Came here for a team offsite for 20+ people. It was great to prep a multi course meal. Similar feedback to previous reviewers, the chefs didn't seem super friendly and happy to host us. With all the food cooking, the kitchen area got a bit smokey. I wish there was better ventilation. Overall solid 4 stars. We had crispy rice patties, veggie risotto, steak, and mini cupcakes. I would recommend for a team event. This was much better than the ramen making event with a different vendor we did as a team event last time. read more

To be honest, I expected a little better out of the full event. The Good: The recipes were easy and the food was good. There was enough space to go around and not be cramped (16 people on our team). They allow us to bring our own wine bottles. The Bad: The main chef was not very friendly. She was snappy, and sometimes upset when you ask her questions. She almost seemed like she did not want to talk to people or almost talking down to them. The other staff members were really nice. Out of 6+ ovens they had. Only 2 were working and NOT working properly. This is a cooking event space, and if there are no functional ovens, I think it defeats the purpose. In addition, most the knives were dull and barely cut well. You get to cook one of the 4 or 5 dishes. I would highly recommend you rotate the stations, and everyone learns a little more hands on. Way too much teaching compared to doing. Some might enjoy the simplicity, but for a high ticket price, I would expect more. I would say if they fixed the oven problem, and became a little more hospitable, then it would be an easy 5 star place. read more

We came here for a work offsite fun-day and we had a real hoot! I was on salad duty, which was a bit of a drag, but I got to lend a hand to Jon Page on dessert, and that was a highlight for sure. We had a great time, ate some great food, and learned a few things along the way. Overall, I highly recommend this place for a fun work outing, or an evening event with your friends if for some reason none of you have a kitchen of your own. I was even inspired to write a recipe of my own, inspired by the Strawberry tart twisters that we made that day. (See below). --- Schlitz Cocktail Slushie* Recipe Prep time: 2 minutes Ingredients: Frozen beer (optional: whipped cream, cherry) Here's a hot top for a cold problem: Have you ever put beers in the freezer then forgotten about them? Oh no, they're ruined! But nope, not so fast. With this neat trick, you can turn your frozen clunkers into tasty slam dunkers. 1. Take a knife or mid-sized power tool and slice the beer can in half (long ways or short ways, dealer's choice) 2. Take a half beer can, now filled with a beer slushie, and cover the exposed beer slushie with whipped cream. 3. Add a cherry to the top. It's called a Schlitz cocktail slushie! And I promise, there's no better way to turn a real wasted batch into a real touchdown catch. Note: If you don't have whipped cream and/or cherries handy, you can hold the whipped cream and just scoop out the slushie beer with a spoon and dish it into your mouth-hole. This is called a Schlitz slushie and it's an equally great treat for a hot day, or even if you're feeling like having a Schlitz cocktail slushie but you're also on a diet. *Note: If you're from Rhode Island or another area around New England, you may refer to this as serving a beer "Rhode Island style" or "Rhode Island a la Mode") read more

Amazing experience at Parties That Cook. We hosted a group for a client outing and they loved it. You can BYOB and they provide glasses and an rustic bucket to display the alcohol. The instructor was incredibly nice and helpful. Not only was the food delicious but the instructor taught us different tips in the kitchen such as knife skills and frying. read more

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I had a team offsite here for about a party of 8-10 people. They provided us 2 different options for a lunch we can cook. We opted for the salad, chicken, and blueberry dessert. The whole experience was really fun. Everything was explained clearly and even provided tips on how to cook/cut efficiently. They were all incredibly helpful. This was my first time doing a cooking class and it certainly met my expectations. Large part of it was the great staff and my team's awesome cooking skills. Parking is a bit difficult since it is in the residential area, so just be prepared to possibly drive around a while until you find parking. read more

Great event space - accomplished & enthusiastic owners. Just the right size for small or large make- a - soup night. They give you 3 broths, you choose your ingredients- all healthy with lots of suggestions. Nice arty gourmet kitchen - photo-ops galore. You get the space & a chef for whatever you've got in mind for your friends or corporate bonding exercise. The crew is friendly & have great accents. read more

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I was on a business trip in San Fran when my co-workers and I were given this wonderful opportunity to have a cooking competition with Parties that Cook. The party was at an offsite building just outside of San Fran and it was beautifully decorated. There were 5 stations and each had a different menu. There were churros, puff pasteries, tostones, and the best and winning station, the donut station (which, of course, I was a part of). There was wine and laughter throughout the party, and all of us had a blast. The host even gave a quick tutorial on proper cutting and cooking. The food isn't terribly difficult to make but can easily be bad if you don't follow directions. I wonder if there is a company like this in NC; it would be awesome! I highly recommend this company for a fun night with great people. read more

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My team and I had a fantastic time with Parties That Cook! They hosted ~40 of us at the Ferry Building in SF and they made this experience far better than I had hoped for because their communication was flawless and the chefs were patient with all of us. The recipes offered/ selected were the right level of intermediate for a group of diverse cooking experience. Not only did the food turn out edible, it was delicious! We can't stop talking about all the fun we had here and I look forward to my next team event with Parties That Cook! read more

Parties That Cook - Such lovely colors and food! - Cooking Schools Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Looking for a moderately challenging yet fun & relaxing evening for your team or group? This is it! Parties That Cook hosted our team of 20 at their North Beach Kitchen (quaint, cozy spot in a residential area) for an evening of great food, wine & company. -David & Mariangela made the set up process easy & smooth, and were extremely mindful of our dietary needs during recipe selection. They also arranged our alcohol needs via The Jug Shop delivered right to the PTC kitchen. -Chefs Don & Nicole balanced fun with practical - super relaxed instruction (if you didn't know how to hold and use a chef's knife properly, you will). -Eleazar kept us super tidy as we worked through our recipes. -Trent took great care with follow up after the event, sharing recipes & photos. We chose five Small Plates recipes and worked in teams of four. Chicken Tikka, Churros, Korean meatballs, Pizzettes, Tostones. Every dish was DELICIOUS and served as dinner - we were stuffed by the end, and even had leftovers. The recipes were intermediate level, and after the evening's guidance, absolutely doable at home for even a novice. We look forward to our next event with Parties That Cook, and highly recommend. Thank you for hosting! read more

Parties That Cook - 11/13/2018 - Cooking Schools Near Me - San Francisco, California

I am not much of a cook. OK, I am not a cook at all but even I had fun. This is a really good team building activity. Nice music, wine, good conversation and everyone contributed to cook a 3 course meal that we got to eat and enjoy at the end of the night. Tanya was our host/chef and she was cool. The location was Kvanum Kitchen in SF which was a really nice spot. Surprisingly, the food we cooked (with a lot of help from the employees) ended up being very good if I may say so myself. read more

On the menu: Grilled Shrimp with Cocoa Nib Romesco Sweet Potato Pancakes with Crispy Prosciutto and Sour Cream Mini Apple, Roquefort and Caramelized Onion Pies with Honey Whole Grain Mustard and Garlic Marinated Beef Brochettes with Kumquat Aioli Chocolate Pretzel Cookies with Mexican Hot Chocolate Dipping Sauce Great, great time at Circolo restaurant. It was a couples Valentine event so the spirit was super lovey dovey. We had a great time. The chef and sous chefs were very helpful and answered all of our questions. I learned how to mince garlic, cut onion, and work with fresh herbs. There was a full bar that we were able to have a few drinks before we started. We were given aprons and split up in groups for stations after a demonstration by Chef Laura. We met people and had a great great time. They also do parties where they come to your house so that's next on our list. Good times all the way around. Definitely would do this again!!! Thank you parties that cook. Good time, good food, and good fun!!! Yay!!!!! read more

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My boyfriend and I love to cook (and bake!) so I was really excited when he surprised me with "just because" tickets to Parties That Cook's Date Night Couples Cooking Class. The class was held in the Dacor showroom kitchen in South San Francisco. Although, we didn't get to cook in the showroom, it definitely gave you appliance envy walking through (I don't even use microwaves and I can't stop thinking about their beautiful touchscreen microwave on display!) Everyone brought a bottle of wine to share and Parties That Cook provided some crackers and cheese while we waited for all 13 couples to arrive. The event was supposed to be from 6:30pm-8:30pm and I was surprised that they waited till 6:45pm when all the couples arrived to begin. Chef Sarah welcomed us and gave us a 15 minute demonstration of some basic kitchen tricks (e.g., how to mince garlic, how to dice an onion, etc.) Then we broke into small groups of 2 or 3 couples and scattered to the 6 cooking stations. We were told that we would be able to rotate through multiple stations throughout the night so we could try multiple recipes and learn to cook a variety of items but this was not the case unfortunately (which made it that much more important that you liked the first station you picked!) I personally think instead of having people pick stations couples should be divided by skill level since some newbie cooks were actually at some of the more difficult stations (and thus held everyone else up). Thank goodness for the wine and music to keep the rest of us entertained. Basically you're given the supplies, ingredients, and recipes and just start cooking. The six recipes our group of 13 couples made were: -Batter fried green beans with spicy ponzu (our station) -Polpette di Melanzane: Crispy eggplant croquettes with melted scamorza centers and tomato sugo (very yummy!) -Little fish tacos with cucumber salad and chipotle-lime aioli -Albondigas - meatballs in almond, garlic, and parsley sauce -Crostini of Artichokes, Picholine Olives and Shaved parmesan (pretty good) -S'mores: Chocolate graham cracker cookies with homemade marshmallow frosting Overall it was an OK experience, but pretty pricey ($160 per couple) for what you get (basically you cooking but not having to do dishes or go grocery shopping). So, you may be asking yourself, so why do they have a 5 star review on Yelp then? Well, interestingly enough, Parties That Cook try to bribe you to write 5-star reviews! When they send out the email with information regarding the recipes and pictures after the event, they also state: "If you had a blast at your event, please consider joining our Raving Fan Community with a 5-star Yelp Review! *You'll enjoy fun perks and giveaways throughout the year. * Plus, receive the invitation to an incredible event, exclusively for Raving Fans. Allow us to say, "thank you", as we share delicious bites and spectacular wine. Juicy details to come..." Parties That Cook's efforts to inflate their Yelp review ratings is really what dropped them from a 3-star "A-OK" experience to a 2-star, "I will not return nor will I recommend this to anyone". I use Yelp to get real, truthful reviews, not to read content that was written just so someone can get some free swag. Consumer BEWARE! Bottom line, they provide the ingredients and recipes, otherwise you're paying $160 to make your own dinner - IMHO, save your money and go to a nice dinner instead or sign up for a cooking class through Sur La Table, Williams-Sonoma, etc. Regardless, I was lucky to have a great date to the event - he makes any evening an enjoyable one! read more

07.12.12 I've used Parties That Cook for the past four summers. Rosie is friendly, responsive, and super knowledgeable about the company and all the different venues. I've held events at Roe, the Ferry Building, and the Bently Reserve. This year, we made: Homemade burrata with grilled bread, slivered basil and sea salt Albondigas: meatballs in almond, garlic, and parsley sauce Crunchy corn flake and buttermilk coated fried chicken skewers with ranch dressing Steamed littleneck clams with spicy Italian sausage, white wine and garlic Banana and mango spring rolls with caramel-rum sauce Looks delicious, right? I can't stop thinking about the corn flake chicken. They were so good that we couldn't put them on skewers quickly enough, as people were just grabbing them off the plate! They work with local beverage stores and will have your drinks available on deck before you arrive. This is the event company that event planners love - they take a lot of the work off of your plate, and turn your plate into something delicious! (Or in my case, just edible.) read more

We went to a couples date night cooking class and it was just OK. We spent a lot of the time watching a demo, which I found to be a waste of time. I can watch people cook for free on the Food Network, so I don't need to pay for a class in order to do that. When we finally got to cook we were split up into teams and were only able to assist with cooking 1 out of the 5 dishes. I wish that we were able to rotate through the stations. On the plus side, the crowd was friendly and it was a fun night out. The recipes came out well and were good enough that I'd like to recreate them at home. I would recommend this class if you're looking for something different to try for a date night, but not if you're looking to really improve your cooking skills. read more

This entire thing probably isn't my cup of tea but the reason for the two stars has to do with their total lack of sanitation. One of the lead chef's touched he hair and then touched the food. That Then she did the most stunning thing of all and proceeded to crack and egg and then wipe her eggy hand on her apron! That is a major foul. The recipes were sitting the spilled eggs. Another chef took a raw egg plate from me while she still was serving food in her other hand. She didn't even pay attention to touching the next plate with that same eggy hand. I didn't feel like I could eat their food at all and then the chicken was not cooked all the way through. This place has salmonella written all over it. read more

Ilene was great to work with. Due to unfortunate circumstances on my side, I wasn't able to book an event but want to commend Ilene for her voracious help in trying to squeeze my group into an event, the same week. She did everything she could to make something work but it fell through, not for any fault of hers. I'll be looking to book an event with her in the near future and look forward to working with Ilene+crew again. As far as customer service, speed, and making their customers feel valued, Ilene and Parties That Cook are all-stars. 5/5 read more

I was disappointed in my experience with Parties that Cook. Namely because when I bought the class as a birthday gift for my boyfriend, my understanding was it was located in Potrero Hill & had planned to go out to a few bars following the class to celebrate. The day before our event was being held, I got a reminder email with updated directions. Upon reviewing, realized the location had been changed to South San Francisco (which meant we'd have to take 101 on a Friday at 6pm...) My boyfriend & I ended up having to leave an hour early to drive there & found it was located right by the abandoned Levitz Outlet in a kitchen showroom. We had been planning to enjoy some wine together during the lesson (and after, too!) so it was a huge bummer to learn one of us had to drive. My other quibble: you don't really "cook" You mix some ingredients together & call it a day. If you're looking to learn new skills, I'd recommend trying a different class though I will say I really enjoyed the recipes that were shared during the event. The staff was also very pleasant & you could tell had gone to lengths to create a fun experience. We went for the "Date Night" themed event & enjoyed meeting & mingling with the other couples -- it was definitely fun trying the finished products at the end, too. If the event had been held in the original location, I think we would have enjoyed ourselves more, but given that change-up & we didn't really learn any new cooking skills, unfortunately, it didn't meet our expectations. read more

We did a Google corporate event with Parties That Cook and they went above and beyond our expectations. The event was for about 30 people and not only were they able to find a venue that would fit us all, but they were also able to accommodate our budget. The staff was not only very knowledgeable but very professional and yet fun at the same time. They gave us advice anytime we asked for it but they also didn't step on our toes and really let us go with our imagination. Every person we worked with was great, from the initial setup to find out what our budget limit was, to the chefs, every single person really cared about us and wanted to make sure that we had a great time and a great time it was. The whole concept is great, you split up into 2 teams, you have 4 main items that you have to work with (which we all voted for beforehand). You take these 4 items and come up with a theme, and you just start cooking! The chefs give you a bit of advice here and there but overall the entire creation is yours. Once the cooking is done, you plate the food and the chefs are now the judges of the food, a winner is declared and the boasting starts. It was one of the most successful offsites we've had here at our company and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to have a great time cooking with friends, coworkers, or family members. Parties That Cook rocks! read more

This is the ORIGINAL cooking party company that has been doing it for over 10 years. Executive Chef Bibby Gignilliat is the dynamic personality that heads up this innovative organization that does scrumptious cooking parties that are a *blast*. Their specialty is doing team building events for companies, but they also do private party cooking classes and special classes at Sur La Table. I went recently to one of the the singles events and it was really fun--a good mix of about 30 people of all ages, with a good male:female ratio. We learned a few really simple but tasty small plates recipes. After the class, you get a certificate for 10% off Sur La Table merchandise (woohoo!). They do everything--all you need to do is show up! read more

The corporate team-building events sound fun, but I went on a public night with the bf, and we were pretty disappointed. The website didn't mention that of all the wonderful dishes being made, you only get to work on one. And we got assigned chocolate chip cookies, which we pretty much got the handle on when we were 7. The people were nice and it would have been fun in theory, but I wanted to learn a variety of cooking techniques, whereas here they just showed us some tips like how to cut an onion, and then sent us off to cook on our own. They do give you the recipes so you can make the other dishes yourself in your own home, but I wasn't crazy about a lot of the recipes. My boyfriend was so upset that he asked for his money back afterward. They were really nice about it though and gave him a refund right away. It's not entirely their fault that the event didn't go well for us...in two hours it's hard for everyone to get to work on every aspect of a six-course meal. So I've bumped up my rating to 3 stars--even though we didn't have a perfect experience, most other people seemed to have a great time and went home happy. If you're looking for a fun night with new people, by all means go. But if you're looking to get some real cooking skills (they did call ours a "cooking class," not just a cooking party), this probably isn't the best way to do that. read more

I went to a Parties that Cook singles event at Sur La Table in Union Sq last Sunday. It was well organized and put together, with the theme being an Iron Chef style cooking battle between two coed teams. The main ingredients were lamb, corn & zucchini, and couscous. Each person brought a bottle of wine to share and we mingled after signing in and putting on aprons. There were two teams already setup and they went over basic safety, sanitation, and how to cut veggies without cutting your finger off. The kitchen area seemed quite large at first, but once we got into the prep and cooking, it became a little crowded. Still, both teams were able to get all their cooking done and there were plenty of pots, pans, knives, etc to use. A bunch of other veggies, spices, sauces, etc were laid out on the counter for us to use. Each team had a chef from Parties That Cook to advise/help with cooking. Definitely a huge help. My team was split up between lamb, veggies, and couscous to divide the work. There were even judges at the end, but unfortunately, my team lost. :( Our dishes were really good though, and I thought our presentation was way better. One of the chefs made a delicious chocolate mousse for dessert and we also got to sample the other team's food, which was quite good. I think our lamb was left in the oven for too long after we seared it, as my piece was a bit dry. As a singles event, I thought it was a cool concept and pretty fun. I definitely had a good time, drank a lot of wine, and laughed a lot. All the wine that people brought was finished before we even finished eating dinner. Drunkards. lol!! I had to drive later, so I didn't get as hammered as the SF locals did. I didn't really click with anyone though, but it's kept intentionally small, so I suppose it can be hit or miss. The age group seemed to vary a bit, and being 28, I would say about half of the women were older than me. Also, most of the people seemed to be from SF with a couple from Oakland/Berkeley. I didn't meet anyone else from the South Bay. I guess it would be pretty far to drive up to SF just for a singles event on a Sunday night. I was up in Burlingame earlier anyways, so it wasn't a huge detour for me. I noticed there were quite a few people who knew each other prior to the event. It seems like a good idea to sign up with someone you know. Oh, and we got a 15% off coupon for the day (10% for the week) to Sur La Table and a few people bought things afterwards. That was pretty cool, but I have more than enough kitchen stuff for now. EDIT: After comparing Parties that Cook to other events for singles, I have to say that their concept is really unique. Cooking is certainly a good and casual way to meet other singles. If you're tired of the bar/club/online scene, I would definitely give this a try. read more

My wife and I met at a Cooking for Singles event in 2007. We had a lot of fun in the event, the food was great, the atmosphere was perfect, and the staff was great. After the event a few of us even went out for drinks. My wife and I met a couple weeks later for our first date and everything else after that is history. Fast forward 4 years later and we have been married for 2 years, have a wonderful daughter, and it's all thanks for this event. I've also recommended it for many friends who really enjoyed it. read more

I surprised my husband for his birthday with a trip to the Dacor Kitchen hosted by Chefs Mick and Bonnie to learn 6 recipes and cook them in 2 hours! We did it and it was a ton of fun. The hosts were so patient and taught us many tricks of the trade. I don't often cook, but it has put a little fire in my belly to now get started... Thanks for a fun date night!!! read more

A friend couple of mine booked Parties that Cook for a birthday party last weekend and we had a BALL. The staff did a great job with prep time so that we could make a reasonable number of dishes that we could realistically cook in two hours. Chef Laura also shared a number of really useful cooking tips from how to best cut onions, cracking eggs, and roasting red bell peppers. On our menu: Savory Cupcakes of Lobster Macaroni and Cheese with Chives, Scallop Tostadas with Tequila and Ancho Chile Salsa, Crostini of Homemade Ricotta and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Jam, and Sweet Cinnamon Churros with Hot Chocolate Dipping Sauce. The food was delicious, and the best part? The staff cleaned up while we relaxed and chatted with one another about how much fun cooking together was! I highly recommend using Parties that Cook if you want to do something a little different with your friends! read more

5 stars made easy by these folks ventured here with my wife and cousin and close friend for some couples cooking, fairly large group maybe about 20 people we may have only prepared appitizers but all the food was excellent, the staff was very helpful, easy to talk too and walked you through literally everything. If you dont know how to boil water to save your life these folks will be sure to teach you how to and on top of that teach you probably 3-6 other dishes. some of the appitizers made - mini ginger cupcakes - did not have a taste of ginger at all haha - breaded chicken on skewers - chicken was juicy inside and flaky outside jhum - salmon mini bite - mini sandwiches with salmon and i dont recall if it was cream cheese or something else cut in a circle and served as a mini bite sandwich - persimon wit brie cheese wrapped in bacon sprinkled redwine - anything if not everything is better with bacon last item i could not recall it was simliar to a bread with spread on it, i will have to check the menu haha again good fun, good for small or big groups oh you bring your own bottle of wine to share more then enough wine to go around food ***** everyone has a dish to make broken in groups all food is excellent price $$ price can vary for us it was $50 per person service ***** excellent ambiance ***** in the dacor building it is more or like you are on the set of cooking network yee yee haha with a large mirror on the ceiling so you can view what each sou chefs are prepping at the main stove and table definitely would go back !!!! read more

COOKING CLASSES FOR CORPORATE EVENTS --- THE DEETS: - Needed to accommodate group of 40 - Must be at a winery - Must be within budget - Must have vegetarian options --- OVERALL: - The results? Amazing! My group was thoroughly satisfied with the menu, the winery which Parties that Cook partnered with as well as the atmosphere. The team that worked with us was very fun and accommodating. They did offer to take a photo of us after the event which was very low-resolution. But it was a kind gesture of them to send us a photo of a memorable experience. I would definitely re-do the experience at their San Francisco location with friends. I do recommend Parties That Cook for your next corporate event! They were a great team to work with and helped me stay within budget. #493 read more

Did date night w/ the bf with Parties that Cook and had a very good time :)...I think it was a couples night. Bonding, learning, eating -- what more could a good date entail? They held it this time at a kitchen showroom, so much better than cooking parties at warehouses and such. Event was BYOB and we started the night w/ a few glasses and cheese/crackers they provided. Recipes (6 or so total) were simple, but hands-on enough to be fun. Now that I think about it, not sure what the theme was, as dishes didnt exactly correlate (we had...corn cakes, zucchini cakes, meatballs, chulupas, chutney..). You basically only get to participate in one or two dishes -- so dont expect to become an overnight chef here. All the dishes are definitely ones I can reproduce at home w/ ease though. Staff is very friendly and cracked cute jokes whenever possible. I would recommend this for both couples and any events you want to hold for families/companies alike. TIP: Buy off Goldstar.com, you get a steep discount ($75/couple). I think price depends on event though. read more

Bibby Gignilliat has devised a new corporate and team-building approach - designed around eating. Why put yourself and your colleagues through yet another tiresome role-playing exercise when you can accomplish the same thing and enjoy a feast at the end of the night? That's the epiphany that came to Bibby a few years ago as a marketing exec at Williams-Sonoma. Not long afterwards, Bibby founded Parties That Cook. "I wanted to share my passion for food and cooking with my other passion: teaching," explains Bibby to us. She has also earned the title of executive chef and worked extensively in first-line restaurants and cooking schools. "At Parties That Cook events and cooking parties, we divide guests into culinary teams to prepare the evening's gourmet menu with coaching from our staff. It's very gratifying to see the looks of amazement on clients' faces when they taste their creations and realize what they can accomplish." With great music and festive drinks to set the mood, Parties That Cook serves up several options, from the more casual, people mixing Sumptuous Small Plates to the more competitive, Iron-Chef-style team-builder Kitchen Challenge Cooking Party. So whether you're planning a corporate event, a fundraiser or just want to host a one-of-a-kind party for friends in San Francisco, Chicago, or Los Angeles, give Bibby's apron a tug. read more

Just attended a night of culinary indulgence by Parties that Cook sponsored by a vendor of mine. It was a private event of 20 people in the basement of Sur La Table on Maiden Lane. Overall, it was a great night of good recipes, good food, and wine. The staff of Parties that Cook were super professional, super helpful, and super friendly. It was a 5 course meal including 2 appetizers, salad, entrée (filet mignon!), and dessert. The group was split up in teams of 3 or 4 people and then each team was assigned a station. Before heading off to cook, there was a 10 minute intro on how to prepare some of the ingredients of the night......I learned how to store parsley, roast a garlic, and how to cut a shallot properly (score! - I'm terrible in the kitchen). My team was assigned to make 1 of the appetizers: crab and shrimp brioche. All the ingredients were laid out on the table along with the recipe. Every once in awhile, a staff member would pop in to see how you were doing and offer you any tips. In my case, I learned how to properly insert a lemon into a juicer (I attempted to put the entire lemon in without cutting in half - doh! Managed to get a few laughs out of the staff though) Combined with the wine, everyone really enjoyed cooking the meals. The best part is, you only have to prepare the dishes...all the details like plating, serving and cleaning are taken care of by the staff. It also was a plus that the person leading the event (Scott) was pretty funny....helped to loosen up the crowd and get everyone excited about the night. At the end, you get a discount certificate to Sur La Table and you get the recipes + pictures from the night sent to you. Can't wait to get mine in the mail! read more

This was a super fun event and I learned something about cooking!! There were 14 of us that came. When we arrived, we were greeted with enthusiastic chefs and complimentary wine/beer/cheese/olives/meats. The space was pretty big, with two island counters, three large counter spaces, two stoves, and three sinks. One of the chefs than taught us simple safety precautions and general cooking tips (aka life lessons) such as how to hold a knife, how to cut vegetables, and not to touch a burning hot stove. Then, we split up into five different groups, each group to prepare one dish for the entire party. The cooking itself was all self directed--we were just given the recipe. Our stations already had the mise en place setup so we didn't need to do that much prep work (so we can focus solely on the "fun" part of cooking). There were four chefs roaming around to help out whenever needed, and they were all super nice and encouraging. I learned that it's not that hard to cook for yourself! Now if I would stop being so lazy and ever put on pants to leave my apartment. The food turned out great! Fantastic experience and would do again. read more

Had a corporate team bldg. event at the SF Wine Center (we chose the Kitchen Challenge). We had 14 people and were split into two teams...we have regular team building activites every quarter and this was BY FAR the most fun! The chefs/teachers are great and the selection of spices and other things to cook with were impressive. You can't go wrong here, we are making this an annual activity... read more

Really helped make our team offsite a huge success. Everyone in our group was commenting on how this was the most fun offsite they've been to (and they've been to A LOT). Such a great idea, especially for us sales & marketing folks that enjoy a competition. Food turned out great, and everything was expertly coordinated. Will find an excuse to use their services again! Oh and Brix26 was a great choice for the wine provider. Perfect selection! read more

We had a company team building event here and it was such a great experience. The staff was friendly and funny. They gave great tips on prepping that will definitely be helpful in the future. The recipes were gourmet yet easy to prepare in groups. The best part of all this was that we get to taste each others creations in the end. We were all stuffed and quite proud of ourselves by the end of it. It was a great way to get to know and collaborate with others in our team that we may not encounter in our daily work lives. Really fun experience overall. I would recommend this over some of the other more traditional team building events. read more

We were thrilled tp be invited to the PTC Customer Appreciation event at the Ferry Building last week, and it was fantastic! We had the opportunity to talk with local artisan vendors and taste their offerings before the cooking class started, which was an added bonus. Chef Bibby again gave us some great cooking tips. We then broke into groups to cook the fantastic recipes. The group at this event was much larger than the standard PTC class but it was no less fun. After finishing the cooking (I am amazed that that many people can have their dishes ready at approximately the same time - I can't manage to do that with 3-4 dishes at home!!), we put everything on a buffet table and proceeded to test the results of our labor. The spread looked amazing and tasted just as good! Going to this second PTC class just reinforced how much we enjoy it and want to do it more often. If you haven't pulled the trigger and signed up for a class yet, hurry! Do it now! Many thanks, Chef Bibby and the PTC team! read more

My team and I had a FANTASTIC time with Parties That Cook. One of my team members even said that it "was the best team offsite EVER". Chef Jed and team did an amazing job making us all comfortable and ensured we all had what we needed to complete our dishes. Everything flowed smoothly and the food turned out surprisingly good especially since most of us had little experience cooking. I must also give them credit for putting this all together for us in one week notice! Thank you Parties-That-Cook! read more

I just did the Farm to Table Cooking Event and had a BLAST! We got a great little tour of the farm, where we learned a little bit about how it runs, and got to pick lots of little tastes of delicious home-grown fruits and vegetables for ourselves! And we got to play with the cutest sheep and dogs. All the food was really yummy, and I've already tried two of the recipes again at home. It was a wonderful experience and a great way to make new friends! read more

Great time, great food. I had been to a cooking event at Tante Marie's years ago, and thought I knew what to expect when I was recently invited to a Parties That Cook event. I was wrong - Bibby G. made it so much fun, the food was so much better than I anticipated. The bottomless good wine didn't hurt, either. I knew about 10% of the people going in, and felt like I knew everyone well by the end of the night. If you have a chance to go to a Parties That Cook event, don't miss it. read more

A perfect date night. The food was so good and anyone could handle this and come away feeling great. Proud were the couples. The Dacor kitchen in Oyster Point gave us the best equipment to work on. The sous chefs kept the place uncluttered and provided anything we needed quickly and efficiently. Bibbi and her chefs are the best and everything was perfect. i would recommend getting a group of 6 or more together to make it even more personal. read more

After seeing tickets on Bloomspot, my husband and I decided to try one of their cooking classes. Normally $135 per person, but it was on sale for $65 per person. We took the Holiday Appetizer Cooking Class, which was perfect in learning how to make easy appetizers for upcoming holiday parties. The class was held at the White Mansion in SF, which was a home that the school rented. We actually got to tour the beautiful house. The class had about 25 people and we were welcomed with glasses of wine, cheese & crackers, and a goody bag, which included an apron and a ceramic peeler to take home. The class was scheduled from 12-2:30PM, but it started a little later. It was run by 4 people (3 chefs and a dish washer). For the first hour, the chef explained about the 6 appetizers that we were going to make. She briefly went over helpful techniques to use for each recipe. Then we split into groups and went to one of the 6 stations. The idea was for everyone to do all 6 stations, but it was impossible once everyone started that we pretty much ended up doing the one dish. We worked on Buckwheat Blinis with Smoked Trout and Sour Cream. In the end, we all got to eat what we made. THE BEST PART! It's really a fun experience to try although I'm not sure if I'd really pay regular price for it. I suspect that it's pretty expensive because they have to pay the rent on the venue. Great place to interact and meet new people. We saw couples, groups celebrating birthdays, mother/daughter, best friends, etc. The chefs helped to answer all the questions we had, took photos for us, provided helpful tips, and I thought the dish washer was very efficient in constantly keeping the bowls and utensils clean so we can reuse them again. The only con was that we didn't get to try every station. read more

Parties that Cook made spending time with my co-workers fun! Gather some pots, pans, knives, fresh ingredients, and co-workers, mix in some guidance from great chefs and toss it all together in an energetic and friendly competition and you've got a Kitchen Challenge Cookoff. Our company did a teambuilding offsite with PTC that was fantastic. We split into teams and voted a project manager to lead each one, then with the aid of our chefs, each team came up with a delicious dish. It didn't even matter who won in the end- we all had the chance to enjoy both meals! Great staff- they were really friendly, knowledgeable, helpful and excellent teachers. We had a blast and I hope we do it again next year. read more