Kayla Vennard, Executive Chef Events
As the world begins to open up and return to live events, you might ask yourself “How do we do live events post COVID-19?” Our team at Executive Chef Events considers safety as our number one priority. We are, after all, working with knives, fire, and now a mandate to keep every guest safe from not only food-borne pathogens but also COVID-19! Our staff takes this very seriously and taught kitchen safety across the board at all our Iron Chef Competitions, Cooking Classes, and Cooking Challenge events pre-COVID, and now we have adapted to include additional precautions for everyone’s safety as the circumstances have changed.
We follow the CDC and county Health Department guidelines closely and will implement all necessary precautions to keep you, your guests, and our team safe as the population becomes vaccinated and the risk of COVID subsides.
But returning to public gatherings could be a little different than you remember. Here are a few general precautions we are taking to keep everyone safe.
Social Distancing & Mask Wearing: Yes, we still need to social distance and wear masks while some of the population waits for their turn to be vaccinated. We are so lucky to reside in beautiful California and have the opportunity to plan events in healthy outdoor environments such as wineries, distilleries, or hotel courtyards. I’m sure everyone could use a bit of fresh air to wake them up from the humdrum life of quarantine! While cooking together doesn’t necessarily lend itself to social distancing, we are utilizing outdoor and open spaces wherever possible.
Cleaning & Disinfecting: This is not new to our team! Due to the fact that we are a deliciously fun events company, we have been implementing cleanliness since the beginning of our culinary team-building events conception. However, we have taken it a step further by adding additional areas for people to access sanitizer and providing extra staff to disinfect areas throughout the event between uses.
Eliminating Self-Serve Dining: Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that handling food or eating is associated with directly spreading COVID-19. However, as an additional precaution, we have adapted our in-person experiences to eliminate buffet or family-style dinners. Instead, we will serve individually plated meals or grab-and-go options. Our individual cookie decorating kits and professional piping and decorating experience fits perfectly within these guidelines and is a crowd favorite!
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