It’s that time of the week again: Time to reflect on some of our fun events in recent Parties That Cook history. From traditional Sumptuous Small Plates events to full blown Executive Kitchen Challenges, this post features some of the latest and greatest of our corporate team building events!

First, we’ll finish off September with a fun Chicago event. ADM hosted a Small Plates event on the 29th, and from what we’ve heard, the dishes were all a hit! Chef Molly reported that all the recipes turned out great. This “fantastic” group was very energetic and very competitive. Molly added, “Everyone got into every aspect and had a great time. In the end, at least 7 different people told me that this was the best team event they had ever done.” Fantastic! The ADM host, Lori, commented, “Nothing could have made it more enjoyable… It was well organized, clean and a totally different experience.” She even made sure to note the impact Chef Molly (and her personality) had on the success of the event!

Near the end of October’s first week, Chef Irfan led MAP Pharmaceuticals in a Small Plates event, as well. Chef Irfan believed it was a great menu, and received plenty of positive feedback on the recipes from the guests. Who wouldn’t love a menu with Sweet Potato Pancakes, Hot Crab Dip with Soft Pretzels, and Mini Apple, Roquefort and Onion Pies?? MAP Pharma host, Trudi, thought Irfan was fun and insightful, and said the PTC team was “knowledgeable and made us all feel like we were learning something at the same time that we made delicious food.” Not too shabby for an outing when your team can “see each other in a different setting without talking about work.” (Trudi thought this was the best part about the event!) Great job, team!

A week later, SVB decided to customize things a bit. Chef Scott led this Sumptuous Small Plates event with an added “challenge” component, and the guests really got into it! SVB host, Namita, said the best part was the presentation of the plates after the cooking. She added that she thought Chef Scott was a great teacher, and even said, “The event was successful because we had our head and sous chefs helping us. We may have had disasters otherwise.” We’d never let that happen, Namita!

To round things out, Kaiser hosted an Executive Kitchen Challenge – professional business coach and all! Second-time Kaiser host, Celina, wanted an opportunity for staff to become better acquainted with peers outside the work setting. As you can see, things got a little intense when blindfolds were brought into the equation (talk about a need for good communication skills!).

After the event, Celina reported that the event was successful because everyone was engaged in the team building activities and there was excellent facilitation by our event staff. Jed thought our usual Executive Kitchen Challenge facilitator/business coach, Starla, was “on her game”. Celina added, “Jed is awesome! He makes the event lots of fun and also provides a learning opportunity. Heather (the Sous Chef) was very encouraging and provided guidance but encouraged us to make our own decisions.” Great job, PTC Team!

If you would like to see your event featured in one of our Event Blogs, let us know!
We hope to see you in the kitchen soon!