Once upon a time there was a little culinary college in San Antonio. Then a local gazillionaire and philanthropist gave it $35 million. The little school proceeded to merge with the exalted CIA (Culinary Institute of America, the most prestigious cooking academy in America, headquartered in Hyde Park, New York). Then it used part of the money to build a massive modern building at its site on the Pearl Brewery Complex, ballooning to 30,000 square feet (some five times its previous size). On Saturday, October 9, the fruits–and vegetables, meats, grains, and dairy products–of its labors will be on public display from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Everybody is invited, so head on down to see the campus‘s brand new state-of-the-art kitchens. May I just interject a personal comment here? I have attended many CIA events, and these people don’t do things half way. It’s all going to be fun. The day starts at 9 a.m. with continuous live entertainment. From 9 to 12:30 is the Healthy Snack Competition among local high school students. From 10:30 to 11 is the official ribbon-cutting ceremony (with remarks by Mayor Julian Castro, CIA president Tim Ryan, and “local gazilionaire” Kit Goldsbury). Right after that, they’ll open the building to tours (trust me, you want to go on one). From 11 to 2 there are chef demos and tastings in the outdoor kitchen. Oh, and don’t forget that the regularly scheduled Pearl Farmers’ Market will take place as usual, from 9 to 1. This should be one tasty Saturday. Go to this link and scroll down (under Grand Opening Event) to the RSVP button. You can attend in any case because it’s all public, but they’d like to get a handle on how many folks are coming. The address is 312 Pearl Parkway (off Broadway, a block south of E. Grayson). After you see it all, you might want to go to culinary school yourself.