Summer is the easiest time of year to get a team to say yes to something. Calendars loosen up, the mood lifts, and nobody needs convincing that a plate of jerk chicken with mango salsa beats another hour on a status call.
That’s the whole idea behind Rockoly’s summer cooking workshops: live, chef-led events built around the bright, seasonal food people actually want in July — smashburgers, Greek souvlaki, panzanella with homemade vinaigrette, and a fresh fruit tart that looks like a magazine cover. Your team cooks it together, in real time, from wherever they happen to be.
Here’s what’s on the menu this season, how a workshop runs, and what it costs.
What a summer cooking workshop actually looks like
A Rockoly summer workshop is a live virtual cooking workshop, not a video everyone watches in silence. Most menus run 60 minutes — a few of the more involved ones, like the fresh fruit tart, run 90.
Three things happen, and Rockoly handles all three:
- Ingredients arrive at every door. Fresh ingredients ship to each participant ahead of the event, sourced from Whole Foods wherever possible, in grocery-sized bags with enough for a family of four. Shipping is free in the US, with international options available.
- A chef and a host run the room. Your team joins on Zoom, where a professional chef walks everyone through the dish step by step while a dedicated host keeps the energy up, runs the chat, and drops in trivia and a mini scavenger hunt. You can meet the chefs who lead these events before you book.
- A planner does the admin. A dedicated Rockoly event planner collects addresses, handles shipping, sends the calendar invites, and quietly sorts out dietary restrictions and customization. Your job is to pick a date and show up hungry.
That last part is the one people underestimate. The reason summer workshops are so easy to say yes to isn’t the food — it’s that organizing one takes about fifteen minutes of your time.
This summer’s menus
Nine menus make up the current summer line-up, and they lean exactly where you’d want in July: grilled, citrusy, herby, and finished with something cold and sweet. Every one of them has a vegetarian or vegan path, and most have a gluten-free option too.
- Jamaican Jerk Chicken — BBQ jerk chicken with mango salsa, 60 min. Gluten-free, with a cauliflower steak for the vegetarians and vegans. Add rice and peas as a side (+30 min).
- Summer Smashburger — smashburger with lettuce and tomato, 60 min. The 90-minute version adds roasted brussels sprouts. Gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options.
- Spanish Tapas Party — fruity sangria, pan con tomate, and patatas bravas, 60 min. Everything for a non-alcoholic sangria is included; an alcohol kit is an optional add-on.
- Greek Souvlaki — vegetable and chicken souvlaki with tzatziki, 60 min.
- Jalapeño Popper — crispy outside, creamy inside, 60 min. Vegetarian, with a vegan option.
- Turkish Pide — the traditional oval flatbread filled with spinach and feta and finished with an egg, 60 min.
- Parisian Crêpes — thin, golden crêpes with brie and honey, 60 min. Vegetarian, with gluten-free and vegan options.
- Strawberry Shortcake — fluffy biscuits, peak-season strawberries, fresh whipped cream, 60 min.
- Wagyu Ribeye — Japanese wagyu ribeye, 60 min, gluten-free. The premium pick, with asparagus artichoke salad or baked sweet potato and green beans as a side. There’s a whole wagyu team building experience built around it if you want to go further.
Nearly every menu takes a wine or beer pairing add-on, and the crêpes and shortcake pair with sparkling wine. If your team is split between drinkers and non-drinkers, that’s fine — pairings are per-person, not per-event.
Returning summer favorites
Rockoly keeps the previous seasons’ best-performing summer menus available, so if your team already cooked their way through this year’s list, these are still bookable:
- Falafel with vegetables drizzled in tahini sauce — gluten-free and vegetarian as standard, 60 min
- Panzanella with homemade vinaigrette — the tomato-and-bread salad that only works in summer, 60 min
- Smashed Cucumber & Sesame Salad — gluten-free, vegetarian, 60 min
- Loaded Wedge with blue cheese dressing, 60 min
- Chicken Teriyaki Kebabs — gluten-free, 60 min
- Rainbow Fruit Tart — the 90-minute one, and worth it
- Rainbow Filled Cupcakes — vanilla cupcakes with sprinkles and buttercream, 60 min
Between the two groups that’s 16 distinct summer menus. If none of them is quite right, the full workshop catalog runs well past a hundred, and menus can be customized at no extra cost.
What’s included in every summer workshop
The price you’re quoted is the price you pay. Every virtual event includes:
- 👨🏾🍳 A live chef, plus a Zoom host who runs the engagement games and watches the chat
- 🧭 A dedicated event planner
- 📦 Fresh ingredients delivered to every participant — free US shipping, international options available
- 🛡️ Shipping insurance: lost, delayed, or damaged kits get replaced
- 🎯 Free customization and free dietary adjustments — vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, no alcohol
- 🧩 Free team-building games — trivia and a mini scavenger hunt
- 📸 A group photo
- 👨👩👧 Family and partners join free on the same screen
- 🎁 Gift options
That last one matters more than it sounds in summer. Kits feed a family of four, so a workshop that lands at 5pm often turns into someone’s actual dinner with their kids in frame — which is a large part of why these events land better than a mandatory happy hour.
How much does a summer cooking workshop cost?
Rockoly prices per person, on a sliding scale, and the rate drops as the group grows. Most summer menus sit in the same band; the wagyu menus are the premium tier.
| Group size | Most summer menus | Wagyu ribeye |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5 | $695 – $795 flat | $1,100 – $1,150 flat |
| 5 – 30 | $139 – $159 per person | $220 – $230 per person |
| 31 – 50 | $129 – $149 per person | $210 – $220 per person |
| 50+ | $119 – $139 per person | $200 – $210 per person |
The rate covers the chef, the event planner, the Zoom host, ingredient delivery, and gratuities. Pairings and side-dish add-ons are extra. Full numbers for every experience live on the team event rates page.
For a 25-person team, a mid-range summer menu lands around $3,500 all in — roughly what an off-site lunch for the same group costs, except everyone gets to keep the recipe.
If your team is together in person
Not every summer team event should happen on Zoom. If your people are in one place, a few things beat a virtual class outright:
- BBQ team building — pit masters come to your office or outdoor space for sauce competitions and grilling relays. It is the single most summer-appropriate thing Rockoly does.
- In-person team events — chef-led cooking at a venue, with the same white-glove planning.
- Office cooking events — if your kitchen or break room can host, the chefs will come to you.
Hybrid teams don’t have to choose: remote colleagues can join the same event virtually with kits shipped to them.
Summer events that aren’t cooking
Some teams want the summer social without the chopping. All of these run on the same planning model — live host, delivered kits, no work on your side:
- Virtual mixology class — two specialty cocktails or mocktails, taught live
- Virtual wine tasting — sommelier-led, bottles shipped
- Paint & sip — guided painting with drinks, ideal after a heavy quarter
- Virtual happy hour — the low-lift option when you have 45 minutes
- Brunch parties — eggs benedict and shakshuka, and a genuinely underrated slot for a summer Friday
Booking a summer workshop
Summer dates go quickly, especially the Thursday and Friday afternoon slots everyone wants. A few practical notes:
- Lead time. Two to three weeks is comfortable — enough to collect addresses and ship kits. Shorter turnarounds are often possible, so ask.
- Locking a date. If you know the date but not the menu, you can hold your date first and decide the food later.
- Group size. Anything from a handful of people to several hundred. Large groups get additional chefs.
- Gifting. A Rockoly gift card works for client appreciation or as a summer employee thank-you.
Common questions — dietary restrictions, international shipping, what happens if a kit is late — are answered on the FAQ page.
When you’re ready, browse the season’s line-up on the Summer Workshops page or book your event and a Rockoly event specialist will help you pick the menu, confirm the date, and take it from there.