With all the chat about Christmas events, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk more about what we can do for you at Social Cooking. We’ve been hosting Christmas events and year end parties for corporate and private groups for over a decade, and have spent that time honing our craft to make sure our customers have the most fun they can legally have.
Our events are fun, competitive and entertaining. Our chefs all have the personalities to be the consummate hosts, egging teams on, encouraging and joking, and providing a few tips and tricks along the way.
This is no Hell’s Kitchen – no Gordon Ramsay style theatrics, just a bit of gentle ribbing. We want our guests to have a great time, not feel humiliated!
That said, time is of the essence, teams must work together, and competition and creativity is key. How much is entirely up to you.
Christmas events formats
Let’s start with the formats themselves. This year we’re running the following three hour events:
- Christmas Masterchef – This is our most popular format. This Masterchef style Christmas challenge is fast paced, festive and fun. Teams compete to produce the best Christmas dinner meal of the day. Our pantry includes a bounty of seasonal, Christmas dinner worthy ingredients.
- Christmas Mystery Box Challenge – This is our newest and most challenging format. Fast-paced and fully interactive, youll be part of a team tasked with creating an amazing dish using a range of surprise ingredients. Give it a seasonal spin to win extra points!
- Christmas Banquet – Bring your team together to create a shared Christmas Banquet for you all to enjoy! Your group will break into teams and cook up to four different recipes to produce a delicious festive lunch or dinner.
Or if you’re keen for something a little quicker (and cheaper) we have 2 hour Short & Sharp formats. Make your own dumplings, take the Burger Challenge or make your pizza from scratch. All Christmas themed of course!
Generally speaking all our events follow a similar format, with slight tweaks depending on which you’ve chosen:
- Our events are approximately 3 hours long (although this is flexible)
- Guests arrive and enjoy some time to relax and possibly share a few drinks
- Our chef groups guests into teams and the fun begins!
- Depending upon the challenge set, teams will cook against each other for approximately 1 hour
- Guests will then retire to relax and dine on the fruits of their labours, while our chef determines which team reigned supreme on the day. We may even serve dessert, if this is part of the event format you have chosen.
- The chef will then announce the winning team, and the celebrations begin!
We should also mention that all 3 hour events include dessert. We are also fully licenced at all our venues.
Our team will take photos throughout the event, which we will send to you the following day. Nothing will be shared socially or on our website without your permission.
Optional Extras
While every guest at Social Cooking will produce their own breakfast, lunch or dinner, you should be aware that there’s approximately two hours from the start of the event before guests sit to eat (assuming a 3 hour format).
We’re working with Bespoke Food Service to create delicious canape platters for our guests to graze on prior to their Christmas events kicking off. We have a range of options available to choose from, all created from scratch, especially for you.
If you want to get your event started with a bang, you could also consider adding a cocktail making element. Our chef will demonstrate how to make the cocktails, then guests will work in teams to create their most flamboyant, delicious interpretation. Tasting all the way, of course!
Make Our Place Your Own
Our Social Cooking philosophy is that our place is your home. We want to welcome you in, and take the stresses and strains of your work day away. Fun is our focus. Our challenges are exactly that – challenging but not too much so, just enough to keep the competitive levels high.
We encourage our guests to add their own personal touches to their Christmas events. You could consider:
- Prizes – awards can range from the obvious (Top Chef, Messiest Station) to the obscure (Best Hair and Nails). Tailoring prizes to suit your own team adds a fun and competitive element to your Christmas events. Our only advice is to keep things light – no one wants to win the Wooden Spoon!
- Decorations – We will be decorating our venues for Christmas, but we welcome your personal additions. Whether it’s team signage, place names, bunting or extra fairy lights, we’re there for it.
- Music – No party is complete without a decent playlist. Our team will play music during your events, but we love our guests providing their own playlists. If you want us to play your favourite personalised Spotify playlist, please let our team know.
- Costumes – Have you considered theming your event? Encouraging your team to dress in costume for your Christmas events is a great way to get your team to relax and let their guard down. For more ideas, read our Top 10 Tips For Great Christmas Events here.
Our Venues
Our Christmas events are hosted primarily at our home base in Auckland’s CBD, or at our pop-up venues in Wellington. Although depending upon the size of your group, and your budget, we can host events anywhere in New Zealand.
In Auckland our home base is equipped with induction hobs and steam ovens, plus all the utensils and sundry cooking equipment you could need. We can accommodate up to 50 guests for cooking and dining.
In Wellington, our Christmas events can be hosted at either Mirimar Bowling Club or Victoria Bowling Club, dependent upon availability. Both venues offer a uniquely old school, Kiwiana style vibe, and have stunning outlooks onto beautiful green spaces. We can provide all of the equipment required to ensure your cooking event is a true Social Cooking experience. Both venues can host up to 100 guests comfortably.
Should you require larger premises, we are happy to bring our team to a venue of your choice.
We have also hosted events at Eden Park, ASB Events Centre, Ellerslie Events Centre, Hampton Downs and Villa Maria. Additional hire charges may be incurred for any offsite venue.
So what do I do now?
Give us a call to talk about your Christmas events, or drop us a line via our online inquiry form. You can find our contact details here.
Our team will be in touch as soon as possible (usually within hours) to discuss your requirements, the size of your team and anything else we need to know to make your Christmas events the best they can be.
We’ll then provide a written quote with all the details you need so you can make a quick and easy decision.
From there, we’ll take care of everything! Christmas events made easy at Social Cooking.
