Photo: Pascal Auricht, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Culinary Institute of America started in 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut, as a school to train returning World War II veterans for restaurant work. By the late 1960s it had outgrown its space.
In 1970 the school bought St. Andrew-on-Hudson, a former Jesuit novitiate on the Hudson River in Hyde Park, and moved there in 1972. The main brick building, Roth Hall, now holds kitchens and classrooms.
Restaurants open to the public
Students work through the school’s restaurants as part of their training. The public can book tables at places such as the American Bounty Restaurant and The Bocuse Restaurant, or stop at the Apple Pie Bakery Café.
Economic weight
The CIA offers associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees and has campuses in California, Texas and Singapore. Hyde Park remains the main campus, with a few thousand students.
Many graduates stay in the Hudson Valley, and the school has helped build the region’s farm-to-table restaurant scene. It also brings visiting families and food tourists who spend money at local hotels and shops.
