Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
every couple of months, designed around
intriguing themes such as Aphrodisiac
Cooking, Nutritional Cooking, or Barbecue
Around the World; they're well worth plan-
ning a vacation around.
The cooking classes include a tour
behind the scenes of the resort's kitchens,
a fascinating experience if you've never
seen what it takes to service three restau-
rants plus room service for a 444-room
resort. The class then produces its own
four-course luncheon, working with chef
Gras and his team. The second day builds
on techniques taught the day before, and
students prepare another, even more
elaborate, gourmet meal. Gras's attention
to seasonal flavors—not to mention sea-
sonings—can be illuminating.
The course accepts both novice and
experienced cooks; class sizes are limited
to allow for personalized instruction. You
can book a slot in the Cooking School even
if you aren't staying at the Ritz Carlton,
though packages that bundle accommo-
dations and classes are a surprisingly good
deal. Between the salty sea air on the
beach and the salt tastings in the restau-
rant, you may never think of salt in the
same way again.
(
Jacksonville (43 miles/69km).
L
$$$
Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island,
4750 Amelia Island Pkwy., Amelia Island,
FL (
&
800/241-3333
or 904/277-1100;
www.ritzcarlton.com).
Cooking Schools for Travelers
103
CIA Boot Camps
Going Undercover with the Other CIA
Hyde Park, New York
With such culinary luminaries as Charlie
Palmer, Todd English, Larry Forgione, Alfred
Portale, and Anthony Bourdain among its
alumni, the Culinary Institute of America is
rightly proud of its rigorous degree pro-
gram. You have to be dead serious about a
food career before enrolling here. But even
if cooking is just an avocational passion for
you, these regularly scheduled intensive
multiday workshops will kick your kitchen
skills up a notch.
CIA's main campus in Hyde Park, New
York, is a real campus, a lovely set of red-
brick academic buildings and dorms on a
green bluff above the Hudson River. Not
that you'll see much of that when you're in
boot camp—class begins at 7am and goes
full-out until you've plated your final dish at
4pm. A variety of 1-day courses take place
on Saturdays in the state-of-the-art CIA
teaching kitchens. While they're great teas-
ers, the real action occurs weekdays in the
4- and 5-day boot camps. The name's no
accident—chef-instructors push the stu-
dents to master complicated Escoffier-level
techniques. It may not be
Hell's Kitchen,
but
there's no mollycoddling—expect a tongue-
lashing if your soufflé falls or your sauce
separates. Your fellow students will most
likely be highly accomplished amateurs (who
else devotes an entire week to a grueling
cooking course?), so you'll bypass the basics
and get right into sophisticated technique.
Course offerings include specialized boot
camps on baking, pastry-making, Italian cui-
sine, French cuisine, Asian cuisine, bistro
recipes, healthy cooking, and the Gourmet
Meals in Minutes workshop. Students wear
chef's whites throughout the class and, by
the end, feel they've earned them.
The CIA runs similar courses on its other
campuses as well, for those who can't get
up to Hyde Park—there are a number of
single-day classes in New York City's Astor
Center (23 E. 4th St., second floor) and at
Napa Valley's Greystone campus (2555
