GATEHOUSE RESTAURANT, St. Helena - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews

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About

Join us for a unique dining experience that is unmatched in the Napa Valley. Set on the historic campus of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone, Gatehouse Restaurant showcases the talents of CIA students who have completed two years of rigorous study, under the supervision of our world-class faculty. Enjoy a meal inspired by local produce from the college’s own farms and gardens, and other high-quality ingredients. Reservations are strongly encouraged.

PRICE RANGE

$45.00 – $105.00

CUISINES

American

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner

FEATURES

Reservations, Seating, Parking Available, Free off-street parking, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Wine and Beer, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Non-smoking restaurants, Gift Cards Available

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4.5

313 reviews

Excellent

183

Very good

73

Average

34

Poor

14

Terrible

9

Nothreeputts

Hercules375 contributions

The best you can get !!!!

Feb 2020 • none

Hi gang, Received a gift card I asked for last Christmas from my Secret Santa at the Gatehouse Restaurant on the Culinary Institute of America’s St. Helena campus at the former Christian Brothers Winery. My last visit was 20 yrs ago and because the wonderful lunch we chose to celebrate my 50th birthday, I wanted to go back. Called for a reservation at their opening time of 11:30 am. We were the only patrons for first 30 mins, we chose the 4 course lunch menu at $42/pp. They specifically don’t allow tipping but will charge the req’d tax and include a 20% gratuity for student benefits. EVERYTHING was cooked to perfection. All food is prepared and served by students and their attention to detail is second to none and I do mean none. We each had a glass of Chardonnay ($8 house wine) which was perfect for our palates. Last time we were here I didn’t feel “stuffed” but rather “fed” when I left after our lunch. This time I was full. We stayed 90 mins and enjoyed all of it. The wait staff explained every dish presented and all the ingredients. They missed nothing !!! Do yourself a favor, get a reservation and eat a great meal prepared by and attended to by hard working, ambitious young people eager to perfect their craft. You will not find this anywhere short of a high-end eating establishment. We’ve eaten at Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse in Berkeley and this place exceeds it. What are you waiting for ??? Rich

Written February 12, 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Stephen O

Lincoln499 contributions

Excellent food in a beautiful setting .

Feb 2020 • none

This is the restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St Helena. The food is prepared and served by the students at the culinary institute. We have experienced lunch here three times and each time it has been excellent. The menu changes seasonally. The food is always excellent and presented in a very elegant way. The students do a superb job serving you, explaining each dish as it is presented. You can choose a 3 or 4 course meal, the cost includes the tip.You can also order wine by the glass, bottle or a wine pairing with each course. We added the Charcuterie Board for only $5 per person it was excellent with house made pork kielbasa, pork terrine, pickled vegetables and quince mustard. You should make reservations as they sell out quickly. This is always a great place to experience a delicious meal.

Written February 11, 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Traveler

165 contributions

A Fine Dining Experience in Napa Valley

Jan 2024 • couples

We had a wonderful dining experience. This was a special lunch offered in January; Napa Valley Restaurant Week. However, lunch and dinner are offered at different times throughout the year. This was a 3 or 4 course lunch. What made it nice is that there were 4 choices for each course. All the courses were very good or excellent. The service was very good and Audrey was a delight. The ambiance is very pleasant.

Written January 27, 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

A Neighbor Up the Road

Sebastopol3 contributions

Not the Seamless Dining Experience We Hoped For

Mar 2024 • family

This was our second experience for lunch at the Gatehouse. The first time we enjoyed the food and service immensely! Today we had lunch there again, what a disappointment! First the menu was not as advertised on the website, nor was it the same as the reservation reminder links I received. Looked forward to a couple of dishes that were not available, big lack of attention in my mind. Service was poor, we had to ask for forks twice for two of the four courses and water was not refilled timely, nor did they clear used plates promptly. We sat at a table in front of the kitchen door and were literally three feet away from where two bussers stood staring into space. They forgot to serve our main course and tried to skip it and move us on to dessert, so when the main course came out both dishes were cold. My second course lobster dish was so salty it was terrible and left my mouth stinging. I should have sent it back, but I ate it all, portions are incredibly small, that's ok with me, but I regret not sending over seasoned food back, my son's rabbit dish was extremely salty too and he did not enjoy it. They should not be adding salt before sending courses out and are very heavy handed. They are very stingy with bread service as compared to our last visit, which is ridiculous! Good restaurants usually freely serve ample quantities of bread and butter. They only brought out two pieces of bread for the two of us, come on man who does that? So this time around, posting and reservation reminders referring you to the wrong the menu, quality of food, temperature of food, lack of providing forks for meals, not once but twice, letting dirty dishes just sit on the table, rare refills of water, and pathetic bread service were really really really bad...... it was a real sh*t show that we never expected..... but we will try them again and next time we WILL speak up! There were NO offers to make any of these issues right! Instruction is lacking for there to be so many mistakes and issues.

Written March 15, 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Nailcutter

Boca Raton998 contributions

A must visit if in the St. Helena area!

Jul 2022 • couples

Came for dinner while in St. Helena. Very cool experience as this is the restaurant for the culinary students who are getting ready to graduate. Got to speak to many of them including their professor Mercer. Learned a lot about food and cooking! We were seating immediately and given menus. Pre-Fix menu of either 3 or 4 courses with or without wine pairing. Service was excellent. Bread was served. I got the salad to start with watermelon and feta cheese. Very good. My got the salad with squid also great. Next dish was a cold crab soup which she loved. I got the smoked chicken dish and the breast of duck. Both were very good and well presented. The dish was explained to us by the students. My wife’s sauce broke on her Trout which delayed our meal. Mercer spoke to us about why sauces break and wanted to remake the meal. We got a nice sorbet and got educated on how and why sauces breaks. Desserts was a unique carrot cake and chocolate cream brûlée was provided as well! Everything was exceptional and it was great talking to the students!!

Written July 14, 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Grover R

Pensacola22266 contributions

Best Meal of Our Trip

Mar 2022 • none

Let be the first to say, I am not a big fan of small plates. However, this meal has so many courses that I left both with my mouth and stomach totally amazed. The food was incredible from presentation to taste. However, what the meal was the pairing of food and wine. Everything I had was incredible and there were things I did not really want to order when I did, like grilled octopus. I must say I have never appreciated how wine can make the meal until eating here. I have seen some comments that the service was slow. I would classify it as deliberate. They don't do things just to do them and they wait until everything is ready. Most of all we love talking with them as they are students who are learning. If you are willing to spend some time and some money, this can be one of the best meals you eat. The Tres Leche and its wine pairing were unbelievably great and that wine by itself was terrible. Again best meal of our trip.

Written April 7, 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Luis R B

Cuernavaca357 contributions

A unique culinary experience with CIA students

Sep 2024 • couples

Puede no sonar atractivo el ir a un restaurante a cenar y que sean los estudiantes del ultimo año quienes preparan y sirven los alimentos. Si no tienes este contexto puede que no lo observes porque los platillos son excelentes. Con contexto podrías notar pequeños detalles en el servicio pero nada que arruine el momento. It may not sound attractive to go to a restaurant for dinner kmowing that are the senior students who actually prepare and serve the food. If you don't have this context you may not observe it because the dishes are excellent; with the context, you could observe small details in the service but nothing that ruins the moment.

Written September 29, 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Anne C

Dallas64 contributions

Outstanding Dining Experience at the Culinary Institute

Jul 2024 • family

The absolute dining highlight of our Napa Valley vacation! The service was welcoming, respectfully friendly and helpfully informative throughout the evening. Each of our courses were excellent and the amuse bouche was delicious! The wine list is very good with excellent regional and international wines. This is a great place! Reserve without hesitation and support the great work of the Culinary Institute!

Written July 30, 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

John L

9 contributions

Great food, good service

Feb 2023 • none

Wow. The food was excellent. Students do the cooking and serving. Service was good, but you could tell the students did not have much experience in serving. Wine parings were good, not great. Definitely worth a visit.

Written March 5, 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ralber01

11 contributions

A Must to visit and Enjoy

Dec 2023 • couples

The Gatehouse was a pleasure to visit and enjoy. Our staff though students were on high much higher par than many of the 5 star restaurants I have visited. The food pairing was fantastic and all of the meals were done to perfection.

Written December 12, 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Frank_Penna

Reading111 contributions

Outstanding experience

Aug 2024 • family

Absolutely outstanding dinner experience. We got the four course meal also with some wine. Our server, Tatiana, was extremely enthusiastic and attentive. All of the students were great. They were about to graduate this week. The food was outstanding. Everything was timely, well prepared, delicious, and with beautiful presentation. The pricing was extremely fair for the experience. I would say this was our best meal in the Napa area. Also nice to visit the adjacent building of the culinary school. Highly recommended

Written August 7, 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Elena B

Los Angeles2 contributions

It was excellent!!!!

Mar 2022 • none

I heard about this specific place from several friends of my but my expectations were so far away of what I saw at the restaurant. It's just excellent- no more words to describe my culinary experience with it! Food, environment, service -like in high end restaurants.

Written April 1, 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jeff B

Punta Gorda9 contributions

Slow Service, Great Food!

Mar 2020 • couples

Got students the day after they rotated from back to front-of-house and jittery nerves were apparent! Service was slow but the food was outstanding. Could use a few more bottles of moderately priced wine (although the Ramey Cabernet at $100 was worth it) and a little more generous pour on a glass of the Schramsberg blanc de blanc!

Written March 2, 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dmacconn

Parker15 contributions

A beautiful dining experience

Feb 2020 • couples

We were so pleased with our dinner at the Gatehouse. We met Sven, a few days prior and he was our server for our exquisite meal. The food was excellent and the wine pairings were perfect. A fantastic value!

Written February 27, 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

leonlafreniere

Escondido204 contributions

Culinary students do it all

Feb 2020 • none

The students do it all including host, wait on tables, prepare meals...It's very professional in a lovely stone building. The students are enthusiastic and well taught.

Written February 15, 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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