SoCal Team Building Cooking & Happy Hour

Both work. We’ll set up in a conference room, a kitchen, a patio or a rooftop, and the chef brings all the ingredients, supplies and equipment, so no commercial kitchen is required. If your building is strict about open flame, Charcuterie & Connection, Mixology & Mingle and Sipping & Socializing involve no heat at all — or go the other way and book the SoCal Office BBQ Bash, where the chefs bring the grill to your workplace. Prefer to get everyone out of the office? Your coordinator lines up a nearby venue in Los Angeles, Orange County or San Diego that fits your headcount.

A late-afternoon start is usually the right call. The workshop runs about two hours, so beginning in the mid-afternoon lets the event finish near the end of the day rather than sending everyone back into traffic twice. Because we come to you, there’s no second commute to a restaurant — people walk out of a meeting and into the room. If your group is split across LA, Orange County and San Diego offices, run the same menu on separate days at each site. Size is rarely the obstacle: events run from 3 people to 600 and up, with the largest groups split by office or department anyway.

The avocado, and it is a better story than it sounds. Practically every Hass avocado on earth descends from one tree in La Habra Heights. Rudolph Hass, a postal worker, planted a handful of seedlings in the 1920s, kept the one his children liked best after it stubbornly refused to graft into anything else, and patented the variety in 1935. The mother tree stood until root rot finally killed it in 2002. The Hass now accounts for the overwhelming majority of avocados grown and eaten worldwide, and all of them are cuttings of cuttings of that single Southern California tree. It is the kind of thing our chefs get into over the SoCal Office BBQ Bash, where California produce carries as much of the menu as the grill does. If drinks are more your team's thing, Mixology & Mingle puts a full station in front of every guest with all equipment and ingredients provided, so people build classic cocktails and seasonal sips themselves rather than watching someone else do it. Snacks, appetizers and non-alcoholic refreshments come with it, non-alcoholic versions of every drink are standard, and a cocktail shaker set is available as a $40 per person keepsake.

It’s one of the best uses of these menus. A hands-on event gives clients something to do besides make small talk across a dinner table. Charcuterie & Connection becomes a board-building competition, Tapas & Talk keeps everyone circulating, and Sipping & Socializing puts a sommelier in the room to lead the conversation for you. Nobody needs cooking experience — every step is demonstrated first. Add custom aprons with your logo at $40 per person and your guests go home with branded merchandise they’ll actually use.

Yes, and it’s a planning conversation rather than a day-of problem. Tell your coordinator what people need at the same time you tell them about dietary requirements — they’re already settling menu, timing and venue with you, and when they’re the one lining up the room, access goes on the brief alongside headcount instead of becoming yours to solve. The format does a lot of the work too. Every step is demonstrated before anyone tries it, the tasks are small and shared, and nobody is put on the spot in front of the room. Charcuterie & Connection is built at a table rather than a stove, and neither drinks menu asks anyone to cook. Anyone who would rather plate, taste or judge has a real job in the Charcuterie Tournament or Tapas Trivia, and everybody sits down to the same food at the end. If there’s something specific — a seated station, a room someone can move through easily, an interpreter — raise it when you pick the date and your coordinator will tell you what works in your space.

You provide the room and the guest list. Rockoly brings the rest: A chef or mixologist to lead the session and coach every station. Event helpers to prep, set up and keep the room running. A dedicated event coordinator who plans menu, timing, venue and dietary requirements with you and stays your single contact. A crew that sets the space up beforehand and cleans it completely afterward. Catering staff when a menu adds a buffet or a main course. Event insurance is included in every package. The most work you’ll do on the day is unlock the door.

The per-person rate depends on which menu you pick and how many people are coming, and it covers the event from setup to cleanup: Live instruction. All ingredients, supplies and equipment. Setup and cleanup by the Rockoly team. Extra food and drinks, so no one leaves hungry. A dedicated event coordinator, plus free customizations. Event insurance. Dietary requirements — vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher, no alcohol — are handled at no extra cost when you share them in advance, and mixing two menus together costs nothing either. Only named extras add to the bill: custom aprons or a cocktail shaker set at $40 per person, a Wine Lover Kit, wine and sangria, a vegetable paella main, cinnamon churros. Send your date and headcount through the form on this page for a firm quote.

Start from how many rooms you need. One event in one office is three weeks for a cooking event and four for a happy hour. The same menu across Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego on separate days is three chefs and three rooms, and that wants noticeably more runway than a single booking does. Rush dates sometimes come together when a chef has the day open, so it is worth asking before you drop a date. A deposit holds it; pay by credit card, ACH or check. Cancel 30 or more days out and you are refunded what you paid less any nonrecoverable costs already committed; 15 to 29 days out you choose between a 50% refund and a 100% Rockoly credit; inside 15 days payments are nonrefundable, though one complimentary reschedule is yours if you ask 30+ days ahead. Every event is covered by the Love Your Event Guarantee: if yours doesn't live up to expectations, we'll make it right. Call (617) 939-9732 or start with the inquiry form on this page.