For culinary team building with a twist, this private workshop brings your group into a community classroom devoted to fermented, pickled and handmade foods. In Oakland, in the East Bay corner of the San Francisco Bay Area, your group spends about three hours learning a traditional technique together, then sits down to enjoy what everyone made.
Private events welcome groups of 8 to 16 guests, and no kitchen experience is needed. They take place in the dedicated event space of a preserving and fermentation shop on College Avenue in Rockridge. Friends and family, companies and community groups all book these sessions, and every class is designed to be engaging, educational and fun.
What's Included
For culinary team building with a twist, this private workshop brings your group into a community classroom devoted to fermented, pickled and handmade foods. In Oakland, in the East Bay corner of the San Francisco Bay Area, your group spends about three hours learning a traditional technique together, then sits down to enjoy what everyone made.
Private events welcome groups of 8 to 16 guests, and no kitchen experience is needed. They take place in the dedicated event space of a preserving and fermentation shop on College Avenue in Rockridge. Friends and family, companies and community groups all book these sessions, and every class is designed to be engaging, educational and fun.
What's Included
- A private, hands-on workshop for your group of 8 to 16
- About three hours in the dedicated classroom
- A house-fermented welcome drink to open the class
- Instruction in the workshop theme your group chooses
- Ingredients and equipment for the hands-on work
- A shared meal of your handmade creations, or a cheese board for classes that do not end in a meal
Choose Your Workshop
- Jam making
- Handmade pasta
- Fermented pickling
- Fresh cheese and butter making
- Mocktail mixology
- Chinese-style dumplings
- Bean-to-bar chocolate making
- Fresh masa and tortillas
How the Session Runs
- Arrive and start with a house-fermented welcome drink
- Learn the background and basic technique of your chosen theme
- Get hands-on and make something delicious together at the shared tables
- Finish with a shared meal of your creations, or a cheese board when the class does not end in a meal
Why It Works for Groups
Fermenting, pickling and pasta making are slow, social crafts. Hands stay busy, conversation flows across the table, and the end result is something everyone tastes together. That rhythm makes these sessions some of the most relaxed cooking class team building options around, with plenty of room for colleagues to talk rather than race against a clock.
Shared tables and a shared meal also make it natural cooking team bonding: people who rarely work side by side end up stretching dough, packing jars or folding dumplings together. With a cap of 16 guests, the format sits comfortably among team building activities for small groups, so every guest gets real time with the instructor.
For planners comparing team building activities cooking classes can offer, the appeal is the variety: one booking can become a jam session in summer, a pickling class in the fall or a chocolate workshop before the holidays. It also suits corporate team building cooking classes for companies that want an innovative, educational outing instead of a standard dinner.
Good to Know
- The shop is open daily from 11am to 6pm, so guests can browse pantry goods and fermenting supplies before or after class
- Groups smaller than 8 can still book; the rate for each guest rises so the booking meets the minimum
- Classes are capped at 16 guests to keep the work hands-on
About Your Host
The host began in 2015 as a pop-up shop on Piedmont Avenue, with workshops held at two picnic tables beside a 100 square foot cedar shed. In 2016 it moved into its own storefront in the Temescal neighborhood, and after nine years of growing its workshops and shelves it moved to a larger location in Rockridge with its own dedicated event space connected to the retail store. Weekly workshops, free community classes and virtual classes run alongside the private events, taught by a variety of chefs, local makers and cookbook authors.
The founder has more than 15 years of experience with local, sustainable and handmade food, from learning sustainable farming to making wine with ambient yeasts and aged raw cheeses, and studied holistic nutrition. The shop also stocks pantry products, preserving and fermenting supplies and kitchen tools, and offers troubleshooting help for fermentation projects.
Plan Your Private Workshop
Share your preferred date, headcount and the workshop theme that interests your group to start the conversation. Bookings start at a minimum of 8 guests at the advertised rate, and classes are limited to 16, so the experience stays hands-on for everyone.
