"Life is food, Create and Savor Yours" the banner reads as my wife and I enter the parking lot at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Saint Helena, Calif. I quickly find a parking spot, jump out of the car, breathe deeply then smile. I arrive at my Nirvana.

The first time the CIA enters my vocabulary is while working as a sous chef at Cricket's Restaurant and Oyster Bar. Rob Elder, the owner at the time, is searching for an Executive Chef and devotes his search to a CIA trained chef. Going through an apprentice program with a self-trained chef, I do not value the idea of a culinary school nor understand the prestige of the Culinary Institute of America.

Feeling confident in my abilities and overly confident as a young man, I schedule a meeting with Rob and explain why I should be his next Executive Chef. Before the meeting starts, Rob stops me explaining that his next Executive Chef will be a, "CIA trained chef," and states, "You didn't go to the CIA did you?" I quickly shake my head no and the conversation is over. I back out of his office confused.

I believe Rob is referring to the Central Intelligence Agency and struggle to understand his desire to stop global espionage and international spying in this small steak and oyster house in the Northwest.

Leaving Rob's basement office I run into the other sous chef Dave, and ask, "What is the CIA?" He explains his understanding of the world-class training and international food exploration for chefs and wine professionals the CIA provides. "Harvard is for lawyers, the CIA is for chefs," he states to make his point. I get it.

The next day I start looking for a job that offers training in hope to attend this elite school for food professionals. I secure the job as Food Service Manager at North Idaho College and begin my exploration for possible culinary opportunities. The opportunity arrives.

I write a grant and receive a full scholarship to attend the CIA. I attend my first class at Greystone in 1997 taking a College Food Service Supervisor's class. The class is amazing and I learn more about food and food production in two weeks than I have in my 10 years of restaurant work.

The Greystone campus is situated in the Greystone Cellars building, built in 1888 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Greystone Cellars was formerly owned by Christian Brothers who, from 1950 to 1989, used the facility for sparkling wine production.

The wine production barrels and tools of the trade are still present in the west part of the building. As one cooks in the school, memories of winemaking and the history of the building become overwhelming. All cooking equipment is the best in the business, all food natural, organic, fresh and of the highest quality.

In the preceding years I attend eight classes at the CIA and fall more deeply in love with the culinary arts, the art of creating delicious and artfully created meals and the Napa Valley. I learn to identify cuts of meat, to grade protein by examining the marbling of fat. I taste hundreds of olive oils and critique salts, herbs, sauces and balsamic vinegars. I learn to eat food only in-season and to honor the cultures that create regional food.

As the banners entering the CIA declare, Food is Life. I get it. As I enjoy a hamburger, I understand the caramelization process and seasoning that make my burger tasty. I understand the process the chef uses to create the aoli to adorn my bun which amps up the taste of my burger from ordinary to extraordinary.

In frustration, I also understand the miscues a cook makes when the sauce on my scallops is broken and tastes more like grease than the delicious emulsification of the bearnaise sauce it was supposed to be. Sadly, I am more disappointed than satisfied while eating the local fare but, there is salvation. A quick suggestion or returned dish to the kitchen often keeps the cooks on their toes and reminds the staff that people expect tasty food prepared correctly to arrive at our table. Sending an improperly prepared dish back to the kitchen makes this point.

Food is art. Art is life and food sustains life. When I eat, I desire artfully prepared food that sustains me while satisfying my need for beauty and love - not a small feat. Often food served quickly and consumed even faster creates unhealthy - physically and emotionally - humans. Slowing down, enjoying creative food makes life worth living. Food is Life!

If you wish to comment or offer suggestions, please email me at [email protected].