Taco Tuesdays, Wine Tastings and Cocktail Tutorials Despite Pandemic Social Distancing Cook & James Still Brings The (Virtual) Fun

by Kara Cook

Very early this year, we began hosting social gatherings that turned out to be sold out opportunities for our friends, fans and followers to convene monthly and celebrate the little things in life. We began with monthly Pint Nights, then realized our people were far more interested in an evening noshing and sloshing Mexican fare than craft brews. So, Taco Tuesday became our thing and it was a hit.

Then COVID slammed us and we all know how that turned out. Everything canceled.

Well, last month, Taco Tuesday came thundering back - virtually - and, once again, it was a sold out success.

We developed branded purple boxes which included a taco kit (minus the perishables), branded margarita glasses and mini bottles of tequila and mixers as well as a few other fun goodies. After our reservations sold out, we hand delivered our boxes, making contactless delivery front door drops. Then, on a Tuesday in late September we all got on a zoom call. Everyone showed up and was super excited to share their personal spin on our purple boxes…some jazzed up their at-home version of Taco Tuesday with strawberry margaritas, some added kiwi, some added more fixings and we got a fun glimpse inside all sorts of different abodes.

Then, we broke to play electronic Real Estate Bingo. OMG, the “squares” were true life hilarious things realtors hear on the regular like “do you think our king bed will fit?” and “I’m not crazy about the view” and “no granite countertops?” and “is this laminate or real wood?” and the show stopper “can you show us these 5 listings right now?” We played crazy entertaining rounds, awarding $50 DoorDash gift cards and no one wanted to stop when our time was up.

So, by popular demand, we are planning more virtual events. Since we can’t meet in person, we’ll just have to get creative and deliver the fun on zoom.

Next week, we’re hosting a virtual wine tasting in which we’ll do the same highly-anticipated, hand delivered package with Cook & James branded wine glasses, two wines to sample (a pinot noir and a cabernet), non-perishable food pairings for each, and a sommelier we’ve hired will walk us through the legs and bouquet, the tannins and astringency, and how to tell if a wine’s bright, earthy or just what. We’ll have a “scripted" program with our sommelier so no bingo is planned and, sorry to report, it’s already sold out.

However, in early November, we’re planning a virtual cocktail class in which a bartender will pull back the curtain on the craft of cocktails...shaken or stirred, muddled or mixed, and much more. People who RSVP early will get the now-sought-after contactless delivery of our coveted Cook & James box with the fixings for two whiskey cocktails (tentatively), a branded jigger and high ball whiskey glasses to authentically practice at home while our guest bartender offers a sneak peek tutorial into the art of cocktails.

We’d love to include everyone, but for obvious reasons we do need to cap these virtual events. So be vigilant and reply quickly when you see the details go live. If you have questions, reach us at info@cookandjames.com or 404-704-0440 and please know that we are ALL pulling for a return to normal when we can invite everyone to our predictably over-the-top popular events in person! Because the more, the merrier!