Our business friend Jomag celebrated a milestone birthday, his 60th, and our mastermind group organized a Gallery by Chele zoom party to honor this occasion.
This is the first time I organized a zoom party for adults and here are some tips and learnings for your next virtual celebration…
Make sure to have good food to mark this momentous occasion from the best restaurant in Manila, @gallerybychele #GallerybyCheleATHOME.
Let the group treat the celebrant with a surprise 5-course menu. It is efficient to source all the food from a single restaurant to maximize the delivery charges. Add special greetings to the delivery package.
Ask the restaurant to deliver all the food 2 hours before the scheduled time and include the delivery cost with the meals.
Here are the delivery charges from BGC for perspective:
Dasma Village ₱90.00
Bacoor ₱256.00
New Manila ₱114.00
Merville ₱115.00
BF ₱160.00
Laguna ₱360.00
TOTAL: ₱1,095.00 / 6 = ₱182.5 average
Open the zoom session earlier and start with the appetizers over chika while waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.
In hindsight, the croquettes suffered during the delivery, so it’s better to choose an appetizer course that’d still be good considering the travel time.
A mini burger or a sandwich is good to start with a bit of chips and salad.
Be conscious about the packaging. Make sure to support restaurants that provide biodegradable packaging and say no to styro.
It was great that Chef Chele was able to join the zoom session to explain the food, contribute to the business mastermind discussion and end by singing happy birthday to the celebrant.
Make sure to book the Chef’s schedule ahead of time because their schedule gets busy during dinner time service.
We had a choice of steak or fish for the main course, and we wanted to have a healthier seafood option.
The choice of fish is important though because mackarel is high in uric acid and not good for those with gout problems.
A birthday celebration is not complete without paella or noodles, and I should have opted for fideua or noodles for long life as they say.
The paella would have looked better in round packaging, and it would be nicer to have overflowing toppings next time.
End with a satisfying dessert like their signature basque cheesecake bibingka version.
I forgot to order drinks but the meal would have paired well with Freska Kombucha.
Overall, everyone appreciated the food and the surprise greeting from the Chef! It’s nice to have a 5-course meal shipped individually to the different participants. It’s hassle-free in terms of logistics and billing.
I realized that I need to be better at ordering food that can survive the delivery or it would help if the restaurant would have recommendations on what works well for zoom parties like this without compromising taste and food presentation. We should have a cake with candle ready for the celebrant.
Happy 60th Birthday, JoMag! Thank you for the friendship, business mentoring and inspiration. God Bless you and the family! 🙂
Live an Awesome Life with Christ,
Founder & Digital Creator, Our Awesome Planet
Disclosure: We paid for our meals. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.
Disclosure: We paid for our meals and delivery charges.
P.S. For the birthday celebrant, make sure to send a thank you loot bag.
