Weeks ago, the company dinner season kicked off. The difficulty of finding a table for groups in the last month of the year has led more and more people to choose to change dinner for lunch or to either bring the gathering forward to November or postpone it to the first week of January. And, for some years now, a new trend has been gaining ground: replacing the traditional shared table (it's crucial who you end up sitting next to) with an alternative plan that, in many cases, resembles more of a team building activity.
Several companies offering these experiences in Barcelona can attest to this. “This month we have sold out,” explains Gerard Pintó, co-founder of The Playcook along with Oriol Cabanas. Since 2018, they have been organizing cooking competitions for individuals and companies in the purest style of MasterChef in specially equipped premises (they started in Sant Cugat del Vallès and have just opened the second one in Barcelona), and the success has been resounding. “We divide the employees into teams and, guided by our chefs, they prepare a recipe with the ingredients we provide them. They can cook anything from an Iberian secret to a crema catalana that we serve them at the end of the activity, accompanied by drinks.”
Lunchtime is becoming increasingly compatible with these meetings that are no longer limited to just a meal
Their contests are increasingly in demand during these dates, something they believe is due to companies seeking stimulating activities that go beyond mere fun, where teams work on task delegation or assertiveness when communicating with colleagues. “In the end, the competition is not won by the best cook, but by the group that demonstrates these skills.”
Enigmatiumroom combines dinners or lunches with 'escape rooms' of different themes.
These are skills also required in escape rooms, another rising phenomenon that Enigmatiumroom seamlessly combines with dinners. The three experiences they offer, combining games, entertainment, food, and drinks, are available every month of the year, but they have a high demand in December. “It is evident that companies no longer want to offer the traditional Christmas meal to their employees,” says José Luis González, the person in charge in Barcelona and Valencia of this group that has three themed restaurants in the Catalan capital. In these spaces, diners can find themselves in a refuge from the Spanish Civil War or a temple of pleasure, depending on the chosen option. Their most popular proposal is Enigmatium, where the first enigma of the night consists of discovering where the restaurant is located.
Company dinners are complemented with other activities, such as wine tastings or boat outings
Another plan that is gaining followers is wine tasting, “which also helps to build bonds among coworkers,” point out Isabel Sala and Enric Català, from Taca de Vi, which, among other services, offers home sommeliers. In addition to organizing tastings with catering at the company's premises or in restaurants to complement the traditional company meal, they suggest other activities that are highly requested during this time of year. From a team competition where participants must guess the region or grape variety of different wines to a visit to a winery with a sommelier which may also include a meal. “With this, companies seek to reward their employees in a different way,” they remark.
One of the dinners organized by Sondevela on their catamaran
And for those seeking emotions similar to those of a trip, company dinners on catamarans are also held. Sondevela is one of the companies that offers them: you can choose between a catering service or a private chef who prepares dishes on the spot as if it were a floating restaurant. “We organize dinners with the boat moored in the port or sailing, as long as the sea is in good condition,” explains Adrià Pessarodona, founder of the project, who reveals that they have just launched this service, but they have been offering corporate activities on their catamaran for some time, ranging from painting and wine to fishing or meditation.