Fun in Downtown Napa CA

Oh boy, did we ever have fun in Downtown Napa CA!

Fun in Downtown Napa CA

We had remembered downtown Napa as a quaint, little shopping and dining mecca. But what we found while exploring the area in March of this year was a very cosmopolitan area enriched with art. There were fantastic sculptures everywhere. Even buildings that were art themselves.

As we strolled through downtown Napa we were enthralled with its transformation from so many years ago. We were there in the daytime, but we learned that at night the sculptures are all lit for a free Artwalk.

Steve and I were happy to see that one of the restaurants that we loved, Cole’s Chop House, was still in business. Pretty sure that’s where we experienced our first Wedge Salad!

CIA at Copia

Also downtown, is one of the top culinary schools in America, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Well known and well respected, but not the school that I have my Grand Diplome from. I got my culinary education at le Cordon Bleu, London.

The grounds of CIA at Copia in downtown Napa are special. There are several raised beds used to create a kitchen garden for the students. Interspersed in these gardens are fruit trees and sculptures. The most unique of these sculptures is the Fork by Gordon Huether, who is a prolific Napa artist.

Fork

“Fork” is made up of stainless steel, salvaged forks, over 8,500 of them! This piece of art stands 18-feet high and is 2.5-feet wide. It was inspired by the culinary arts as a metaphor to underline the   significance of the culinary arts and well-established food culture in the Napa Valley. Using recycled forks to build this gigantic fork also emphasizes the region’s focus on sustainability, the farm-to-table movement, locally farmed produce and responsibility for future generations. Fork also functions as a way-finding element, a ‘fork in the road,’ leading visitors to the entrance of The Restaurant at CIA Copia.

Is that Bob and Margrit?

His artwork for the CIA at Copia pays tribute to the Napa Valley as a world-class destination for art, food and wine, but most importantly, to Margrit and Robert Mondavi’s legacy. Which brings me to the other amazing piece of Huether’s at CIA.

“Is that Bob and Margrit?” is a tribute to winemaker Robert Mondavi and his wife, Margrit Biever Mondavi. The really fun part of this work is where it’s placed. Befittingly these high-density foam sculptures are each 8-feet tall by 8-feet 3.5-inches wide and sit atop the CIA at Copia’s 75-foot tower. It’s as though the iconic Napa Valley couple is watching over the valley’s good fortune, while tipping their wine glasses as a toast to this world-famous viticultural und culinary destination.

Copia and the Mondavis

Copia was founded and funded by the Mondavis. It was operational from 2001 – 2008 and was the center for wine, food and the arts, an educational non-profit institution, which is now owned by the CIA and houses the new CIA’s classrooms, a restaurant, and much more.

The Mondavis tirelessly advocated to help put Napa Valley on the map as THE wine destination in the USA. But they also wanted to show Napa’s intriguing offering of arts and culture. Margrit outlived her husband and continued to realize this mission with unflagging dedication until her passing on September 2nd. 2016.

Chuck Williams Culinary Arts Museum

Also at CIA, to our surprise and delight, is the Chuck Williams Culinary Arts Museum. I have always considered Williams Sonoma to be a candy store for cooks. So being able to witness all of the fabulous tools of my trade that Chuck Williams had amassed kept me busy for a very long time. Every antique and present day piece of culinary equipment was on display and I spent quite a bit of time enjoying each and every piece. Fortunately Steve left me alone to enjoy this museum. He was thankful that none of it was for sale!!!

Our entire afternoon was spent having fun in downtown Napa CA.