In April 2023, we hosted a bachelor party of 17 people at Villa Vita, for whom Ilkka Arvola’s Cooking Course was organised. We received a lot of good feedback, but what was the cooking course all about?
“In our cooking courses, everything always starts with the customer’s wishes and requests and Ilkka then builds the menu based on those. The next step is to start the other preparations, which include, among other things, sourcing ingredients according to the number of people. This time we had a pretty big group of participants, but not all 17 people were involved in the cooking”
Asta explains that when you divide the work between 8 and 12 people, everyone can participate in the cooking, so that everyone can still have something meaningful to do. This time 12 people were involved in the cooking.
“Everyone was really enthusiastic! We divided the group into different areas of responsibility so that one small group was responsible for the starter, one for the main course and one for the dessert. There was also some outdoor cooking and for example the pike steaks were cooked on the terrace on the Kamado grill. We also opened up a bit about our company philosophy and the local food ethos.”
The real highlight, according to Asta, was of course when the group got to taste their own creations.
“At this point, we let them play in the yard for a while while we organised the serving side. As it was a slightly larger group, an extra table was brought in. We took care of serving all three courses, so the group could concentrate on enjoying good food and great company.”
“As for the equipment at Villa Viida, there are plenty of bowls, cups and utensils. As a rule, everything a professional needs for cooking is available at the cottage.”