully complex. We still reminisce about this and wish we had it as an entrée. Five stars.
Crispy Asparagus Radicchio Salad: Interesting, pretty, delicious. The dressing was very light. The crispy egg was the surprise. 4 stars.
Entrees:
Pan Roasted KNK Duck in Port Wine Sauce and Barley Risotto, Baby Beets, Heirloom Carrots: the waiter’s recommendation as outstanding. An oily tongue feel. My friend thought a citrus sauce would have been better. 3 stars.
Pan Seared Bass with Fava Bean Purée, Stewed Squash and Tomatoes, Saffron-​Tomato Vinaigrette: I wasn’t impressed. The bass was perfectly cooked but the flavors were bland. Another waiter recommendation. Hey, was the guy merely moving slow inventory? 3 stars.
Sauteed Dorade, Roasted Purple Potato, Sweet Leek Purée, Brussels Sprout Purée, Herb Oil: Tastier than my bass due to the leeks, garlic. The fish was also cooked well. 4 stars.
Pan Seared Sea Scallops, with Sunchoke Purée, Roast Asparagus, Mushroom Carrot Ragu: this was the highlight of the entrees. The scallops were divine along with everything else. 5 stars.
Drinks: two of us had cocktails but no one remembered the names or that they were exceptional.
The desserts: The weakest part of the meal. The desserts at American Bounty were deconstructed, which to me translates as lazy, and unimaginative. Come on, I can take an ice cream scoop and scoop a little ice cream and add a cookie. (see my photos). Please. I was rather insulted. Also, when you get an artisanal dessert, or even just a good dessert, the flavor is in the way ingredients blend together. For example, when I eat pie, I want to feel the texture of the crust, taste the butter in it along with the custard and the filling of the tart. How do I do that with a deconstructed dessert? Also, esthetically they were not pleasing, in monotones or drab colors. I was bored looking at them even before I ate. We had the Pina Colada and the Peach and Cream. Not worth mentioning. Save your money and if you come during the weekday, go to the bakery and get your desserts there. 1 star for both.
So while most of what we ate was good but not outstanding, we would definitely return and try a different restaurant. The view, the ambience made for a pleasurable day trip. We were only disappointed that the Bakery wasn’t open weekends.

So glad my friend took me here for lunch during my stay in New York! It’s a beautiful campus and we weren’t able to make it on time to any of the restaurants’ lunch hour and reservation is recommended. Instead, we opted to have lunch at The Apple Pie Bakery Café. There’s a selection to choose from their menu.
I decided to try the Hudson Valley Foie Gras since I have never tried foie gras and it was recently banned in CA. Presentation was simply elegant with a stack of toast with miniature jars of blueberry spread and foie gras. Spreading it both together was just as tasty as having just a single spread. It looked simple, but it was filling after 2 pieces of toast that I couldn’t finish the rest since I wanted to save room for their raspberry macaron tart. Their raspberry macaron tart was freshly made and it was delicious as it looks with fresh raspberries on the side and a center of raspberry and pistachio filling.
They do sell gifts of freshly made spreads and candy but I had to resist. I came at a time where graduates were graduating and it was pleasant to come to a place where the food is finely crafted by these culinary students. A high five to each of every student at the CIA for the amount of effort they produce in their work. The presentation of the food and service that was offered was rewarding from these students.

I absolutely loved the public tour of the CIA.
(The general public can schedule tours Monday-​Friday (when classes are in session) at 4 p.m. and an additional time of Mondays at 10 a.m. Tours are $ 6 per person. Reservations are required — See more at:
…)
Our tour guide, Melissa, was great. She was patient and informative and answered all questions honestly. This wasn’t an easy job, given some of the annoying people on our tour, but I was impressed with her composure, especially given her young age.
We got to walk around and peer into different classrooms. We learned about the culinary and the baking and pasty tracks, the amazing externships and the rigorous schedules that all students undertake.
We followed our tour with dinner at Bocuse Restaurant where the servers and chefs are all students. It was the icing on the cake to our wonderful tour. I definitely recommend eating at one of the restaurants after the tour. Make sure to make reservations here, as well!)
Not gonna lie, I kinda want to quit my job and enroll here!

Thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful food during our lunch time visit, the informative tour, and the beautiful Hudson Valley surrounds.
This is an annual sojourn for us. Obviously these restaurants are «white cloth table» like at most reasonable prices… we enjoyed all our appetizers and entrees fully.
Love the youthful vitality and willingness to please of the students! So friendly and their stories are so interesting.