Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Love List: Culinary Institute of America St. Helena

Hey lovelies! Ready for another amazing venue?

Every once in a while you have the honor of being able to work with one of your dear friends for one of the most important days in their lives. September 14th was one of those days for me. My lovely friend Tiffany married her long-time love Mike in the beautifully quaint town of St. Helena. And when I say quaint I mean two lane, tree lined streets, mom & pop boutiques, vineyards everywhere you look and a general small town feel. It's one of my happy places. You can't get much more picturesque than this place.

Mike & Tiffany's venue was the Culinary Institute of America or otherwise known as the CIA. The moment I saw this place I fell in love. Imagine a castle-like building rising out of the hills of wine country, surrounded by views of vineyards and those famous California hills strewn with oak trees. And there you have the CIA. The original building was a co-op winery built in the 1880's and since has been transformed to provide culinary education, from dining to demonstrations, professional courses and of course, hosting events.


The experience with the venue was over-the-top from the beginning. Our catering manager, Samantha Chavez was knowledgeable, gracious and professional. Mike & Tiffany came in to their menu tasting session with some basic ideas (likes, dislikes, etc.) and with that their culinary team made one of the best and most personalized menus I've ever seen! Uh, hello Bloody Mary Shrimp Shooters!

 
I'm going to let the rest of it speak for itself...



 
 
Max Capacity Inside: 350
Max Capacity Outside: 200
Contact: Samantha Chavez; s_chavez@culinary.edu; 707-967-2349
 
 
Oh, and because we worked with such wonderful vendors for this wedding let me sing their praises, too!
Photographer: Ken Pfeifer & Meghan Roberts
Videographer: Mark Peters
 
 Hope you all enjoy this foodie heaven as much as I did! xoxo