Gatehouse - St. Helena

Dinner at the Gatehouse was a wonderful experience! The food was delicious and the wine pairings were good. It was fun getting to chat with the students and instructor to learn about the program. Definitely would recommend to others.

Great looking venue. However on a record day of heat over 100 degrees restaurant ac struggled. Had a 6 pm reservation. Got there at 5:45. Was told to go back and wait in car or wait in main building for 15 min because servers weren't ready. Our table was available. So we went back out in heat and sat in car for 15 min. Kind of weird. Food was very good. Service was a little uneven. Courses came out very disjointed. That said understand these are students and so it does come off like a night of restaurant wars on top chef. Have fun with it and enjoy yourself. So important to help support these young chefs and students.

We had a phenomenal experience: Your diligent staff made us feel like a part of their community. Michael is growing into an impressive server; we were impressed with his knowledge of the intricate menu. Additionally, when presented with a tough question about a dish's consistency, Michael's resourcefulness and candor with his answer was refreshing. Everyone else who welcomed us into the space, presented dishes, re-filled water, cleared dishes, and re-set silverware displayed both good cheer and professionalism. Thank you for making our anniversary so special. We look forward to making it an annual tradition.

We loved our whole experience. Food and wine pairings were amazing and the students took time to answer lots of our questions about the school and what they wanted to do when they graduate. Highly recommended!

The good: The students were very friendly and enthusiastic, which was nice. However, I don't know if there was a teacher/professor who tasted the food before it was served to the customers, but if there isn't a professor or teacher there supervising the cooking, there should have been. The oysters were salty, the portions were tiny and unfortunately almost everything tasted amateurish, almost childish in its preparation and substandard for a culinary institute, charging a mid to higher level restaurant price for its meals. Given the price, I would not think the meal was worth the cost. The whole meal should have been at student cook prices at around $25. Before the students can try to emulate Michelin star restaurants' pretentious tiny little bite sized servings, they need to be able to cook at the caliber of a Michelin star cook where each tiny serving has the intricate taste in each bite. Otherwise, what we received was little slivers of food with average flavor, which adds a level of ridiculousness. I would rather pay $20 more to eat at a Michelin 1 star for lunch nearby, which surprisingly I felt was an excellent value for the money. I am only giving this review to give the school a heads up on how to improve.