Online Press Kit

To request a hard copy of The Culinary Institute of America's Press Kit, please e-mail Virginia Muré at Virginia.Mure@culinary.edu.

New York Campus Facts

History

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is the premier culinary college in the United States. The CIA was founded with 50 students in 1946 by Frances Roth and Katharine Angell as the New Haven Restaurant Institute. In 1947, the college relocated to a 40-room estate near Yale University and changed its name to the Restaurant Institute of Connecticut. The name was changed to The Culinary Institute of America in 1951 to reflect the college’s national student population. In 1972, with a student body of 1,000, the college relocated to its present main campus, the former St. Andrew-on-Hudson in Hyde Park, NY, a Jesuit seminary built in 1901.

Today, 2,900-plus students representing every state and 30 foreign countries are enrolled in the college’s associate degree programs in culinary arts and baking and pastry arts and bachelor’s degree programs in food business management, applied food studies, and culinary science. In addition, thousands of industry professionals and amateur cooks enroll in continuing education courses and food enthusiast programs each year.

In addition to its New York main campus, the college has branch campuses in California, Texas, and Singapore.

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Academic Programs

Baccalaureate Degree
The CIA offers four programs resulting in a bachelor’s degree: Food Business Management, Hospitality Management, Applied Food Studies, and Culinary Science.

The food business management program stresses hands-on instruction in culinary arts or baking and pastry arts in the college’s unparalleled facilities, and includes business-related courses in marketing, communications, finance, languages, world culture, and supervisory leadership. These programs are designed to prepare students with the culinary, management, and conceptual skills they need to excel in today’s foodservice industry.

In the hospitality management program, courses cover finance, marketing, staff management, facilities operations, customer service, food and beverage operations, and the latest culinary technology—all while cultivating a strong foundation in the liberal arts. Students receive advanced hospitality management training with a unique food and beverage focus that puts them in line for top-level positions in the field.

The major in applied food studies provides an in-depth understanding of global food resources, policy and cultures, and their interconnections. Courses such as Anthropology of Food, Food Ecology, Food History, and Social Science complement the college’s foundational hands-on kitchen and bakeshop classes. Together they prepare graduates to impact food-related issues from a chef’s perspective.

The culinary science degree applies a science-based understanding of food and ingredients and how to use science to increase customer satisfaction. Graduates will be prepared to pursue careers in culinary research and development, as creative restaurant chefs, or in food production and delivery at large-scale operations such as the military or healthcare facilities. Courses include Culinary Chemistry, Dynamics of Heat Transfer, Flavor Science and Perception, and Precision Temperature Cooking.

Students may opt to participate in an overseas travel experience in Italy, Spain, France, Latin America, or China or to pursue an academic concentration. Current concentrations are offered in Advanced Concepts in Baking and Pastry; Advanced Wine, Beverage, and Hospitality; “Intrapreneurship;” Asian Cuisine; Italian Cuisine; and Latin Cuisine Studies. Most concentrations include a semester at one of the CIA’s branch campuses.

Associate Degree
The CIA also offers two programs culminating in an associate degree: culinary arts and baking and pastry arts. Culinary arts students take hands-on courses such as meat and seafood fabrication; cuisines of the Americas, Asia, and the Mediterranean; garde manger; modern banquet cookery; wine studies; and table service. Hands-on courses for baking and pastry arts majors include bread baking, individual and production pastries, chocolates and confections, contemporary desserts, and special occasion cakes. Students in both majors study food safety, nutrition, product knowledge, and menu development. The curriculum for both the baccalaureate and associate degrees includes an 18-week externship that provides real-world experience at top restaurants, hotels, and resorts.

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Consulting & Consumer Programs

The consulting division tailors programs for the foodservice industry in research and development, flavor exploration, product testing, training, and certification. It also offers ProChef® Certification, providing professionals with hands-on validation of essential culinary, management, and financial skills at three levels of certification. Food enthusiasts can learn at the three U.S. campuses through a variety of programs including Boot Camps and Saturday Kitchens hands-on classes.

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Thought Leadership

The three U.S. campuses host conferences, retreats, and leadership summits that are shaping the future of hospitality and foodservice. Among them are the groundbreaking Worlds of Flavor®, Menus of Change®, and reThink Food conferences. Many of these multi-day events are co-presented by other leading institutions such as the Harvard School of Public Health; University of California, Davis; Cornell University; and the MIT Media Lab.

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Faculty

More than 150 chefs and instructors from 18 countries make up the college’s prestigious faculty, which represents the broadest base of industry experience of any culinary college. The CIA’s education team also includes Master Chefs certified by the American Culinary Federation and Master Bakers certified by the Retail Bakers of America.

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Facilities

The college’s 170-acre main campus is located less than two hours north of New York City on the east bank of the Hudson River in historic Hyde Park, NY.

Roth Hall, the iconic image of the CIA, houses The Bocuse and American Bounty Restaurants, the Apple Pie Bakery Café, most of the college’s 42 kitchens and bakeshops, a computer lab, the Betty Axleroad Language Lab, the Julius Wile Baccalaureate Center, the Anheuser-Busch Theatre, and administrative offices.

Fronting Roth Hall is Anton Plaza, providing majestic views of the Hudson River on a landscaped 32,500-square-foot terrace featuring a centerpiece fountain flanked by pergolas. Below the plaza is a two-level garage providing 145 parking spaces for restaurant guests.

The Conrad N. Hilton Library holds one of the largest collections of culinary publications in the country, totaling 84,000 volumes and 4,200 videos and DVDs, a computer lab, the Learning Strategies Center, television and photography studios, and the 150-seat Danny Kaye Theatre.

The Colavita Center for Italian Food and Wine is home to the Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici and the college’s Culinary Science Lab.

The J. Willard Marriott Education Center houses the Shunsuke Takaki School of Baking and Pastry and features bakeshops, kitchens, and lecture halls.

The Marriott Pavilion hosts commencement ceremonies, conferences, cultural events, and lectures by luminaries of the food world. It features an 800-seat theater, culinary demonstration kitchen, conference space for 300, and Gastrotypographicalassemblage—a 33-foot-wide, eight-foot-tall, three-dimensional mural that hung at CBS headquarters from the 1960s through 1980s. The 1,650 individual letters spelling out culinary expressions and 65 food-related objects that make up this unique artwork are on display to the general public for the first time ever.

The Student Commons provides a setting conducive to the leisure and recreation necessary in the busy life of the campus community and is home to The Egg, the Student Recreation Center, and Student Affairs offices. The Egg is a student dining venue with indoor and outdoor lounges overlooking the Hudson. The facility houses the kitchen classroom for the Non-Commercial Foodservice and High-Volume Production course and is home to a new “pop-up” concept each semester conceived of and operated by seniors in the Intrapreneurship concentration of the bachelor’s degree management program. The Brewery at the CIA is also located within The Egg and serves as the hands-on lab for the Art and Science of Brewing course. The Student Recreation Center has a gymnasium with two basketball courts, a six-lane indoor pool, an indoor track, two racquetball courts, locker rooms with sauna, and a fitness center, as well as offices for student clubs and organizations.

In addition to four traditional residence halls, CIA students can live in six Adirondack-style lodges or three modern townhouses. The campus features a wireless network accessible from all residence halls, classrooms, and key public spaces.

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Alumni

The Culinary Institute of America is represented around the world by more than 49,000 alumni who hold key positions in the foodservice and hospitality industries. Some prominent graduates:

• Grant Achatz ’94, chef/owner, Alinea, Chicago, IL, 2008 James Beard Outstanding Chef
• Anthony Bourdain ’78, author and TV host, Parts Unknown, CNN
• Anne Burrell ’96, TV host, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Food Network
• Maneet Chauhan ’00, chef/owner of Chauhan Ale & Masala House, Nashville, TN
• Roy Choi ’98, street food pioneer and founder, Kogi BBQ, Los Angeles, CA
• Cat Cora ’95, chef, Kouzzina by Cat Cora, Food Network Iron Chef
• Steve Ells ’90, founder and CEO, Chipotle Mexican Grill
• Duff Goldman ’98, Food Network’s Ace of Cakes
• Johnny Hernandez ’89, executive chef/owner, La Gloria and The Fruteria, San Antonio, TX
• Melissa Kelly ’88, executive chef/proprietor, Primo, Rockland, ME; Orlando, FL; and Tucson, AZ
• Carlton McCoy ’06, Master Sommelier and wine director, The Little Nell, Aspen, CO
• Spike Mendelsohn ’05, chef/owner, Good Stuff Eatery and We, The Pizza, Washington, DC
• Sara Moulton ’77, television personality
• Charlie Palmer ’79, chef/restaurateur, The Charlie Palmer Group
• Barton Seaver ’01, director, Healthy and Sustainable Food Program, Harvard School of Public Health
• Alex Stupak ’00, executive chef, Empellón Cocina and Taqueria and Al Pastor, New York City
• Michael Symon ’90, chef/owner, Lola & Lolita, Cleveland, OH and Food Network Iron Chef
• Roy Yamaguchi ’76, founding chef/owner, Roy’s Restaurants, Honolulu, HI
• Sue Zemanick ’01, executive chef, Gatreau’s, New Orleans, LA

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Accreditation

The Culinary Institute of America is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 267-284-5000. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Official recognition of the CIA’s accreditation status may be found under “Institutions” on the Middle States Commission on Higher Education’s website.

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California Campus Facts

Overview

The California campus of The Culinary Institute of America consists of two facilities: The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, CA and The Culinary Institute of America at Copia in Napa, CA.

Greystone is situated in and around the Greystone Cellars building, built in 1888 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Greystone Cellars was formerly owned by Christian Brothers, who, from 1950 to 1989, used the facility for sparkling wine production. Visitors are drawn to Greystone by its magnificent architecture and position as one of the Napa Valley’s most distinguished structures. The first CIA classes at Greystone were held August 21, 1995.

Copia served as a nonprofit museum and education center dedicated to wine, food, and the arts for seven years, before closing to the public in 2008. Located on the riverfront in downtown Napa, the facility was acquired by the CIA in 2015.

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Courses

The CIA at Greystone offers the same degrees in culinary arts and in baking and pastry arts as the New York campus. The California campus offers certificates in wine and beverage studies and in accelerated culinary arts, as well as continuing education and career development classes, in highly focused formats, for food and wine professionals. Management majors in the CIA’s bachelor’s degree program based at the New York campus spend a semester in California if they pursue concentrations in Advanced Concepts in Baking and Pastry or Advanced Wine, Beverage, and Hospitality.

Career development classes at Greystone emphasize hands-on, practical instruction. Course work covers a broad range of subject areas including cooking, baking, wine, nutrition, writing and communications, food product development, catering, and institutional foodservice and management. Courses are available for all skill levels.

Certified Wine Professional studies are practical for both food and wine professionals and those looking to expand their wine knowledge. Through lectures, discussions, and focused, guided tastings, classes cover everything from the wine of Burgundy to the dynamics of food and wine interaction. Students have unique opportunities to walk Napa Valley vineyards with viticulturists, taste with winemakers in their cellars, and experience the world of wine in a remarkably integrated way.

The Wine and Beverage Graduate Certificate Program provides skills and insights required for advancement toward leadership positions in beverage management in both fine and casual dining, restaurant front-of-house management, wine and beverage retail, wholesale, and more. The 30-week program covers sensory evaluation, flavor dynamics, cellar management, and mixology. Food and beverage pairing, service, and hospitality are also major components of the curriculum.

The Accelerated Culinary Arts Program provides 30 weeks of comprehensive culinary training for those who already hold a hospitality management, food science, or nutrition degree. Lessons on culinary techniques, flavor strategies, wine studies, menu development, and culinary trends complement previous industry education.

Custom classes for corporations, non-profit and trade associations, and government agencies are designed to meet the specific needs of groups seeking to give their employees the skills and knowledge to meet the demands of fast-paced change and the pursuit of excellence in their chosen professions. The CIA draws upon its experienced instructors and a creative, yet disciplined, approach to education when designing programs in a myriad of business-related topics.

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Conferences

The California campus’s Leadership Programs, spearheaded by the CIA Strategic Initiatives Group, help foodservice professionals learn more about the next wave of change. Programs include conferences and leadership retreats at both Greystone and Copia that focus on topics and trends crucial to the foodservice industry, including flavor development, health and wellness, volume foodservice, menu research and development, and collaboration between production agriculture and volume foodservice. Below are just a few of the CIA’s many Leadership Conferences:

• The Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival is widely acknowledged as an influential professional forum on world cuisines and culinary flavor trends.
• Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives, presented by Harvard Medical School Oscher Institute and the CIA, is a semi-annual gathering of physicians, dietitians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, and executive chefs that bridges nutrition science, healthcare, and the culinary arts.
• Worlds of Healthy Flavors is an initiative of the CIA and Harvard School of Public Health—Department of Nutrition. This three-day leadership retreat is designed to help volume foodservice operators expand options for healthy menu choices within their businesses and on behalf of their customers.
• reThink Food is a unique collaboration between the CIA and MIT Media Lab. The conference brings together a diverse group of thought leaders and innovators at the intersection of technology, behavior, design, and food.

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Facilities

The centerpiece of the CIA at Greystone is the 117,000-square-foot, three-story Greystone Cellars building that was transformed to house the Viking Teaching Kitchens, as well as the Spice Islands® Marketplace, Ecolab Theatre, De Baun Theatre, Ghirardelli Chocolate Discovery Center, Bakery Café by illy, Greystone Restaurant, classrooms, and administrative offices. Other facilities at Greystone include the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies, Williams Center for Flavor Discovery, and Ventura Center for Menu Research and Development. The property also features the Cannard Herb Garden, Sutter Home Garden, and a 15-acre vineyard.

Teaching kitchens at Greystone are situated on the top floor, looking out upon vineyards and mountains. Created to facilitate ease of movement and an open exchange of ideas, the kitchens were built without walls and with an eye toward retaining the distinctive architecture of the original space. They reflect a warm ambiance of granite, stone, tile, and wood—a departure from the typical stainless steel commercial kitchen. Cooking classes gather around custom-designed “suites,” which employ a myriad of cooking methods and technologies, from a traditionally-crafted rotisserie to the advanced technology of magnetic heat induction. Baking classes work on 16-foot work tables of flecked granite and solid oak, which provide ideal work surfaces for pastry and dough preparation. A stone hearth oven, convection ovens, and a battery of massive mixers represent a sample of the array of equipment available to the baking student.

The Greystone Restaurant celebrates the passions of the chef, farmer, and winemaker in a menu born of the terroir of the wine country. Chefs draw upon the unique bounty of Northern California to create a dynamic cuisine that shifts with the seasons and the fresh ingredients available from day to day. The dining room features open cooking stations, giving diners full view of the theater of chefs at work. An outdoor dining terrace offers spectacular views of the valley’s vineyards and mountains, while a warming fire greets guests in the cooler months.

Cooking demonstrations are offered to the public on weekends in the De Baun Theatre. As a state-of-the art, 48-seat demonstration kitchen, the De Baun Theatre provides the visitor to Greystone an opportunity to learn cooking techniques oriented toward the home cook, while providing a unique window onto the world of the professional chef.

The Bakery Café by illy provides a real-world retail extension for the students of the Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate at CIA Greystone. Offering freshly baked pastries, breads, salads, sandwiches, and lunch specials, the bakery café also serves coffee, espresso drinks, and teas in a coffee-bar style setting.

The south wing of the Greystone building houses the Spice Islands Marketplace, a dynamic store featuring an impressive array of cooking equipment, cookbooks, uniforms, and other culinary-related items for Greystone’s visiting students and the general public. The Marketplace offers Napa Valley artisan products and unique food ingredients from around the world that complement the course curriculum.

The EcoLab Theatre is a 125-seat amphitheater-style demonstration auditorium that rises dramatically through the first two levels of the building. Designed for cooking demonstrations, lectures, food and wine tastings, and other special events, the auditorium features a custom-designed 22-foot cooking center, large-screen video monitors, and fixed tables for wine and food service at each seat.

The Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies, formerly the historic Still House building, is home to the CIA’s Professional Wine Studies Program. The Center features state-of-the art sensory analysis classrooms with wireless keypad response systems, built-in light boxes, and expectoration stations. The Rudd Center contains a pantry, a 4,000-bottle wine cave and private dining room, and a hospitality terrace overlooking heritage oaks and vineyards. The Rudd Center is also home to weekend wine courses, which are open to the public and cover topics such as food and wine pairing, tasting technique, and regional wine exploration.

The Williams Center for Flavor Discovery, in the former Gate House, is an international center for the study of culinary flavors and the dynamics of flavor development in food and wine. The Williams Center features technology that allows students and food and wine industry professionals to directly interact with chefs, winemakers, food producers, and other experts to evaluate reactions and to produce solutions to a broad range of flavor questions.

Designed to inspire innovative, menu-driven business solutions for the foodservice industry, the Ventura Center for Menu Research and Development encompasses 8,000 square feet of ideation rooms, a theater-style kitchen, and interactive audience response technologies. The Center was built with moveable walls to facilitate a variety of group activities and business goals.

The Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies, Williams Center for Flavor Discovery, and Ventura Center for Menu Research and Development combine to enhance the CIA’s role as a culinary think tank to support innovation in the American foodservice industry.

The Copia facility in downtown Napa totals more than 80,000 square feet. Copia contains a 280-seat theater, a 100-seat demonstration kitchen, a library, retail space, classrooms, exhibition spaces, and an array of outdoor gardens. An outdoor amphitheater seats more than 700. New renovations to the CIA at Copia will create teaching kitchens, a wine-tasting venue, a restaurant, and a museum honoring Chuck Williams, founder of Williams-Sonoma.

Copia is also home to the Food Business School, the CIA’s center for executive education. The program’s online and in-person course offerings enable entrepreneurial leaders to design, deliver, and lead innovations that address the world’s most pressing food challenges—and its greatest business opportunities.

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Texas Campus Facts

Overview

Located in the rich culinary heart of south-central Texas, The Culinary Institute of America, San Antonio officially became the college’s third campus in 2008 after two years under CIA consultation and guidance. In 2007, philanthropist Kit Goldsbury made a ground-breaking pledge of up to $35 million dollars to the CIA—the largest ever in the history of culinary education. The pledge was for scholarships and facilities to support El Sueño, the dream that he and the CIA share to provide a world-class culinary education to young Latinos so they can rise through the ranks of the industry to leadership positions. In recognition of the CIA’s El Sueño initiatives and education programs at San Antonio, The National Restaurant Association honored the college with its 2011 Faces of Diversity Inspiration Award.

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Courses

The CIA San Antonio offers Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degrees in culinary arts and baking and pastry arts, based on the proven curriculum of the associate degree provided at the Hyde Park campus.

Management majors in the CIA’s bachelor’s degree program based at the New York campus spend a semester in San Antonio if they pursue a concentration in Latin Cuisines.

The campus presents professional development classes throughout the year and custom programs that focus on new product, recipe, and curriculum development for those in the foodservice and hospitality industry.

Food enthusiast classes include Culinary Boot Camps, one-day classes, and culinary demonstrations that attract visitors from the San Antonio area as well as nationally and internationally.

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Facilities

The CIA San Antonio is housed on the site of the former Pearl Brewery, along the Riverwalk just north of downtown. An expanded 30,000-square-foot campus that opened in 2010 houses a number of world-class facilities to support the campus’s varied educational programs. The first floor of the building features three teaching kitchens: two skills kitchens designed to support the CIA’s core curriculum classes and a one-of-a-kind Latin Kitchen.

The Latin Kitchen’s combination of state-of-the-art and traditional cooking equipment both indoors and outdoors makes it a premier culinary facility for teaching the cooking techniques of Mexico and Latin America. Outside, the facility showcases a wood-fired clay comal for tortillas, and a parrilla grill and barbacoa pit for traditional roasting techniques. Inside, the kitchen captures the heritage of Latin America with Talavera tile walls, a wood-fired oven, a Latin Foods demonstration theater, and six cooking suites.

The second floor features a professional bakeshop, classrooms, and an additional demonstration theater and conference space that can accommodate up to 350 people. The Dunkin’ Donuts Bakeshop enables the CIA to teach about traditional Latin American baked goods, still unfamiliar to many in North America.

Nao Latin Gastro Bar is both a public restaurant and CIA classroom dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and celebration of the authentic cuisines, cultures, and bounty of Latin America. The menu features modern takes on iconic dishes of Latin America, along with Latin American wines, beers, and specialty cocktails.

The CIA Bakery Café is a pop-up for six weeks each spring. The casual restaurant offers fine espresso, coffee, and tea along with a wide array of breakfast pastries, artisan breads, and desserts. The café also serves light lunch selections including soups, salads, hot and cold sandwiches, savory pastries, and flatbreads, as well as chilled agua frescas, soft drinks, beer, and wine.

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Research

The CIA San Antonio is also home to the Center for Foods of the Americas (CFA). A research arm of the college, the CFA’s chefs and culinary experts conduct original research in Mexico and throughout Latin America. They document traditional cooking methods then return to teach about them. Without such research, many of these techniques would be lost over time. Through the CFA, The Culinary Institute of America is actively working to preserve and promote this culinary heritage.

CIA Singapore Facts

Overview

Offering the proven curriculum provided at its United States campuses, the CIA began offering its bachelor’s degree program in Singapore in 2011. The CIA’s first international location opened under the umbrella of the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and in collaboration with Temasek Polytechnic, with which it shares a campus.

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Courses

The bachelor’s degree studies at the CIA Singapore build students’ command of global product knowledge and professional skills, along with in-depth understanding of the culinary and catering professions. The courses also cover advanced areas of study such as revenue management and marketing for the foodservice and hospitality industry. Culinary and service skills are honed through hands-on learning and capstone projects.

The program is available to graduates of polytechnic institutions in Hospitality & Tourism Management, Leisure & Resort Management, or Culinary & Catering Management, as well as those with other hospitality, tourism, and culinary diplomas.

Management majors in the CIA’s bachelor’s degree program based at the New York campus spend a semester in Singapore if they pursue a concentration in Asian Cuisines.

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Facilities

The CIA Singapore has 30,000 square feet of newly constructed classrooms, state-of-the-art kitchens, and a public restaurant.

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