The last day to submit bids for the former Copia came and went last Thursday, but still no final word on who’s officially interested or if any of the bids will ultimately be accepted.
BiteClub, however, got some some additional scuttlebutt from insiders on where the wind is blowing.
A top Food Network chef I recently accosted says there’s no way FN top brass are interested in Copia, with parent company Scripps attention still on the move of the Fine Living Network (soon to become The Cooking Channel) to New York City’s Chelsea Market. “No, its absolutely not true,” he said of the continued rumors of FN interest in broadening its reach to Napa, laughing off persistent rumors to the contrary. With so much of their talent based in Wine Country, it seems counter-intuitive. Still no official word from FN.
Conversely, a CIA-insider says the St. Helena satellite of the Culinary Institute of America is “very interested” in the Copia space if the price is right. Word on the CIA’s interest has been murky, with reports vacillating as to their official interest in the space. But with the ongoing remodeling of Greystone into an ever-more tourist and conference-friendly space, the kitchen digs are feeling ever-tighter.
Is the CIA heir-apparent to Copia? It’s looking that way.
Stay tuned for more details…
Sure. I’m glad things are clear now. It had occurred to me that it could be a typo, but knowing how poorly people speak and the rather tenuous grasp of grammar and syntax many display, I also figured it was quite easily accurate.
Could this day get any worse? WUlfstan, you would be right if I’d actually typed the quote correctly. I changed it to say “absolutely not true”. I”m sorry for the confusion.
It seems to me that the quoted Food Network representative actually was utterly unclear and equivocal, giving no dispositive statement on the issue, at least if all he said was the quote given and the quote is correct. I quote from above: ‘”No, its not absolutely true,” he said of the continued rumors of FN interest in broadening its reach to Napa….’ “Not absolutely true” does not mean the same thing as “absolutely not true” and in the end says nothing more than that the rumour may not be completely true in every respect. This statement, as a result, actually gives no information whatsoever.
I SO VOTE FOR FN!!!!!!!!!!!