The Conservatory at CIA Greystone

Awesome surprise planned by my husband for us! Very fun experience although the food, in my opinion, did not warrant the $ 85 pp prix fixe price tag.
Amuse — Lightly smoked elk loin carpaccio, fried capers, arugula pesto. This tasted… fishy? I’m not sure what the menu was going for here, but none of us enjoyed this very much and it did little to excite us for the rest of the meal.
First Course — Farm Frisee & lettuce salad, crumbled homemade chevre, roasted beats, hakurei turnips, watermelon radish & candied walnuts. wild flower honey balsamic vinaigrette. Definitely very fresh, with each item well prepared. In particular, the chevre was extremely soft and the candied walnuts had a lovely sweet crunch. However, I barely tasted the vinaigrette, so overall the salad did not have that much flavor.
Second course — Wolfe Ranch Quail, Lee & Homegrown Oyster Mushroom Tortellini lemon-​sage butter, sauteed Russian kale, crisply leek roots. This was absolutely delicious… so juicy and flavorful that each bite was bursting with savoriness.
Third course — Grilled local longline swordfish mignon, cauliflower purée, roasted fennel, mustard green — carrot salad, garlic chive-​fennel oil. Beautifully grilled with enjoyable sides.
Main Course — Seared five dot ranch beef strip loin, celeriac purée, sauteed romanesco with pancetta & bread crumbs, cabernet-​pomegranate sauce. Worst disappointment of the night. My cut ended up being thicker on one end than the other, and although the presented thicker side showed a beautiful medium rare, the other side was definitively well done. Overall the meat was very tough and after a bite I stopped eating.
Tisane — Toasted homegrown emmer wheat & campus citrus. I don’t know what happened here. I understand palate cleansers, and I love a nice barley tea, but this tea tasted… for lack of a better word. blegh.
Dessert — Locally Foraged Persimmon Trio, persimmon pavlova, persimmon-​cardamom ice cream, persimmon panna cotta. Exquisite. As a persimmon lover, I thoroughly enjoyed the different takes on persimmons. The pavlova was wonderfully airy and light, the panna cotta’s different layers melded perfectly together, and the ice cream tinged with cardamom was simply lovely.
Now service… Our waiters were prompt and courteous, but our main server spoke at a volume such that none of us could actually hear him. Also, even though there was a teacher overseeing the operation, he did not notice this faulty service and never checked on our service. As a labeled high class establishment, that would be very un-​high class service.
The menu was definitely fun and imaginative, but a lot of it didn’t work out very well and service fell short. For $ 85 per person, there are many other options in Napa.

Always a fantastic experience at the conservatory! The pastry chef Kimmie made a popcorn dessert that was mind-​blowing. Great service and Chef Larry is always a pleasure to see and share stories with.

Just back from a wonderful weekend in California and wanted to share great news about the Conservatory Restaurant at GREYSTONE, CIA. A wonderful setting with fireplace and historic buildings… Exciting dishes in a prefix menu that came in perfect sized servings with great table side explanations by passionate young chefs in training! the wine pairings were great compliments to the work of the kitchen as well. The menu was an eclectic mix of flavors that matched the early spring weather in the air… We were a table of 7 that could not have been treated with more care, respect and appreciation… A must do on every trip to the Napa Valley … the chance to spend a meal with these young students is and educational and energizing part of the Napa experience…

I was looking forward to a great meal and service but received neither. My group consisted of six and we were seated at a nice table in front of the fireplace, however do to the close proximity to the front door most of the night we either had a cold draft blowing on us every time a new customer entered or someones rear end facing the end of our table as they waited to be seated.
The chairs look cool made out of wine barrel’s but they are not to high dining standards. Hard, very hard.
We all choose the 85 dollar meal with the 35 dollar wine pairing. All the selections were good and paired nicely.
Most of the food was presented well, but not very interesting. Most all of the hot food arrived cold and very disappointing. Not worth anywhere near 85.00 It all reminded me of a hors de voir from Costco.
Dessert was excellent.
Service– this was a big disappointment it was quick and on time but lacked any real knowledge and when questions were asked the waitress always responded «I will check that for you» and then never responded. Many mumbled… most all of the wine service was spilled, spilled on the table, poured over the sides of our glasses, poured on our clothes, it was everywhere. Made me think that they never instructed the waitress how to pour properly. All questions about the wine came with the standard line «I will check on that» then no response…
When you make the reservation the conservatory asked if there is anyone who has a birthday, they ask this again when entering the restaurant and again by the waitress, we answered yes, all three times… then nothing was ever happens LOL
My overall impression is that there isn’t much learning going on in this venue, there doesn’t seem to be a floor manager overseeing the service and the chef who comes out once in a while seems disconnected. I get the feeling it’s a easy gig where he and his staff are allowed to make lots of mistakes and life goes on. I understand this is a learning environment and mistakes can be made, but this service appears to have no oversight. Any comments our questions or suggestions go into a black hole and the machine continues to run.
a VERY disappointing meal and experience. I won’t waste anymore words on this experience

I had the wonderful experience of dining at this incredible restaurant.
It was a surprise for my birthday, and the restaurant stopped at nothing to wish me the best. My best friend and I dined with two of our closest friends. The STUDENT Maitre D sat us at a table near the fire place and explained the concept of the restaurant. My menu was branded with «Happy Birthday,» truly the perfect touch. The STUDENT bartender created two fascinating cocktails, and one mock-​tail. We had one of each. The French 75, my best friends most favorite cocktail, was quite the hit all around. The chilled cocktail, «Fernet About It» was deliciously warm on the palate, with notes of rosemary, and pine. Our waiter was courteous in the explanation of the sequence of our evening. The STUDENT sommelier approached the table, and sold us the STUDENT written wine pairings! At that point, we were already very impressed, and food had yet touched the table.
After finishing our cocktails, the Somm, Yusuke, poured our sparkling wine; WHILE explaining it. AT THE SAME TIME! I almost never find this from certified Somms at accredited places. As he finished the last glass, the Amuse Bouche arrived and the student explained each, individual component, it’s relation to the concept of the restaurant, and the pride of the College. Almost every product that rotates through the kitchen, is farmed less than 100 yards away from the restaurant. We were amazed to hear that these students spend every day working in the farms in the morning, then hammering out the menu items through research and development, to create a menu; every single week. True hard working professionals.
The first course was a carrot three way. Titled, «Just Dug» we heard stories of the specific student that dug the carrots from the earth. The runner pointed him out in the easily visible kitchen. This course was memorable to say the least. The warm soup shooter packed such a complexity of flavors. The Rainbow Carrot Chips, that were intended for the in-​house fresh goat cheese, were incredibly tasty on their own. That cheese, however, I could take home in pounds.
The wine pairing was not as memorable. Ladera Sauvignon Blanc. Good, but didn’t blow me away.
As one course was cleared, new silver was placed on the table, wines poured, and next course was on the table within 1 minute. The service was seamless; elegant, like a swan.
Second Course was my most favorite of the evening. Seared Quinault River Steelhead Trout. It was paired with the Massican, «Annia,» found here, in Napa. The wilted swisschard, found perched atop the preserved Tomato-​Sorrel Sauce, was incredibly flavorful, even for chard. Nothing compares to the fish. It was seared nearing perfection, which assisted in the glorious crunch of the crispy skin in my mouth. The pairing was exceptional.
When I originally read, «Asian Egg Noodle & Braised Short Rib,» I was perplexed. What does «Asian» mean? Does that encompass Nepalese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian, Thai, or Sri Lankan? My only qualm of the evening lies there. Despite its undefined origins and concept, I was impressed by the flavor of the beef (which is heralded to be farmed only a few hours away), and the entire culturally blended dish. We had the option of choosing a Saintsbury Pinot Noir, or a Sinskey Abraxas, an Alsatian blended wine; both from Carneros. We chose both. I could not decide which one I enjoyed more. Bravo Somm team, on that pairing.
Right in the middle of a exemplary transition, we had yet another surprise. My birth year wine was offered in honor of my birthday. The Del Dotto Cabernet Sauvignon served as the perfect pairing for the Pan Roasted Squab. Truly an artistic plate. The braised leeks were tasteful. I’ve never had fava leaves, that was pretty neat. But nothing came close to the rutabaga ‘pomme fondant’. I had never tasted a rutabaga that flavorful. Using such a unique, classical technique!
Yet, another soigné transition.
With that, the bartender, Amelia, arrived with our Tisane. A Palate Cleansing Course in the form of steaming hot liquid. The chef ventures around the many herb gardens around the campus early in the morning, foraging for different aromatic components. Our Tisane consisted of «Campus Oroblanco Grapefruit, Lemon Verbena, & Wild Flower Honey.» In just a two ounces, we were enthralled by a few, ultra-​local ingredients.
*Insert Flawless Transition Here*
Dessert Course is a course that is make it or break it. We were impressed by the beauty of this plate. incredible flavors of beet, apple, and celeriac. CELERIAC! In dessert! Great Pairing.
In the end, we were so thrilled to have the opportunity to dine here. As a take away, we got campus foraged Persimmon & Squash Muffins for the next morning.
To be apart of an experience where every aspect of that night was student ran, under the guidance of one Chef, Larry Forgione, at the best culinary school in the world; wow.
We were simply impressed. ⁵⁄₅ Money Well Spent.

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 purée 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

Thank you Chef Forgione and CIA students for a perfect birthday dinner! The Conservatory dining room is rich and warm… a hidden gem. When we were seated, we were handed the evenings menu, at the top of mine was printed «Happy Birthday Micheline» what a special thought. My boyfriend and I were swept away into a magical culinary world, each bite «wowing» us and surpassing our expectations. This is a farm to table restaurant and the culinary students plant and tend to and harvest all veggies/​salads that go onto the plates. We started with an Amuse Bouche of smoked elk loin carpaccio. The first course was a farm salad with homemade chevre and roasted beets and many other perfect components all drizzled with a wildflower honey balsamic vinaigrette. The second course was a quail, leek and homegrown oyster mushroom tortellini in a lemon sage butter, yes I want a swimming pool full of that sauce. The third course was a grilled local swordfish mignon with cauliflower purée, roasted fennel, carrot salad and garlic chive fennel oil. Hands-​down it was the best bite of swordfish I have ever had in my life. Although my boyfriend does not like fish… he cleared his plate faster than I did! The main course was a seared beef strip loin and a Cabernet pomegranate sauce. It was so deep and rich and surprising. We were then served a «tisane»…an herbal infusion of toasted homegrown wheat and citrus… it smelled like freshly milled grain, but had a surprisingly strong taste of chocolate and citrus. If you think we were thoroughly stuffed by this point, you would be right, but dessert was on its way. It was a trio of persimmons; a persimmon Pavlova, a Persimmon-​Cardamom ice cream, and persimmon panna cotta. They had lovingly handwritten «Happy Birthday» in dark chocolate on my plate. I am a chocolate freak… and I was thinking am I going to be left hanging because I didn’t have a chocolate dessert? But I realized that the meal was so perfect that I would be fine without it. Then… Surprise…Chef Forgione himself brought a special birthday trio to the table. A sublime lemon coconut white chocolate truffle, a decadent macaron with chocolate ganache, and… ta-da…a perfect dark chocolate truffle. WOW. My boyfriend chose to do the wine pairing with the food last night. He was in the wine industry in Sonoma Valley for many years. He said that they did an absolutely perfect job. I had the pleasure of knowing The Forgione family in New York many, many years ago. Our children were friends back in the day. I also had the pleasure of dining at many of Chef Forgione’s restaurants over the years. He is a true gentleman and an artist. His students are blessed to be learning under one of THE greatest American Chefs. Thank you again Chef Forgione and CIA students for a most memorable birthday.

This was a wonderful experience while attending the NVFF. Great service, great food. Definitely check this out!

My friend and I had a delicious dinner here! The menu changes weekly, so you have to be «ok» with having no choice. We needed to drive home after dinner, so we didn’t choose the pairing, but we regretted that later when we saw how fun the service of wine and beer was for other tables.
Each meal got better and better, and the staff was young and excited and energetic. We loved that one of the people preparing the cocktails looked so happy whenever anyone ordered a cocktail. I had to get one, and it was delicious.
Definitely worth a visit if you are near the CIA in the Napa Valley.

I visited this place in Nov 2014. I was able to get a table during my napa valley visit. I typically don’t stay in the valley, I would stay at Middletown or elsewhere. Anyway that’s a different story
Conservatory was a mysterious restaurant to me. I’ve visited CIA numerous time, and I’ve been hearing about this place for so long. This restaurant only has 1 menu, the tasting menu. I could categorize it as same level as a Michelin 1star restaurant. The level of service and food presentation is impressive.
The restaurant is not located inside the CIA. It’s located adjacent to the front driveway entrance, to the parking lot on the left. We were quickly seated upon entering the restaurant. «tonight’s menu» were on the table for our reference. We were given a wine menu in case we want to. We had a lot of wine that day so we skipped the wine pairing.
The server asked if we want still or sparkling water. Fun fact, inside CIA they have set up sparkling water on tab, you can find one next to the illy’s café. Sparkling water in this place is not one of those «Pellegrino», just FYI.
Our waitress was very on point and attentive through out the dinner session, we really appreciate the background of individual dishes. From in-​house cured meat to farm-​to-​table dishes. The most impressive dish was the Pot-​Au-​Feu, it’s a classic french chicken dish which utilize the whole chicken. It’s kind of a chicken stew with both red meat and dark meat, served with chicken stock and lots of veges. The veges in this dish were farm fresh, right across the street where the students planted and harvested. CIA has a space in the vineyard across the street which they grow ingredients.

We dined here in May after spending some fun good time in Yountville and visiting Dean&Deluca. After making reservations and wanting to visit CIA and their student run dining «adventures» we arrived at the Greystone. Very nice architecture, just like the rest of campus, and quaint dining room. Let’s just say the experience could’ve been better. All of the dishes were plated nicely and the menu did have thought put into it, but when our server told us that this was the BA program, I thought we’d be served by those who’d had three years of experience under their belt by now. When we got to our main course or «meat plate» it was a braised beef of some sort so you’d expect nice buttery and soft chunk of beef. I had a dry burnt end and when I let my server know, he did apologize, but it was half-​hearted and he didn’t offer a solution or a way to change it for me, so I guess after all the small bites I couldn’t have a main course neither? Also for the price, you’d think you were at a fine dining establishment; but no, this is the school’s «test» restaurant, but if that were the case, then why is it less food, and a lesser experience? That’s what let up to the two stars. :(

The menu here changes on a weekly basis because it is a farm to table restaurant.
The food here is all cooked by students from the NY CIA Institute (the ones that get admitted to the St. Helena gets regulated to the back at another restaurant.) It is a pri-​fix seven course meal that always includes a starter, salad, bread pasta, meat, seafood dish as well as dessert, if you don’t like any of the courses that are being served tonight, you can asked for a substitution. (I’ve found out that pretty much at these places you eat what they serve you and it’s usually pretty good.)
Be prepare to spend a bit of time there as it takes time to serve each course and the student will explain each course to you as you are being served. It’s quite an expensive way to finance these students to become professional chefs but this does give them line cook experience and they are being fired «live bullets» rather then just being critiqued by the instructor. A chef is there to oversee the students cooking and probably runs the line. The pri-​fix menu does offer certainty to what the students have to prepare for and I’ve been there a few times and it has always been a nice meal.

Had my 50^th birthday dinner here. The staff was very friendly, they were all students of the academy. The meatball and poached egg starter was very good, I had the braised pork cheeks and kale with a risotto cake for the main course. The pork cheeks were fantastic. We also had a couple deserts and some wine! I would go back any time!

The culinary students at the CIA cook in an on-​site restaurant periodically.
I would NOT miss this if I were in Napa.
Our dishes were hearty and sophisticated, but without pretension.
Right down to the ambiance and simultaneous service — everything was top-​notch and I really felt like I was in a 5-​star restaurant. Hard to believe these dishes were from 20 year-​old kids, for the most part!
My Caesar salad was delicious — a little chinsy with only one anchovy on top but that’s forgivable. I ordered quail that was breaded and fried — which was an unpleasant surprise but it was quite delicious nevertheless.
Dessert was a panna cotta — which was meh — not extraordinary.
My friends had a butternut squash soup with duck confit and steak atop a massive onion ring — they were very very happy.
All in all — I would go back any time. Just delightful.

Our menu certainly didn’t meet our expectations – there were quite a few mistakes and a couple of dishes were a little confusing and unbalanced, however the creativity and atmosphere created a great experience. The general consensus of my group was that the price did not match the food, but we are all happy to support the students. Also – given that this is for the students, it would be nice to have some way of providing feedback other than a Unilocal review.
Would love to come again to see what the next batch of students can cook up.

Perhaps the highlight of my Napa trip (which was great across the board).
(While i hate the term ‘foodie’, I am often labeled one — having lived in NYC and Chicago and eaten at way too many great restaurants — I have the gut to prove it).
First, understand and appreciate what you’re getting into. These are young students (in their 20s) who are really passionate and good at what they’re learning. You have to expect some mistakes and nervousness. If you do, it will add to the experience.
The service was charming. Extremely attentive. Yes, they would goof on something now and then, but it wasn’t because they were slacking. I actually found their goofs to add to the experience. It made it more genuine.
The food was TERRIFIC. Nothing about it — from start to finish — was amateur. Everything about it said professional, seasoned, competition-​level chefs (clearly a testament to the instructors).
One course was a fish entrée. All four at our table were raving about it. We told our waiter how happy we were. Within minutes, two young women chefs behind the dish were at our table thanking us. The pride on their faces was worth a million bucks.

This is a very special place — once a mansion that was donated to the Christian Brothers and they made wine first for them selves and then also for the public to help support them and keep the mansion going for there service to God and kicking my butt in high school. And God blessed us all with their wonderful wines — I was there any times in the 1960s (I’m older than dirt).
Now decades later it is well kept as the Culinary Institute of America (CIA — Very funny) and the students and faculty run the restaurant as a training ground and experience builder. And what a great experience it is to dine there !!! The kitchens are several open cooking stations and bars where you can watch it all being made. The service and food is extremely good and ambiance superb. This is a favorite of the family and also business associates. It’s a bit of a drive from the East Bay Area but well worth it (about an hour).
This place to me is very special and I’m sure you will treasure it too — Enjoy !!!

My dinner experience here at the Conservatory has vastly exceeded my expectation. Not to be confused with the Wine Spectator Greystone restaurant in the main building, this new addition to the academy offers a very different experience. The prix fixe menu is strictly farm-​to-​table. The 6 course dinner features only seasonal ingredients that were farmed and harvested by the student chefs themselves.
Conservatory dining room is quite intimate. There were no bar area and only a handful of tables. The restaurant only open for weekend dinners therefore reservation is a must. Dinner was a fine dining affair as opposite to the upscale casual setting at the Wine Spectator. Service was good and sincere although some of the student servers still need to review their table setting guide.
Everything I have had that night was outstanding. Every dish was well put together and the wine pairing worked wonderfully. With a modest $ 65 price tag, dinner here is really a steal. I bet a lot of people would be more than happy to pay 2 or 3 times more for a meal of this quality. Look for a good place to celebrate your next special occasion that wouldn’t break your bank? You are looking at the right place.

I was brought here as a surprise, so I was clueless. I did see Colonel Mustard… with a knife… eating the beef short ribs.
Oh but what a surprise it was. The first item a duck prosciutto and fig crostini had the sweetness and saltiness like the «Fleur De Sel» prosciutto and fig spread sandwich I used to get in San Francisco.
Being allergic to shellfish, I asked for an alternative to the Drake’s Bay Oysters. To my surprise, they made a chowder with chanterelle mushrooms, which took me back almost 20 years, to Morro Bay, which was the last time I ate clam chowder. Being mildly allergic to shellfish this was not a traumatic experience but one I have always remembered. Clam chowder in a bread bowl… The mushrooms were the perfect substitute and the chowder nice and light.
Next was a wilted kale leaf that was wrapped around Arborio rice, truffle and risotto, on top of butternut squash sauce was very delicate in flavor. My favorite part was the trout. The trout was very tender and moist, the stewed tomatoes made for nice contrast. Finally, the beef short ribs. A little bit of fat to keep the beef moist, a bit of charring to bring out the flavor.
I found all of the dishes were very well balanced, no one flavor overpowering anything else. The portions were good, I was quite full after eating everything but was not put into a food coma and requiring any coffee.
The wait staff was very prompt and explained everything on the menu and did go back to the kitchen to find my Oyster alternative.
Currently only open for dinners Fridays and Saturdays. Highly recommended.

It was a bit of a coincidence that while I was at Class Act in Maui a couple of weeks ago, I had mentioned that I wish Greystone would offer something with the same concept where culinary students who are almost graduating would cook and serve multi course meals as I find that the meals and service tend to be top notch that can rival high end restaurants. So what a pleasant surprise when I ran across the Conservatory on OpenTable. It is a relatively new program and new concept that is true farm to table where they take it even one step further than Class Act and they even plant and farm many of the vegetables and herbs used in the dishes. Anything not from their own farms is from local farms and meats and fishes from local purveyors.
Food: Since the menu changes weekly, I will not go into detail of each dish since it varies. The standout dish for me was the California Arborio Rice with Black Truffles and Spiced Apple Risotto wrapped in Tuscan kale over a butternut squash. Two items I thought could be better is the oyster chowder in the oyster trio which was a bit too salty for me and the beef short ribs which lacked consistency as my piece was a bit overcooked making the ends too dried.
Cost: For $ 65, you get a 6 course prix fixe dinner, $ 105 per person with wine pairings. Depending on how you look at it, it may seem pricey but for the quality that you are getting, it can also be a deal. Not something for a weekly dinner but great for a special occasion.
Service: As expected, it is top notch service and since they have the students from their wine, beverage, and hospitality program serving the dining room, they are very knowledgeable in regards to the wine pairings and how it complements the food.
Overall: I absolutely love the farm to table concept and this program and would do it again in a heartbeat especially since the varying menu will offer a completely different experience each time.