Culinary Institute of America

Took a Vegetarian cooking class, which was a gift from my in-​laws. I would have never paid for this. Large group of people, not too much instruction. I was stuck in a group that made a soup (and definitely not a complex soup). The worst part was this soup recipe included TUNA! That’s not vegetarian…
I was bored before the day was over. When we shared a meal, the food was not good, many people had oversalted, so I hardly ate. It showed lack of oversight on the instructor’s part. I would not recommend this.

Took the holiday feast cooking class for $ 250 and was thoroughly disappointed. It was supposed to be from 9 – 2, but in fact was 10 – 12:30. There were 16 people divided into 4 stations with only one instructor unable to give us all feedback. Essentially we were given a recipe and told to cook. We weren’t taught any technique and had almost zero supervision. The list of stuff we were told we would learn to cook was false advertisement because you end up working on only 1 – 3 dishes at most and have no idea what is going on at other stations. If you are looking for a team building activity there are cheaper ways to find it but if you actually want professional culinary instruction, this is no the place I’d waste your time or money on. The only positive was that at the end we all got to eat each others food.

Attended a conference titled Latin Flavors, American Kitchens– Actually the 4^th one I have been to — This review is more about the CIA than the event that brought me there. The campus is very modern, and well air-​conditioned, which in San Antonio is very important. It’s a bummer there is no Campus store yet. Their coffee shop sells a few souvenirs, but its slim pickens. You would think they could come up with some clever things to say on Tee shirts being that it’s a Culinary School dedicated the study of the Foods of Latin America. I love this campus, and hope to come back many more times.

A pretty unfortunate experience. Had higher expectations based upon CIA’s reputation in New Hyde Park NY. We made a reservation way in advance for a group of 10. On the plus side, the empanada for starters was flavorful. They planned a price fixe dinner with two entrees, one of which was supposed to be a braised beef. Turns out that they did not like what their supplier had sent them, so they substituted a broiled strip steak, which was the choice of half of our party. They were all tough, chewy, and the student chef could not get the doneness correct for several of us. One of us had to send the steak back twice, and it was still not right… they did the right thing and prepared another steak that was just ok. Not sure what the problem was with overseeing the student chef. Maybe just a bad night, but the place was far from crowded. Not sure if I’d go out of my way for a second visit.

Sad to hear this place is closing next week; while the coffee was ok, the homemade pastries were fantastic! Loved the savory scones and will miss them sorely…

I love that the CIA is a part of Pearl. It’s always fun to come down and watch the students hone their skills through the windows. That’s not creepy at all, is it? I mean isn’t that why they have floor to ceiling windows? Anyway, if you ever see a short Asian gal noshing on a delectable alfajore from the CIA bakery, nose pressed to the glass, wishing she could be on the other side, that’s probably me. Don’t be afraid to say hello and ogle alongside me.

Took a cooking class here Saturday and though not as hectic as Hell’s Kitchen was certainly challenging enough to teach me a few things. Will probably do another next year.

Honestly the best education a aspiring chef can get… bar none.

Wow! I’d like to welcome the CIA to SA!
I went there today for the grand opening celebration, and this place is simply amazing. Amazing. AMAZING! Did I say that it was amazing?! I can’t believe that we’ve gone this long as a city without this place. San Antonio LOVES to eat, and they’ve moved into the right place. The master chefs were out showing off their food– really awesome stuff. They showed off their skills, and lemme tell ya– these guys have skills. After reading some of the other reviews though, I’m a bit disappointed that we don’t have a gift shop/​campus store. We do have that Mexican Cookware shop in the same complex, so that more than makes up for their lacking a store.
The chefs here are absolute professionals. I made sure I came loaded with a bunch of my culinary questions, and they were on the ball knowing way more than I would have expected. They helped my cooking tremendously, and I haven’t even attended a single class.
Oh yeah, this place is amazing.

While I’m a big fan of the CIA, I was super bummed to find out there wasn’t a campus store to browse and purchase items from. Since this location focuses on latin cuisine, you’d think they’d allow you to purchase specialty items and ingredients that you can use and experiment with at home. If there is one — i’m even more bummed we missed it. We walked around the campus, asked locals in the area and no one thought they had one so I’m pretty sure this was the case.
Unlike the St. Helena CIA, tastings and restaurants were also not on premise.

As a professional food writer, I covered the first Latin American cuisine symposium at the new CIA San Antonio branch last October. The CIA brand is the most esteemed cooking school in America – as such, this event commanded the top names in Latin American cuisine not just around America (Maricel Presilla [Zafra, Cucharamama], Rick Bayless [Topolobampo], Roberto Santibanez [Truly Mexican]), but also around the world (Pedro Miguel Schiaffino [Malabar]). Of course, its regular staff members are legends in their own right, such as Iliana de la Vega, the Alice Waters of Oaxacan cuisine.
The school was created to examine and elevate Latin cuisines in the United States. If you want to know about the next big thing in this next big thing of cuisines, this is the place to visit or call. The campus, in San Antonio’s revitalized Pearl Brewery, is gorgeous, complete with quaint student restaurant Texas Farm to Table.