When we set out to give a BIG thanks to our fabulous event hosts in San Francisco, we decided to try something different. Not only had many hosts already attended a Parties That Cook event, but we wanted a way to showcase a few of our great vendors as well. The brainstorming began, and several lengthy meetings later, a new event format was born! This event was sure to be a blast, and we were all excited to see if how all the pieces would come together.

How it went down: On the big day, San Francisco’s Ferry Building was buzzing with Parties That Cook chefs, servers, and office staff. Yes, it was all hands on deck for our Customer Appreciation Event appropriately dubbed Passport to Cook! Upon checking in, guests were each handed an apron and a “passport”. The goal was to get a sticker from each of 10 unique interactive stations set up throughout the venue. (BIG thanks to Abbey Party Rentals for their generous rental donations.)

Stations run by PTC staff included pasta making, knife skills, home-made ricotta, sushi-rolling, pizza-making, and hand-made tortillas. Passports were rounded out by stations from outside vendors. We had honey tasting by Marshall Farms Honey, wine tasting with Domenico Winery, more wine tasting by Brix26, and latte art with Ritual Coffee Roasters. In addition to our passport participants, our good friends at Mumm Winery and Thomas Fogarty Winery were kind enough to donate wine.

Guests, vendors and staff were all encouraged to sample the delicacies at every station, though only guests were allowed to enter our raffle. That’s right – if guests completed all 10 stations, they were then eligible to receive an awesome prize! I could tell everyone was vying for the prizes by the amount of bribes, hints, and pleas put forth as guests submitted their completed passports. A couple of lucky guests won an apron, wine, coffee, honey or a gift certificate. At the end of the event, one name was picked from the basket overflowing with entries, and one woman walked away with a brand new Le Creuset pot among other things!

After having such a great time throughout the event, you could tell the loss was more sweet than bitter for the other guests. They graciously applauded the winner, and many congratulated her on the coveted win. We allowed guests a bit more time for mingling and chatting with vendors. Even as the food disappeared, our coffee and wine vendors remained popular. It wasn’t until the last guest left that we had our team powow and we reflected on just how successful this event was.

The next steps: We now have the fun task (no sarcasm here!) of turning this one-time celebration into a regular offering for our clients! We love how customizable the stations were, and how free-flowing the format was. Keep an eye out for more information on our newest event type!