The CIA at Copia (The Culinary Institute of America) Napa - Buy Reservations

My friends and I had a disappointing experience here a couple weeks ago. While the food was tasty, the service left much to be desired. It was a Sunday evening, and the meal was to be served family style. The restaurant was fairly empty--there were only two other parties in the restaurant while we were there (a party of 3 and a party of 8). When our server took our drink order, she said that our food may come out sooner than our drinks because the kitchen was really on top of things. To our surprise it wasn't until twenty minutes later that our food and drinks arrived at the same time. I understand that staffing levels are not what they used to be, but with a nearly empty restaurant, it would have been nice for our server to come by and update us in the status of our beverages and our food. Furthermore, at the end of the meal when we had an issue with our bill, the manager was rude and condescending to us. We were a group of six women, and the manager John felt the need to "man-splain" to us why he overcharged us for a glass of sparkling wine. So while the food was good, none of us will be back to the restaurant because of the disappointing service there. Such a shame.

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The pork belly with the spicy dip was a great way to start the meal after drinking all day. All the pieces were crispy but soft and melty inside.I had the duck breast and loved the texture and flavors along with the accompanying vegetables. The portions were perfect and I enjoyed every bite.

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Every part of our brunch visit - from the arrival to the last moment on property were wonderful. We were joyfully welcomed by the receptionist and greeted on the occasons we were celebrating. The food was presented elegantly and every bite was delicious; and naturally, the wine selections were wonderful, as well. The only minor complaint was how short staffed they were and although our server was exceptional in the beginning, it became a bit difficult to track him down when it got busy. Overall a great experience and would dine here again.

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Other than that, staff was friendly but they were too busy and customer service suffered.

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I recently took a class in French sauces. I was very excited to attend the class, however I felt the level of polish in the class preparations was lacking. Considering the cost of the class and the reputation, I was expecting more. The kitchen was stunning, the people were friendly and I had a good time. The thing that took me back the most was that none of the recipes we prepared were good as written. The class divided into 5 groups of three and each group complained about a troublesome deviation from the recipe. These were not of the order of a dash of lemon or add more pepper variety. One recipe apparently needed a cup more oil and like another half cup of vinegar. Another, the station was only prepped for one recipe, but the instructions called for doubling. This resulted in a insufficient amount of one portion of the recipe. This was not insignificant. There was twice as much filling as crepes which all came down to whoever prepped that station. We checked twice: only 2 eggs and 2 cups of milk were provided, yet we needed 4. I thought someone would have made these before and edited as necessary before unleashing the novices into an unfamiliar kitchen with poor instructions. Afterwards we were all writing the updates on our printouts, but this was student led.

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My family and I recently took a cooking class at CIA at Copia and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The class was 3 hour long and the group was just about the right size. We got to roll up our sleeves and learn to prepare some fairly sophisticated French dishes under the guidance of Chef Annie who put together a fantastic 4-5 course menu. At the end of our French themed class, we were able to enjoy the fruits of our work which included a salad with nut crusted brie, a cod rillette, a Normandy chicken, and a spinach and cheese galette. It was what the French would say "magnifique"! The class is really fun and eye opening to do with friends or family. There are many other classes to choose from, some similar to the 3 hour class we took, others are multi days. We can't wait to go back. The whole Copia facility is stunning and even awe inspiring for anyone who likes to cook or just enjoy food. There is also a beautiful small museum on site which provides a very nice historical view of culinary arts.

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