Category: Foodie

Cozymeal

Posted on | by Cody Nailor

As I searched for food-fueled team building in the Bay Area, I discovered Cozymeal. This company offers a wide variety of culinary experiences with a goal to, “connect people, build relationships, [and] make memories”. Cozymeal offers three corporate team building options: cooking classes, private dining, and market tours. Some of the cooking classes offered include: “An Exploration of Ramen”, pasta making, and a sushi making competition, each led by an expert chef. Cozymeal events can take place at a variety of venues, such as the chef’s home, a restaurant’s kitchen, an art gallery, or large event space. They even offer the option for the chef to come to your venue.

Cozymeal has worked with groups from many well-known companies: Google, Facebook, and Macy’s, to name a few. They offer more than team building to–their chefs can cater private events as well.

As I read the reviews on their Yelp page, I found over and over that every clients’ interactions with the chefs seemed wonderful. One reviewer mentioned that the chef for her event allowed them to stay a half hour over their time because they got started late, and she also managed to make space for all 16 people in the kitchen in her home. This reviewer continued:

If you’re looking to learn how to cook a certain type of cuisine/meal or for ideas on an interactive group activity, Cozymeals is a wonderful choice.

Cozymeal offers such a wide variety of options, it seems hard to imagine a group or scenario in which their services would not be a great addition.

You can also connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Avital Tours

Posted on | by Cody Nailor

As I was searching for team building options local to San Francisco, I discovered Avital Tours – walking food tours that are for locals, by locals. They have locations in San Francisco and Los Angeles that can be tailored for groups ranging from 8 to 80 people in size. They offer three different private tours in the Bay Area: the Mission District Food Tour, the Union Square Cocktail Tour, and the North Beach Food Tour.

Their corporate option, the Mission District Food Tour, is designed with a goal of having their local guests learn something about their own back yard. Avital collects a series of smaller culinary experiences into one larger one: they takes their guests back into local restaurant kitchens to talk to the owners and meet the chefs, and  introduce the group to unique food and alcohol pairings.

Their website clarifies the guest limits: there is an 8 person minimum for private tours, so groups of 1-7 can join a public tour, or pay for an 8 person tour, groups of up to 30 can all take one tour with one guide, and if your group is over 30, Avital will work with you to organize multiple smaller tours with a few of their guides. They offer tours starting between 11am-6pm Monday through Friday, and 3-6pm on Sundays. Private tours on Saturday are only offered depending on availability.

They are highly reviewed on both Yelp and Trip Advisor, maintaining a 5-Star rating average. One Yelp reviewer said this about their Mission District tour:

The Mission is one of San Francisco’s most awesome neighborhoods and this tour gives you the highlights of history, culture, and FOOD! We ate some excellent dishes at four different restaurants — would have taken me HOURS to research and route myself! Madeline was the perfect guide, keeping our crew on track and well-fed. Next time I’m in town I’ll definitely go on one of Avital’s other tours.

Offering a delicious and interesting team bonding option, Avital Tours seems great for companies or departments of any size.

Connect with them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AvitalTours

And Twitter: https://twitter.com/avitaltours

And here is the FAQ section of their website: http://avitaltours.com/san-francisco/about/faq/.

Hands On Gourmet

Posted on | by Cody Nailor

As I searched for team building companies in the Bay Area, I came across Hands On Gourmet. This culinary team building company offers customized team bonding events at your office or meeting space, their kitchen, or any one of their partners’ spaces. Not only do they offer culinary options, but they can also even help you book, design and decorate your party, as well as plan the other creative activities for your event.

Hands On Gourmet events begin with a mixer over a cheese board and beverages to allow your team to socialize and relax. After everyone has arrived, the chefs will orient everyone to the various dishes you will prepare and their corresponding stations. Then your team will then spend about an hour and a half (of the total 3 hours) preparing the food, then they will sit down together and enjoy it. Hands On Gourmet will even take care of clean up!

Their kitchen can host up to 60 people, but they’re able to coordinate events for groups from 10 to 100 people. As mentioned previously, these events can take place at their kitchen, your office, meeting space, or even your parking lot, as well as any one of their over 50 partner spaces – including bars, reclaimed barns, and restaurant kitchens. They will work with your to learn about your group, their preferences, and their dietary needs to determine the perfect location for you event.

Boasting close to 5-star reviews on both Facebook and Yelp, Hands on Gourmet has hosted lots of satisfied clients. One reviewer on Yelp wrote:

I had the opportunity to go here for a work function. I regularly prepare blue apron meals, but this was even better! The chef’s are super friendly, helpful, and patient and they make the whole experience fun, even if you have no idea what you’re doing! We took the French cooking course…It was super educational but still super fun. The best part is feasting on all the food you prepared with all your friends!

She went on to note that one of her coworkers was pescetarian and still had plenty of options to eat as well. Hands On Gourmet easily accommodates groups of all sizes and preferences. Your team will enjoy themselves, get to experience lots of great food, and learn lots of new skills to take home to their friends and family.

They offer this video as well to show you more about their company.

Jordan’s Kitchen

Posted on | by Cody Nailor

While looking for food related team building activities, I discovered Jordan’s Kitchen. Jordan’s Kitchen offers weekly hands on public cooking classes, as well as classes for private or corporate groups; they also cater private dinners and parties.

Jordan’s Kitchen offers both onsite corporate events, as well as events hosted in their kitchen. The classes are designed to get your team working closely together to execute something amazing. The classes are fully customizable and Chef Jordan will tailor the menu and theme to your group.

Jordan’s Kitchen has done team building and corporate events for scores of companies in the San Francisco area, among them are: AMEX, Nike, GAP, Facebook, and Google. Chef Jordan and his team have build quite a reputation for themselves – their fine dining experiences have garnered them many repeat corporate clients and a 5-star rating on Yelp. One corporate client wrote:

Jordan was a fantastic host. We had a group of 16 for a work event and Jordan and his team took excellent care of us. Everyone loved learning new techniques, cooking together and then sitting down to enjoy the meal we prepared. The food was excellent and the venue was perfect! I can’t recommend Jordan’s Kitchen enough!

Many of the reviewers wrote that they had experienced other cooking classes and that Jordan’s was the best yet, or that they plan on coming back time and time again. Excellent food and excellent service have gained Chef Jordan quite a bit of attention, and he lives up to the praise from his previous clients.