Food is Life Celebration

Gaia Art Installation

Friday, April 22–Saturday, April 30
Come and experience the Gaia art installation—a 23-foot-wide 3D NASA floating image of the Earth’s surface, by artist Luke Jerram, as it floats above our Jackson Family Wines Amphitheater. This is brought to you by The Culinary Institute of America in partnership with Visit Napa Valley. Learn more about Gaia

Cost: Free to the public
No reservations required.

Food, wine, and other beverages will be available for purchase from the outdoor Live Fire Kitchen for you to enjoy under the stunning, illuminated Earth display. Join us on Friday, April 22 for a free concert under the stars and Gaia with composer Clark Harding.

Special Offerings at Marketplace

Starting Friday, April 22

No visit to The CIA at Copia is complete without stopping at Marketplace, and we’ll have some new, special offerings for you to browse in honor of our Earth Day celebration.

• The Marketplace will be open extended hours, 10:30 a.m.–7 p.m., April 22–24 and April 29–30.
• Beginning Friday, April 22, pick up an exclusive Earth Day sugar cookie made by our friends at The Grove to eat under our 3D Earth Gaia out back.
• Grab one of our stylish, new kid’s Warming Warning t-shirts—printed with 100% water-based ink to help our environment.
• Marketplace will be holding a seed giveaway of Copia garden basil seeds, free with any purchase while supplies last.
• We’ll be unveiling our new gardening department with lots of fun items like gardening tools, seed bombs, and veggie starter kits.

Make sure to stop into Marketplace to stock up on kitchen, home, and garden must-haves!

Cooking Class: Zero Foodprint at Home with Chefs Thomas McNaughton and Anthony Myint

Saturday, April 23 / 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Learn how to make award-winning fresh pasta and how to get the most out of your everyday ingredients in your kitchen with guest instructor, Chef Thomas McNaughton, acclaimed Bay Area chef and CIA graduate. He is joined by another special guest, Chef Anthony Myint, restaurateur and food activist, who will share how you can join the dozens of leading chefs in making every meal you cook in your home more sustainable to become part of the bigger solution in combatting climate change. Enjoy delicious food that you’ve prepared, and feel good while doing it! This class is a must-attend for home chefs who are invested in helping our planet, and looking for sustainable meal inspiration.

Thomas McNaughton, CIA ’04, is the chef and owner of flour + water, central kitchen, and salumeria in San Francisco, CA. He has been nominated three times by the James Beard Foundation for Rising Star Chef of the Year and has been recognized as an empire builder by Food & Wine magazine. He is a leader of the Zero Foodprint movement.

Anthony Myint is co-founder of Zero Foodprint (James Beard Humanitarian of the Year) and the award-winning restaurateur/chef behind the trailblazing restaurants: Mission Street Food, Mission Chinese Food, The Perennial, as well as the 2019 winner of the Basque Culinary World Prize.

Pre-registration required. Learn more about Zero Foodprint.

Cost: $200. All proceeds from this event will go to Zero Foodprint which teams up with local farms and ranches to regenerate the land, restore the climate and grow better food.

CIA Skills: Plant-Forward Asian Cuisine

Friday, April 29 / 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
The culinary traditions of Asian cuisine are as vast as the continent itself. In this hands-on exploration of plant-forward Asian cookery, you’ll explore the flavor-rich cooking styles that bring plants to the center of the plate, emphasizing fruits, veggies, and plant-based proteins. With an eye on healthfulness and sustainability, learn how herbs, chiles, and spices can transform simple, fresh ingredients into vibrant dishes, like Thai-style papaya salad, creamy coconut rice, and flavor-packed spring rolls. Pre-registration required.

Cost: $175

CIA Skills: Plant-Forward Mediterranean Cuisine

Friday, April 29 / 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
From the spice markets of North Africa to the fishing villages of coastal Spain, the cuisines of the Mediterranean celebrate the bounty of the region’s rich landscape. In this hands-on introduction to plant-forward Mediterranean cooking, you’ll explore the plant-rich flavors and recipes inspired by the abundant orchards, markets, and waters of Provence, Southern Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey, and North Africa. Learn the tools to incorporate this healthful and sustainable culinary tradition, showcasing veggies, legumes, whole grains, and plant-based proteins, into your kitchen at home. Pre-registration required.

Cost: $175

CIA Skills: Plant-Forward Mediterranean Cuisine

Saturday, April 30 / 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
From the spice markets of North Africa to the fishing villages of coastal Spain, the cuisines of the Mediterranean celebrate the bounty of the region’s rich landscape. In this hands-on introduction to plant-forward Mediterranean cooking, you’ll explore the plant-rich flavors and recipes inspired by the abundant orchards, markets, and waters of Provence, Southern Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey, and North Africa. Learn the tools to incorporate this healthful and sustainable culinary tradition, showcasing veggies, legumes, whole grains, and plant-based proteins, into your kitchen at home. Pre-registration required.

Cost: $175

Seasonal Cocktails from the Garden

Saturday, April 30 / 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
Join us in the Copia Garden for a hands-on mixology class featuring seasonal ingredients grown in our garden. You’ll learn the staples of a balanced drink and how to use what is in season to create new and flavorful drinks. During this garden to glass class, we’ll integrate homemade fruit syrups and juices with spirits and wines to create delicious libations. Recipes and demonstrated techniques will change seasonally and, of course, you’ll get to enjoy what you create! Pre-registration required.

Cost: $65

Sunday Night Supper at The Grove: Special Plant-Forward Menu

Sunday, April 24 / 5–7 p.m.
Join us for a prix fixe three-course menu featuring plant-forward favorites from Chef Sayat at The Grove. Reservations are recommended. Menu includes:

Choice of: olive oil-poached artichoke with mushroom-tarragon salad, truffle vinaigrette -or- fire-roasted eggplant with eggplant jus, Bivalve Creamery Mendonça cheese.
Choice of: spring vegetable succotash with bergamot dashi, ras el hanout duck leg carnitas -or- sprouted grain risotto with peas, poached egg, morel mushrooms.
Choice of: parsnip-maple pie with chocolate ice cream -or- strawberry-rhubarb tart with pistachio crémeux.

The Grove is proud to have taken the 1% Pledge with Zero Foodprint. During this week, The Grove will be contributing 1% of sales to support farmers implementing regenerative agriculture practices that sequester carbon, and so much more.

Cost: $45

Grove 45 Olive Oil Tasting at Marketplace

Saturday, April 30 / 1–3 p.m.
Stop into Marketplace on Saturday, April 30 between 1–3 p.m. to sample Grove 45 Olive Oil as you browse the store. Representatives from Grove 45 will be joining us in-store to provide more information on and tastings of their olive oil.

Grove 45 is a small batch, premium extra virgin olive oil produced right in Napa Valley. It is owned and operated by CIA grad Ana Hernandez, and her daughter, Marcela.
This event is free to the public.

Cost: Free to the public.
No reservations required.

Global Plant-Forward Culinary Summit

Tuesday, April 26–Thursday, April 28
Open to foodservice operators only. The Global Plant-Forward Culinary Summit, presented by The Culinary Institute of America, is a deep dive into culinary and menu R&D strategy, building on the work of the CIA’s Menus of Change® initiative and inspired by the global cultures focus of our long-running Worlds of Flavor® International Conference and Festival series. Learn more about the Global Plant-Forward Culinary Summit.

Cost: $1,195

Concert Under the Stars with Composer Clark Harding

Friday, April 22 / 7 p.m.
Presented in collaboration with Festival Napa Valley, join us for an interdisciplinary performance of music and art in celebration of Earth Day under the Gaia installation in the Jackson Family Wines Amphitheater. Composer Clark Harding will premiere an original multi-movement composition for modular synthesizer and string quartet.

Clark will be joined by violinists Sienna Peck and Tristan Foote, violist Frank Hernandez, and cellist Jeffrey McFarland-Johnson. This unique ensemble meets at the intersection of electronic and acoustic, a journey through sonic exploration, and the creation of mellifluous music expressing a myriad of live sounds and emotions.

Tickets are required for this event. Limit four per e-mail address.

When reserving your free tickets, please consider making a small contribution to Friends of the Napa River by adding a donation amount to your ticket purchase to honor the theme of investing in our planet for Earth Day this year. Or, make your donation here. Friends of the Napa River is a non-profit organization advocating for the protection, restoration, responsible development, and celebration of the Napa River and its watershed.

Cost: Free to the Public

Film Screening, Q&A, and Reception with Chef Spike Mendelsohn

Thursday, April 28 / 5:30 p.m.
Join us at The CIA at Copia for a special screening of the PBS documentary The Inn at Little Washington: A Delicious Documentary. Produced by chef Spike Mendelsohn, this documentary explores the world of culinary legend (and major influence for Mendelsohn) Chef Patrick O’Connell and his iconic Michelin three-starred restaurant. You’ll have the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look into what is considered one of the greatest dining experiences in America as Chef Patrick O’Connell—self-taught chef, five-time James Beard Award winner, and recipient of the 2019 James Beard Lifetime Achievement award—chases the dream of a third Michelin star.

After the screening, producer Spike Mendelsohn—Top Chef competitor, restaurateur, food equity advocate, and CIA grad—will be joining us for a Q&A session about the documentary. Following that, we invite you to meet Chef Mendelsohn at a private reception in our Copia Teaching Kitchen with a full menu of hors d’oeuvre and cocktails crafted by CIA chefs, as well as a curated selection of local wines.

“Chef Patrick O’Connell is a huge inspiration for me, and I credit him often for having a strong influence on my culinary viewpoint. I am thrilled to be able to share his story, passion, and authenticity through this film.”—Spike Mendelsohn

Tickets are required for this event. Cost: $50

Food, Fun, and Phil: An Evening with Phil Rosenthal
Presented by NVFF in Partnership with The CIA at Copia

Friday, April 29 / 6 p.m.
Napa Valley Film Festival presents An Evening with Phil Rosenthal in partnership with The CIA at Copia and sponsored by Cameo Cinema.

Get ready to laugh and salivate as we watch Somebody Feed Phil in the Ecolab Theatre at The CIA at Copia. Phil Rosenthal will be our special guest at a screening of his Netflix series and will share stories about how he eats and makes Somebody Feed Phil as only he can.

This screening kicks off a new partnership between Napa Valley Film Festival and The Culinary Institute of America to present an ongoing series of food and film screening events at The CIA at Copia.

The Napa Valley Film Festival and The CIA at Copia invite you to a post-screening private reception featuring cuisine from the episode we will be screening immediately following the Q&A. Tickets to the reception are also valid for the screening. You may purchase an “add-on” ticket for the post-screening reception for $75.

Access to the screening and Q&A are FREE, but a ticket is required for admission due to limited space.

Doors open to the Ecolab Theatre at 5:30 p.m. and the screening will begin at 6 p.m. The screening and Q&A will conclude at approximately 7:30 p.m. Reception begins at the conclusion of the Q&A.

Cost: Screening is free. Reception tickets are $75.

Want more Phil? You can fete Phil at a special fundraising dinner hosted by Cinema Napa Valley in honor of Phil being named NVFF’s distinguished 2021 Culinary Cinema Icon Award winner. Dinner will take place at the historic Ackerman Family Vineyard’s Heritage House, and will feature several courses prepared by Chef Daniel Gomez, dessert by Jennifer Smith, and paired with Ackerman Family Wines. Learn more about this event.

Peace by Chocolate—Film Screening and Q&A

Saturday, April 30 / 4:30–6:30 p.m.
Join The CIA at Copia, in partnership with Cameo Cinema and Napa Valley Film Festival, for a special screening of the award-winning film, Peace by Chocolate, featured at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. The screening will be followed by a virtual Q&A with the film’s director, Jonathan Keijser. Tickets are required for this event.

After the bombing of his father’s chocolate factory, a charming young Syrian refugee struggles to settle into his new small-town life, caught between following his dream and preserving his family’s legacy. Watch the trailer.

Originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jonathan Keijser is an award-winning storyteller. As a film director, producer, screenwriter, and professionally trained musician, Keijser is committed to sharing uplifting stories of progressive communities.

This screening kicks off a new partnership between Napa Valley Film Festival and The Culinary Institute of America to present an ongoing series of food and film screening events at The CIA at Copia.

Cost: $15

After the screening, join us for dinner and drinks at The Grove!