Cooking by the Book, Inc.

Culinary Team Building Servicescookingbythebook.com

Cooking by the Book, Inc. is a New York City-based culinary events company founded in 1989, offering hands-on, chef-led team-building cooking experiences for corporate clients and private celebrations at the De Gustibus Cooking School in Macy's Herald Square.

Company typePrivate
Founded1989
HeadquartersNew York, United States
Headcount11–50
GTM typeB2B and B2C
OfferingServices

What Cooking by the Book, Inc. does

Cooking by the Book, Inc. (CBTB) is a New York City-based culinary events company founded in 1989 by Suzi O'Rourke in Tribeca, specializing in hands-on, chef-led cooking experiences designed primarily for corporate team building, with secondary offerings for private celebrations such as birthdays, bachelorette parties, and family gatherings. Following a 2017 relocation, all events are now conducted at the De Gustibus Cooking School by Miele on the 8th floor of Macy's Herald Square, where CBTB operates as the anchor tenant and co-designed the new kitchen with the venue partner. The company is privately held, founder-owned, with no disclosed outside investors, no funding rounds, and no parent entity.

The product set consists of three packaged event formats: Team Builder (a three-course meal experience for 10-30 guests with reception, wines, and personalized embroidered aprons), Team Builder Light (a cost-effective two-course variant for 10-24 guests), and Market Basket Challenge (a Chopped-style competitive format for 10-24 guests), plus custom private events. Each event runs three hours and includes professional culinary instruction from expert chefs and post-event recipe cards. There is no proprietary software, app, or platform; the business is fundamentally a service operation built around in-person instruction, event orchestration, and curated chef talent with a content library of seasonal menus spanning American, French, Italian, and Thai cuisines.

The go-to-market is sales-led and direct, with bookings handled via phone (917-604-7591), email, and a quote-based contact form requiring a 50% deposit to secure dates. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, with packages subject to NYS sales tax and 20% gratuity. The company cites a 35-year track history serving a roster of named Fortune 500 enterprises and major professional services firms across legal, financial services, technology, healthcare, media, fashion, and luxury goods. Operations are confined to the single NYC venue with no disclosed expansion to additional geographies, no digital distribution, and no disclosed revenue or headcount.

Cooking by the Book, Inc. firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Cooking by the Book, Inc.
Legal name: Cooking by the Book, Inc.
Website: https://cookingbythebook.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1989
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 11–50 employees
Short description: Cooking by the Book, Inc. is a New York City-based culinary events company founded in 1989, offering hands-on, chef-led team-building cooking experiences for corporate clients and private celebrations at the De Gustibus Cooking School in Macy's Herald Square.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Cooking by the Book, Inc. industry classification

Industry

Product category: Culinary Team Building Services
NAICS: Caterers (722320)
SIC: Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)
akta.pro primary industry: Event Culinary Staffing & Back-of-House Services (Chefs, Servers, Bartenders) (THAHAKAN)

Keywords

Corporate team building events
Culinary team building
Hands-on cooking classes
Private cooking events
Corporate event planning

Where Cooking by the Book, Inc. is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: New York
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

Cooking by the Book, Inc. business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B and B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

Culinary Team Building Events: Corporate team-building cooking events held at De Gustibus Cooking School in Macy's Herald Square. Revenue generated through per-event fees based on group size and event package selected.
Private Events: Birthday parties, bachelorette parties, family celebrations. Same hands-on cooking format offered to individual consumers for private gatherings.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Other	Multi-year contract	Team Builder - Full three-course meal experience
Other	Multi-year contract	Market Basket Challenge - Chopped-style competition
Other	Multi-year contract	Team Builder Light - Cost-effective two-course option

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Cooking by the Book, Inc. product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Cooking by the Book, Inc. operates hands-on culinary events at De Gustibus Cooking School by Miele on the 8th floor of Macy's Herald Square in New York City. The core product is a 3-hour Team Builder corporate event for 10-30 guests in which groups prepare and dine on a multi-course meal under the guidance of expert Culinary Advisors, with additional event formats including Team Builder Light, Market Basket Challenge, and Private Events for individual celebrations such as birthdays and bachelorette parties. Revenue is generated through quote-based per-event fees with a 50% deposit required to secure a date and the balance due 7 days prior, plus NYS sales tax and 20% gratuity on top of the base fee.

Product overview

Cooking by the Book is a culinary team building service offering hands-on cooking events. The core offering is the Team Builder program, a 3-hour corporate team building experience for 10-30 guests featuring three-course meal preparation guided by professional chefs. Additional event options include Team Builder Light (a cost-effective two-course option for 10-24 guests) and the Market Basket Challenge (a Chopped-style competitive cooking event for 10-24 guests). Private events for personal celebrations such as birthdays and bachelorette parties are also offered. All events are held at the De Gustibus Cooking School in Macy's Herald Square and include professional culinary instruction, recipes emailed post-event, and dedicated event space.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Team Builder Full hands-on corporate cooking event featuring a reception with hors d'oeuvres and sparkling wine, the group divided into teams led by Culinary Advisors, three-course meal preparation (appetizer, entree, dessert), white and red wines served during dinner, and a personalized embroidered apron for each guest. Suitable for 10-30 guests, 3-hour duration, held at De Gustibus Cooking School in Macy's Herald Square.
Team Builder Light Cost-effective team building option offering a two-course meal (entree with side and dessert), Cooking by the Book aprons, and bottled San Pellegrino & Panna water. Designed for 10-24 guests, 3-hour duration, held at De Gustibus Cooking School in Macy's Herald Square.
Market Basket Challenge Competitive cooking event inspired by the Chopped TV show in which groups are divided into teams that prepare a main dish and sides judged on taste, style, and creativity; CBTB provides the first course and dessert, sparkling, white, and red wines are included, and guests receive personalized embroidered aprons. For 10-24 guests, 3-hour duration, held at De Gustibus Cooking School in Macy's Herald Square.
Private Events Hands-on culinary events for personal celebrations including birthday parties, bachelorette parties, and family gatherings. Fully hands-on cooking experience guided by expert chefs with guests dining on their own creations, customized for private groups of 10-30 guests at De Gustibus Cooking School in Macy's Herald Square.

Quantifiable outcome

Tens of thousands of people have cooked in their kitchen over 35 years

Companies that use Cooking by the Book, Inc.

Customer profile

Named customers18 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Cooking by the Book, Inc. technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Cooking by the Book, Inc. partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

De Gustibus Cooking School by MielecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022De Gustibus Cooking School has hosted over 1,500 of the world's greatest chefs, sommeliers, TV food personalities and culinary artisans for over 40 years. Located on the 8th floor of Macy's Herald Square, Cooking by the Book operates their events from this space. The new De Gustibus kitchen was designed in collaboration with Cooking by the Book to offer the perfect environment for hands-on culinary events. CBTB moved from their Tribeca Loft to this location.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Cooking by the Book, Inc. competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

Sur La Table: National cooking retail chain with an in-store cooking class program. Overlaps with CBTB on culinary education experiences for individuals but is a broader retail incumbent rather than a corporate team-building specialist.
Airbnb Experiences: Online experiences platform hosting thousands of cooking classes globally. Indirect competitor for culinary experiences with a much broader marketplace footprint, but lacks CBTB's hands-on corporate focus and venue specificity.

Direct peers

Classpop!: Cooking class and culinary experience marketplace offering team-building and private events. Operates a similar hands-on-cooking-then-eat model for corporate and private groups; competes for the same NYC corporate team-building wallet.
Great Performances: NYC-based event caterer serving corporate, cultural, and private events. Comparable in NYC corporate event catering footprint and high-end client list, though their model centers on traditional catering rather than hands-on cooking.
Cozymeal: Marketplace for in-person and virtual cooking classes and culinary experiences. Directly comparable hands-on cooking event model, though Cozymeal runs as a marketplace aggregator rather than a single operator; both monetize hands-on culinary experiences for groups.
Abigail Kirsch: NYC-based high-end event caterer. Operates in the same Manhattan corporate/private events market with similar premium clientele, though focused on full-service catering rather than culinary team-building experiences.
Outback Team Building: Corporate team-building events provider with charity-focused formats. Competes for the same corporate spend but specializes in scavenger hunts and philanthropic formats rather than culinary experiences.
TeamBonding: Corporate team-building events company offering a catalog of group activities. Competes for the same corporate team-building budget though without culinary specialization; relevant comp for corporate events GTM and pricing benchmarks.

Regional players

Institute of Culinary Education (ICE): NYC-based cooking school offering recreational classes, team-building events, and corporate experiences. Comparable NYC culinary-education footprint with corporate team-building offerings; broader curriculum focus than CBTB.

Others

De Gustibus Cooking School: CBTB's venue partner at Macy's Herald Square; also runs its own chef demonstration programming. Strategic host rather than direct competitor, but operationally adjacent and a gatekeeper of CBTB's venue access.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Cooking by the Book, Inc. financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Cooking by the Book, Inc. leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Cooking by the Book, Inc. funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Cooking by the Book, Inc. M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cooking by the Book, Inc.

What does Cooking by the Book, Inc. do?

Is Cooking by the Book, Inc. a public or private company?

Cooking by the Book, Inc. is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.

When was Cooking by the Book, Inc. founded?

Cooking by the Book, Inc. was founded in 1989. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is Cooking by the Book, Inc. based?

Cooking by the Book, Inc. is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.

How does Cooking by the Book, Inc. make money?

Two revenue lines are on record. Culinary Team Building Events are the primary driver. The others are private Events.

Who are Cooking by the Book, Inc.'s main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are Sur La Table and Airbnb Experiences. Direct peers are Classpop!, Great Performances, Cozymeal, Abigail Kirsch, Outback Team Building and TeamBonding. Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) is listed as a regional player. De Gustibus Cooking School is listed as an others.

Does Cooking by the Book, Inc. have an API?

No public API is recorded for Cooking by the Book, Inc..

What industry is Cooking by the Book, Inc. in?

Cooking by the Book, Inc.'s product category is Culinary Team Building Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAHAKAN, Event Culinary Staffing & Back-of-House Services (Chefs, Servers, Bartenders). Its NAICS code is 722320 and its SIC code is 5810.