2011

Parties That Cook Eagerly Anticipates La Cocina’s Street Food Festival 2011

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in News & Events Tagged with food truck, la cocina, mobile food, mobile vendors, sf street food, street food, street food festival, street food vendors August 16th, 2011 @ 4:24 pm

It’s baaaaaaack!

Here at Parties That Cook, the anticipation for this year’s San Francisco Street Food Festival is literally eating at us. La Cocina has done it again, bringing in the best of the best food vendors to the city. Mouthwatering aromas from mobile carts and brick-and-mortar establishments will fill the streets of the Mission District this Saturday, August 20th, 2011.

But WHY, you ask? (Does it really matter? It’s FREE!) La Cocina, “a non-profit incubator kitchen that provides affordable commercial kitchen space and industry-specific technical assistance to low-income and immigrant entrepreneurs who are launching, growing and formalizing food businesses”, is hosting 3rd annual Street Food Festival to celebrate “the taste, the heart and the commitment” of the diverse group of nearly 70 vendors. In fact, most of the revenue from this event goes straight to the vendors, providing their businesses with much-needed capital.

Our question to those near San Francisco: Why NOT stop by and support your local merchants this Saturday?

Check out the festival on Facebook, and keep an eye out for more updates to come after this weekend – including a recap of the 3rd annual Street Food Festival GAME!

Parties That Cook Gets Scientific in the Kitchen with BMRN and Genentech

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in Entertaining, News & Events Tagged with BMRN, Genentech, kitchen challenge, sumptuous small plates, tapas recipes, team building, team building event ideas August 15th, 2011 @ 12:17 pm

In the last couple of weeks, we have seen no lull in our busy streak. On Friday, August 5th, BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) hosted a fun Sumptuous Small Plates corporate team building event. Lead Chef, Laura, reported that the event ran smoothly and she thought it was a really nice group. She added that the guests were “excited about what the event had to offer and were proud of their work.” As they should be!

The mouthwatering menu consisted of such delicious items as Lettuce Cups Filled with Gingery Pork, Shiitake Mushrooms and Hoisin Sauce, Ground Sirloin Sliders with Smoky Cheddar Cheese, Little Fish Tacos with Tomato Salad and Chipotle-Lime Crema, Crostini of Homemade Ricotta and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Jam and Banana and Mango Spring Rolls with Caramel-Rum Sauce. I’m getting hungry already!

Chef Laura’s words were mirrored by the BMRN host, Paul F., who commented that, “It was just overall fun, with a great atmosphere.” This is not hard to believe, since Paul had selected, Zephyr, a beautiful San Francisco showroom, as the venue!

The following Monday, August 8th, repeat client Genentech hosted a high-energy Kitchen Challenge team building event at Thomas Fogarty Winery. Linda B., the Genentech host, best described the atmosphere as “controlled chaos”. Linda also reported, “Everyone told me it was great fun and they loved this activity,” – a fun way to end a morning of meetings! She found that the best part was “the opportunity to work with people on our team that we typically don’t have the chance to interact with on a fun task. I got to know some people better from a different perspective.” Mission accomplished!

Lead Chef, Scott, hit another one out of the park! It’s no easy task to engage people just out of a 3-hr meeting. Chef Scott and the rest of the PTC team guided guests through an event with NO recipes (the norm for a Kitchen Challenge). Linda commented that the guests created some terrific dishes, “everything the participants wanted or needed was provided… The staff was very responsive and right there when we had questions or needed help — good direction and handy preparation tips.” Nicely done, PTC team!

What a great sign of things to come as we slowly approach the busy Holiday Season!
We love hearing about all the fun in the field! If you would like to see your Parties That Cook event featured in our blog, just let us know!