Lunch at Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant, Napa
Posted on Sep 12, 2009 under Archives | No Comment
Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant
In addition to outstanding wines, pastoral charm and lush green vine-covered rolling hills, California’s wine country is home to Yountville, the most celebrated restaurant town in the world. The area, a 40-minute drive from the Russian River Valley, boasts more Michelin stars per capita than any place in America. On the way to Yountville, I stopped by the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant (2555 Main Street, www.ciachef.com) for a front row seat to watch CIA students create culinary delights. Formerly the Christian Brothers Greystone Winery, the Culinary Institute of America cooking school, shop and restaurant are housed in this monumental 1889 Gothic stone structure.
The restaurant serves lunch and dinner on the patio and inside.
Entrance to restaurant
The kitchen is open enabling guests to watch chefs and students prepare meals.
open kitchen
After I talked to a few of the servers (all CIA students), the chef sent out some nice appetizers. The first was a lovely burrata with creamy fresh mozzarella, local heirloom tomatoes and an olive relish.
Burrata appetizer, number 1
Next the chef sent out a tasty spinach and ricotta gnocchi with baby zucchini, squash, romano beans in a yellow tomato jus.
spinach and ricotta gnocchi
Then came my main dish, a beautifully cooked Alaskan Wild Coho Salmon with Yukon gold potato puree, cucumber ribbons, pickled onions, curried heirloom potato chips in a dill puree. Delicious. The salmon skin was extra crispy.
Alaskan Wild Coho Salmon
After thanking the staff and chefs for a lovely meal, I wandered over to the CIA shop. I spent a while looking at all the marvelous cooking tools and searching for gifts to take back home. Greystone is a great place to visit for lunch or dinner on a break from winetasting.
Greystone store