Wine Spectator Greystone - SAINT HELENA

What trip wouldn't be complete without going to the CIA? And when I say CIA, I actually mean the Culinary Institute of America.

1/23/16: Nestled in wine country, and taught in what looks to be a castle, you can only expect to experience the best from the students at this chef

Love this placeWhenever we visit Napa, we always take a trip here.

Fabulous food and service. The waiter was attentive and knowledgeable. Great experience again.

1/23/16: Nestled in wine country, and taught in what looks to be a castle, you can only expect to experience the best from the students at this chef school. Or so I thought. My gf has been looking into schools for a while, and so while we were really looking forward to eating here, we also wanted to see the potential of school. Sadly, we were far from impressed. I wanted to give this place more stars just for the clear effort of the student chefs and servers. However, if this place is meant to be a taste of the real world, I decided I should stay true to my purpose and give them what they deserve. Two stars. That 's it. $85 each person. Plus $50 for each wine pairing. The meal was expensive, and thus I expect that level of excellence. For instance, compared to Terra, a Michelin starred restaurant, I could have paid a tad more and gotten substantially far better executed food. But here, it definitely felt like I was eating the food of students still learning. Here 's what we had: Amuse: Local Swordfish Ceviche watermelon radish, Hakurei turnips salad burnet, Seneca blue dancing bear tortilla : As I took my first bite, at first I thought they got some sand in there, but I quickly realized that fancy tortilla was rock hard. Also, the fancy ceviche had no distinctive flavor. 2/10 First Course: 'Just Dug ' Carrots 3-Ways Chantanay carrot-ginger-cardamom soup... Nantes carrot flan, spiced pepitas... rainbow carrot chips homemade goat cheese : This one actually tasted good, though again, despite the amazing sounding ingredients, it just wasn 't that great. The soup was spicy and tasty. The flan was a nice idea. The chips and homemade cheese was alright. But one problem: where 's the carrot!? Can 't taste any at all. 5/10 Second Course: Seared Wild Quinault River Steelhead wilted swisshchard, preserved tomato-sorrel sauce, lightly pickled chard stems : Skin was mushy. Mine was mostly raw while my gf 's was medium-well. Need I say more? 3/10 Third Course: Asian Egg Noodles Braised Short Rib vegetable slaw, spicy broth, micro cilantro : Plating looked like something my mom would plop in front of me, but anyway, it tasted alright. The noodles were ultra al dente, but my gf liked it that way. The short rib was actually quite good--very tender and juicy. However, it lacked flavor. Overall it didn 't taste Asian either. 5/10 Main Course: Pan Roasted Sonoma Duck Breast orange braised leeks, sauteed fava leaves toasted hazelnuts, winter squash puree and rutabaga 'pomme fondant ' : This was actually very good. Duck was super ultra tender and flavorful. I would have to take a few points though for the mushy skin. No crispness at all. I really liked the gravy too--lots of flavor. The rest was interesting and cool 8/10 Tisane: Campus Oroblanco Grapefruit, Lemon Verbena Wild Flower Honey: Never had a tisane course before! I like it. Refreshing, both to my palate and also to the meal. 7/10 Dessert: Preserved Campus Grown Pink Pearl Apple Cake farm celery root mousse, red beet homemade fromage blanc ice cream : Like a lot here, had potential but execution failed the ingredients and idea. The cake was yummy, but served cold it felt harder than it was, and didn 't let the fancy ingredients blossom. I didn 't share her enthusiasm for the ice cream, but my gf the not too sweet girl like it. Did taste some beet, and it wasn 't bad. That chip thing on top was great--an original way to add some savoriness to dessert. 5/10 You have a long way to go CIA students. I just wish I wasn 't charged a Michelin star price to be a guinea pig. Food aside, the place has a beautiful ambiance and the entire staff is very pleasant and attentive. Everyone from the chefs, to waiters, to even the hostess are students in training. Only the main chef is a professional, and even he attended to us. Great job on the service. Oh! And a particularly nice touch was that they gave a departing gift of Locally Foraged Persimmon Roasted Winter Squash Muffins with walnuts. Ate them the next morning for breakfast--yummy! Thanks, really nice of you Conservatory! 2/5 #american #americanfusion #sainthelena #napa