We’ve traveled the world of Four Seasons to bring you 8 must-know ideas in food and beverage for groups. From “foodie challenges” and luxury wine tastings to transforming a ballroom into different pop-up restaurants, discover new and delicious ways to make meals a memorable part of your next event.
| 1. Serve cuisine inspired by your brand. | |||
Instead of selecting from your venue’s standard catering offers, customize the menus to reflect your company’s brand. Take inspiration from your company logo, brand colours, heritage and latest products and services. Four Seasons Hotel Chicago created a travel-inspired series of meals and breaks for a major airline company.
As a welcome amenity in guest rooms, attendees received a chocolate replica of the company’s new plane – logo and all – flying over a chocolate map of Chicago. During a coffee break, food stations were based on the airline’s different destinations, including signs with airport abbreviations. At lunchtime, an announcement came over the loudspeakers, as if on an airplane, asking guests to please be seated as Four Seasons attendants would now be serving their meals. Lunch was brought out by uniformed banquet staff using rolling carts like flight attendants. |
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| 2. Increase attention spans with playful breaks. | |||
Energize your event with breaks that break the rules. Injecting creativity and a sense of playfulness into breaks helps attendees stay focused in serious corporate meetings. Here are two of our favourite ideas: Put a spin on the traditional coffee break with a locally inspired tasting. Instead of coffee and dessert, Four Seasons Hotel Denver offers a milk and cookies break with flavoured milks and freshly baked artisanal cookies. A local Colorado dairy provides fresh cow’s and sheep’s milk, which is then infused with fresh strawberries and locally made dark chocolate – with five variations in total. Cookies are crafted in the Four Seasons kitchen, following timeless recipes with oatmeal, chocolate chips, dried cranberries and nuts. Add some extra energy to a long day of meetings by including a fun, refreshing fitness activity with an al fresco snack. At Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, challenge your team with a race in traditional Hawaiian outrigger canoes, each holding six paddlers. Speed across the bay in heats of two or three – with the winner from each heat facing off for the championship. Finish up with a picnic on a secluded local beach! |
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| 3. Take your group behind the scenes for a fresh perspective. | |||
Surprise your group by taking them behind the scenes of the hotel for a uniquely inspiring meal. Attendees can learn first-hand how hotels manage guest food and beverage demands, craft locally sourced menus, or create a signature dish. Ask your venue if they offer back-of-house tours, cooking demonstrations or engagements with the executive chef. Four Seasons Hotel Chicago recently launched a new group experience “Breakfast without Barriers,” which welcomes groups into the world of Four Seasons kitchens with an exclusive tour and conversation with the chefs, before inviting guests to build their perfect breakfast.
Recently, the Hotel came up with a “Hive to Table” theme for a group of 100 guests. During a break, the attendees joined the chef for a tour of the bee apiary. Using honeycombs from the hive, a big bowl and a hot knife, Chef extracted nearly two pounds of honey and shared it with the group. The honey was used as a sweetener and garnish for the group’s “House Honey and Afternoon Tea” break – featuring Honey Drizzled Scones and Honey Hummingbird Cake. |
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| 4. Stimulate creativity, as well as their appetites. | |||
Promote a mood of creativity for brainstorming sessions by including a hands-on group cooking class. Many venues can organize cooking classes that highlight authentic local ingredients and special techniques, whether making pasta from scratch, ceviche or traditional French dishes. Learn from the Cooking School at Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, where classes are designed to delight both experienced cooks and beginners in the discovery of Thai cuisine. Like the Cooking School, incorporate a shopping trip to local markets to highlight your destination's culture and history. |
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| 5. Bond over beverages – great for networking! | |||
Find out your group’s drink preferences - are they coffee connoisseurs, wine enthusiasts or craft beer experts? Since cooking classes can be limiting in size, try out an educational beverage demonstration and tasting. It’s a great way to engage attendees either before, during or after their business sessions. At Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris, small incentive groups can enjoy a wine tasting in the historic wine cellar. Located 14 metres (45 feet) underground and off-limits to the general public, it features over 50,000 bottles and 2,500 labels. Turn your mixer into a mixology challenge. At Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, groups are divided into teams, and an expert mixologist guides them through the steps to create the perfect cocktail. Guests compete for the title of “Best Movers & Shakers” – a fun way to make your welcome reception more interactive. |
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| 6. Design your own restaurant experience. | |||
Check with your venue’s catering experts on the ability to design a restaurant-style experience that incorporates local flavours, but avoids the expense and complicated transportation of off-site dining. Our team at Four Seasons Hotel Seattle has come up with “Next Level Dining” in the grand ballroom – a venue with Elliott Bay views unmatched by any local dining spot. The ballroom can be transformed into different restaurant concepts, each with completely original décor. You can choose a full-service steakhouse called Primecut, or a seafood experience called Pier 99. Group guests may be seated on a flow basis, enjoying their own choice of menu items and wines. |
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| 7. Surprise attendees with a "pop-up" restaurant or bar. | |||
Some venues might not have go-to concepts for restaurant-style dining. Ask your conference services and catering contacts for successful themed events and menus from the past. Use their input to design a “pop-up” restaurant for your next group dinner, like a rustic Italian feast served family-style. At Four Seasons Resort Marrakech, the food and beverage team is spicing up the city with surprise pop-up restaurants and bars. Among the concepts are Bombay Cut, a gourmet Indian pop-up restaurant, and Buena Vista Club, a Cuban pop-up bar, serving traditional cocktails from Havana, such as the Mojito and the Papa Doble Daiquiri. |
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| 8. Challenge your “foodies” with a gourmet team-building event. | |||
Make your food and beverage budget do double duty as a team-building activity, encouraging friendly competition and connecting attendees. To get groups in the culinary spirit of California’s Bay Area, the team at Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley at East Palo Alto has created an interactive event called “The Foodie Challenge.” Small teams are formed and guided by culinary experts, and they have the chance to earn points as they rotate through various stations, testing their knowledge of ingredients and history. At the wine and spirits challenge, guests must identify the origins of three white wines and three red wines, then sample and name six classic cocktails. Tasting three different Italian cheeses, they need to name the type of animal milk used. Finally, teams are challenged to identify the name and use of obscure kitchen utensils. Once scoring is tallied, members of the winning team are declared the event’s official “foodies.” Adapt a similar game to chocolate, beer or even tequila. |
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WATCH
Astronomy meets gastronomy with Taste the Stars at Four Seasons Costa Rica, a new culinary experience created in collaboration with Costa Rican astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz. Enjoy luminescent cocktails and food infused with real meteorite as you dine under the stars for an amazing stargazing experience.