Cooking Team Building

Gourmet Culinary Challenges for Corporate Events

From cooking s'mores over an open campfire to barbecuing meat for dinner and preparing breakfast under the desert sky, team cooking challenges have long been a popular feature of our Amazing Race and Survivor Team Building sessions.

By popular demand, we have teamed up with chefs in the greater Toronto area and we are pleased to bring you a number of cooking team building sessions for your next corporate retreat or cooking challenges as a stand alone team recreational event.

No matter which challenge you select, at the end of the session, you'll have a chance to relax and bond with your team over an exquisite gourmet meal prepared by your team under the supervision of award-winning chefs.

• Our Unique Approach
• Demo and Dine
• Iron Chef
• Next Great Chefs
• What it will Cost

Our Unique Approach

Make sure you are comparing apples to apples!

While some of our competitors provide appetizers or light snacks that you "nibble as you go", participants in our sessions sit down, relax, and enjoy a FULL 3 or 4 course meal at the end of their session.

Please note: We offer a luxury team building experience.

Make sure you KNOW what you are getting for your investment!

We offer a unique experience with:

• gourmet food,
• award winning chefs who have worked at some of the finest establishments WORLDWIDE
• truly beautiful locations.

Accordingly, we are not the lowest priced provider.

Gourmet Culinary Team Building sells out fast. At times we can book cooking team building sessions on short notice. However, this is a popular team building session. Avoid disapointment. We highly recommend that you book cooking team building at least 6 weeks in advance (8 - 12 weeks in advance for Christmas season bookings) and that you provide a few options for dates.

Pleased Participants

Comments from Demo and Dine for Rogers (Fido):

Table 1

This demo and dine is pleasantly surprising. The chefs are very open to questions, VERY knowledgeable not just about cooking but about anything pertaining to it. The idea of eating what we were taught to cook is refreshing. Very unique experience indeed. Totally enjoyable night for everyone.

Table 2

Demo and dine was AWESOME!

Very tasty

An offer of seconds would have been nice.

Salad dressing was excellent!

Demo and Dine

This interactive session is ideal for a late afternoon or evening event and the perfect alternative to taking your team out for dinner. First, our chefs will demonstrate how they prepared each dish and every course of your meal. Then, volunteers from your group will have an opportunity to volunteer to try it. You'll pick up dozens of tips to improve the quality of your own dishes.

Iron Chef Cooking Team Building

We will divide your group into teams. Each team will uncover a tray or box with specific ingredients. Over the next hour, the competition to prepare the best 3 course meal with the ingredients provided will be intense. At the end of the contest, there will be a period of judging and we'll pick a winner.

Next Great Chefs Cooking Team Building

This cooking team building session involves the most time in the kitchen. You'll be divided into teams. For a 4 - 4 1/2 hour cooking team buildng session, we'll provide you with recipes, all the ingredients and utensils you need and chefs to coach you. For business related team building, we'll have one observer for each team to record team dynamics. You'll receive feedback from professional chefs and enjoy your creations. Then, a trained facilitator will debrief the session with you and focus on how to apply what you have learned to business.

If you have time for a longer cooking team building session, we will give each team a budget, an opportunity to brainstorm, come up with a menu and shop for ingredients before the cooking begins. Either way you will have loads of fun, tons of laughs and take away some valuable lessons about team effectiveness. We do have the option of taping your cooking team building session and cutting the footage together like a reality TV programme if you so desire.

More Pleased Participants

Comments from Recent Next Great Chefs Cooking Team Building for EMD Serono:

I came in this morning not knowing what to expect. I was amazed how much fun I had. It was great working with my co-workers in a totally different environment

A painless way to learn. I’d do this again in a heartbeat. A really great experience

A fun day to interact with colleagues in a new and novel environment

It was excellent and very relaxing. I enjoyed the team building.

I could not thing of a better way to work with my teammates! I couldn’t see us being happier and having more fun at work! Plus the food was great!

Overview of Next Great Chefs

Pre-Event (Use Higher Rates)

• A few weeks prior to the cooking team building session, learning style surveys and participant profiles will be distributed to identify business challenges and pinpoint team strengths and perceived areas for improvement

Pre-Briefing for Business Team Building: Links to Team Dynamics and Business Challenges (Use Higher Rates)

• A trained facilitator will do a presentation highlighting the links between cooking team building, business and team effectiveness

Optional: Menu Design

• We will divide your group into teams and give each team a budget.
• Your team will have an hour to brainstorm and design a 3 or 4 course menu.
• You'll have an opportunity to get feedback from a professional chef and refine your menu.

Optional: Shopping Challenge

• You and your team will shop for the ingredients to prepare your creation.

Phase 1: Gourmet Cooking Challenge

• Your team will have to work smoothly together to prepare your meal.
• Each team will appoint a team leader and have a chef's assistant available.
• A professional chef will provide coachimg to the teams as required.
• In preparation for the judging, each team will prepare a presentation plate of each of the dishes.

Phase 2: Relaxing and Dining

• While you relax and dine, the judges will sample your creations.

Phase 3: Judging

• the judges (professional chefs) about your work in the kitchen, the quality of your meal, and your presentation
• while coffee and desert are served, you'll receive feedback from a professional facilitator about the effectiveness of your teamwork including tips for improvement and applications to business

Phase 4: Debriefing, Team and Business Applications (Extra Charge)

For business related team building, a full debriefing will take place to give your team feedback about team dynamics and link your experience to the business challenges that confront your team.

• a professional facilitator will give you feedback about your ability to work as a team, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement.

Still More Pleased Participants

More Comments from recent Demo and Dine for Rogers (Fido):

Table 3

AMAZING MEAL!

Great Dinner

Thanks for the great meal. Very entertaining.

Table 4

"Great concept.

Wonderful experience, good food.

Great to learn at the same time as enjoying a fantastic meal.

What will it Cost?

Cooking Challenge (For Team Recreation Only)

These prices do not include soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, taxes or gratuities

Including venue and gourmet food, for a strictly recreational event, you can expect to pay a minimum of:

• $400 P.P. (York Region) - $500 P.P. (Downtown) for 10 participants
• $250 P.P. (York Region) - $275 P.P. (Downtown) for 20 participants
• $225 P.P. - $230 P.P. for 30 participants
• $210 P.P. - $225 P.P. for 40 participants
• $195 P.P. - $210 P.P. 50 participants
• $175 P.P. - $191 P.P. 60 participants

Cooking Challenge and Facilitation (For Team Building)

These prices do not include soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, taxes or gratuities

Including venue and gourmet food, for business simulation with facilitation and debriefing, you can expect to pay a minimum of:

• $465 P.P. (York Region) - $570 P.P. (Downtown) for 10 participants
• $315 P.P. (York Region) - $335 P.P. (Downtown) for 20 participants
• $245 P.P. - $250 P.P. for 30 participants
• $225 P.P. - $235 P.P. for 40 participants
• $205 P.P. - $215 P.P. 50 participants
• $180 P.P. - $195 P.P. 60 participants

For business facilitation, the additional charge covers the cost of a business facilitator to debrief the session and trained observers to observe team dynamics so that we can provide feedback.

Niagara on the Lake

• $350 - $500 P.P.

For an additional fee, we can arrange transportation by limo or luxury shuttle bus

To discuss your requirements and find out how we can help your team achieve its objectives, please contact us via telephone, e-mail or submitting the Booking Request Form that you can access through the Book Services links.

Free script for photos provided by JavaScript Kit

site design by icebergblue