“Cage matches? Yeah, they work, how could they not work? If they didn’t work, everybody would still be in the cage.” Unless your idea of team building is as new and fresh as Michael Scott’s in The Office, it probably needs an upgrade.  Many people dread extracurricular office activities, especially team building. Team building activities have become a cliché and have even disappeared off of the agenda because there seems no way around ropes courses and long, tedious lectures. Well, here is the perfect opportunity to revamp those overdone ideas. Hands-on cooking parties are the perfect way to build camaraderie and strength among a team. These unique events teach time management, trust, respect and teamwork as groups meet recipe deadlines and see real time results.  Parties That Cook offers six fun culinary team building events that can be tailored to meet anyone’s needs.

The Sumptuous Small Plates event gets everybody cooking with fresh, seasonal international tapas recipes. Being able to work in smaller teams with a common goal reinforces the importance of teamwork. Everyone loves to surprise their coworkers and show off the delicious dishes they’ve created at this fun and social team building event.

The Chef’s Table is a four course meal with formal dining service. The group works together under the supervision of our top chefs to create an impressive spread that our staff will plate and serve to the group.  Instead of just making dinner reservations for your team, this is a creative spin that gets people working together, and bonding over the delectable fruits of their labor.

The Kitchen Challenge is perhaps the most effective cooking team building experience that I’ve ever witnessed. It is styled after the cooking show Iron Chef and teams go knife to knife in this heated kitchen competition. Each team is given an hour to create a meal with the same base ingredients, and access to a colorful pantry of exotic spices, sauces and fresh produce and cheeses. This culinary team building extravaganza is guaranteed to be water cooler talk for months.

The Ultimate Kitchen Challenge is a facilitated team building workshop and competition. In this extended version of the Kitchen Challenge, teams work with a business coach to learn about how to build a strong team and master essential communication skills in a workshop setting. Teams are able to put their new skills to the test when they fire up the kitchen challenge competition.

A Feast of Chocolate and Cheese is a decadent cooking class that pairs chocolate with cheese. No one can deny the allure of either of these foods. Small groups will explore new ways to pair these popular ingredients as they team up to prepare an array of small plates featuring chocolate and cheese.

Food engages everybody – it is the universal language that breaks down barriers and inspires camaraderie. Skeptics often ask at the start of the event if we’ve ordered a pizza for when they burn the kitchen down, but one hour later, they’re leading their teams to culinary victory! Guests are always surprised by what they are able to create together in a short amount of time. Nothing matches that sense of newfound confidence in the kitchen and sense of accomplishment as guests enjoy their finished meals. So, get your team cooking and spice up your next event with Parties That Cook!

Contributed by Leigh Hermansen