Hosting a cooking class as a teambuilding activity is nothing new, but in an update to the tried-and-true group activity, artisanal food purveyors are now teaching corporate groups the methods of their crafts. Here’s where groups can make chocolate, bread, and cheese.
New York
The Upper West Side venue offers chocolate-making classes under the direction of owner Peter Moustakerski along with former Jacques Torres chocolatier Christophe Toury and chocolate scientist Dennis Teets. Groups can take part in activities such as dipping their own chocolate truffles to creating chocolate bars topped with dried fruit, nuts, and other toppings at the New York’s Voilà Chocolat.
San Francisco
A delicious baked good tastes all the sweeter when you’ve crafted it with your own hands. Let Sour Flour show you the secret to creating your own savory, satisfying sourdough starter to use in baking bread or tasty bagels. This class will take you on a step-by-step journey to demystify the art of making the perfect dough with that little extra bit of flavor, using a naturally fermented, wild-yeast sourdough starter. You’ll learn every step of the process, from mixing, balling, stretching, shaping, to baking the final product: a deliciously light, crisp bite with serious flavor and chew—the real pizzaiolo deal!
Milkmaid offers up a hands-on cheese making class intended (and priced) for groups of up to 15 throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area. The one- to four-hour workshop requires no previous cheese-making experience and revolves around hands-on classes in ricotta, mozzarella, and yogurt making. Along the way, students learn about milk chemistry, culturing, cutting, and churning processes; and are provided with tips on how to correctly age various cheese at home.
