Private Event Spotlight: AMPS Power Solutions Takes On the Italian Challenge

There's a specific kind of energy that takes over a room when forty people put on matching aprons and chef hats at the same time. The before-and-after is almost cinematic — one minute it's a group of coworkers loosely milling around with a drink in hand, the next it's a kitchen brigade. That's the moment we live for, and it's exactly the moment we got last week when the team from AMPS Power Solutions walked in with 40 of their crew, ready to take on our Cooking Skills Challenge.

The Group

AMPS Power Solutions came in 40 strong for a team-building night, and they did something that immediately set the tone: they showed up with custom aprons and custom chef hats for the entire team. We see a lot of corporate groups come through our doors, and we love when a company puts that kind of intention into the night before they even arrive. The minute everyone tied on their gear, the whole room locked in. It stopped looking like a work event and started looking like a team.

A group of 40 is right in the sweet spot where the experience either soars or stalls. The most common complaint we hear from managers and HR leads planning big nights out is that half the room checks out — a few people end up running the activity while everyone else stands around waiting for something to happen. AMPS clearly didn't want that, and the matching gear made it obvious from the jump: every single person was in it.

The Experience

The AMPS team chose our Italian Challenge Menu for the night, which is one of our most popular formats and one we specifically recommend for bigger groups. The concept is simple: the group splits into smaller teams, each team is assigned courses taught in real time by our chefs, and at the end everything comes together on a single plate to be judged. There's a clock. There's a winner. There's a lot of good-natured trash talk.

Their teams got to work on dishes from scratch, rolling and cutting fresh pasta, building a bright composed salad, and working their way through the rest of the Italian lineup before it all came together on the plate to be judged. Two of our chefs were on the floor the entire night, walking teams through technique — how to roll and cut pasta to the right thickness, how to balance a dressing, how to plate a course like you mean it. With 40 people on the floor, that's the part we're proudest of. Every single person on the AMPS team had something to do, someone to work with, and something to figure out.

The group also brought in their own wine, beer, and seltzers, which is a setup we love for corporate events. We handled the glassware, kept the ice flowing, and let the team focus on what they came for. It takes the "who's running drinks?" pressure off whoever planned the event and lets the whole group actually enjoy the night.

And then there's the part that surprises most first-time groups: the poetry round. Before our chefs judge the dishes, each team has to present their course with an original poem. It sounds ridiculous because it's supposed to — watching a room full of power-solutions pros stand up and defend their pasta in verse is one of the best parts of the job. It loosens everyone up, it pulls the quieter folks onto the mic, and it turns the judging into a shared memory instead of a verdict.

The Result

The winning team walked away with bragging rights and a well-earned victory lap around the kitchen. But the real result is what the AMPS team took back to the office. They came in on a regular weeknight and left with flour on their clothes, a group text full of photos in matching aprons and hats, and the kind of shared story that gets retold at the next all-hands. That's the job, as we see it. A great team-building night should leave people with something they'll bring up months later — and AMPS Power Solutions has that in spades.

We're highlighting this event specifically because it's what more and more companies are asking for: team building that actually works at scale. Not a scripted icebreaker for 10. Not a "trust exercise" that your senior folks are quietly dreading. A format that can hold 40, 50, 60 people in one room, keep every pair of hands busy, and send everybody home having genuinely had a great time.

Interested in Bringing Your Team In?

Whether you're planning a quarterly offsite, a summer kickoff, a holiday team night, or you just want to give your people something they'll actually talk about afterwards — we'd love to host you. Every private event at Cooking Skills & Social is built around your group, your size, your dietary needs, and your goals. Big groups are our specialty, and we'll handle the details so you don't have to.

Reach out to us at info@cookingskillsandsocial.com to start planning your team's experience.