The Culinary Institute of America

The CIA (New York not Washington, DC) is delicious, savory, mouthwatering, delectable, heavenly, luscious, scrumptious, toothsome, yummy, etc. It took a thesaurus of words to describe the luncheon we enjoyed after our tour of the CIA. Founded in 1946, it is dedicated to providing the world with outstanding chefs. The school has two sections, culinary arts and baking and pastry. Students specialize in one or the other. Then they go on to restaurants and hotels or get further degrees in the field.



Some of us just could not wait for the tour or the lunch. We had to try something now and the Apple Pie Bakery just fit the bill.



Our tour took us in front of large windows of demonstration kitchens that let us see students in action and past lecture halls where note taking alternated with wine tastings. The class that appealed most was chocolate because the students had to take home their creations at the end of the day.




Walking the halls of the CIA caused us to build up quite an appetite. This was sated at Catrina de Medici where we started with crepes with spinach and ricotta followed by pork loin for Jerry and salmon topped with tomato bruschette for Anna Lee. Our Torta di Cioccolato con Panna Montata was a plate-licking flourless chocolate cake

With satisfied palates, we then raided the gift store buying cookbooks and utensils. I have to be the only person who bought a thesaurus at the CIA, but what a storehouse of goodies for me.