We feed our cats on the kitchen counter. Keeps the dog out of the food and provides the cats some sense of security (won't get harassed when they are trying to eat). A friend of mine keeps the cat food on top of her refrigerator. She has two big dogs and they have not counter-surfed but could easily eat food off the counter. If your cats can get to the top of the fridge, that's a great spot for the same reason as the counter as far as providing them a safe, isolated place to eat.
I agree with other posters in that it is easier to just remove the food instead of trying to train your dog not to eat it. You may have some luck with the training, but it would take a ridiculous amount of time, frustrate everyone involved, when there is a simple solution. For behavior issues, I firmly believe that if you can completely remove the trigger of a behavior problem and still provide your dog a normal life, that is a far better solution than any attempt to "correct" or change the behavior.
