The Culture Collective’s creative partner Pasquale Pipi, and beverage partner, Jaime Dodge, in Asbury Park have come up with an interesting solution to support their restaurant team during the COVID-19 crisis.
They said t hey are going virtual with their already popular monthly cocktail class. Normally the class would be held at their Reyla location, but since the quarantine, they needed to come up with a creative solution to continue the class and keep their already loyal patrons engaged.
“We wanted to do something else to keep our community entertained, beyond our new take out/delivery program,” Pipi said. “We asked ourselves, what can we do to benefit our team?”
The Quarantine Sessions consist of multiple virtual classes and labs to gratify their devoted regulars and Agave Club members. Planning the cocktail classes and events virtually through Zoom, a cloud-based service that offers video conferencing, meetings and webinars, seemed like the best option to amuse their audience.
“Jamie and I love what we do, I think that’s what our guests appreciate, and what a cool way to hang out with everyone we’re used to seeing on a weekly basis,” Pipi said.
The first event was launched Sat., March 21 and had 136 people in attendance. The class featured three of Jaime Dodge and Pasquale Pipi’s favorite cocktails. The session was one hour and cost $10, from which all of the sales and gratuities went to supporting the members of their bar teams. The class taught not only how to craft three of the signature cocktails, but also gave attendees tips and tricks of the mixology trade. They even created a list of the necessary ingredients to follow along at home if so inclined. Once patrons registered, the Zoom meeting ID and the cocktail ingredient list was sent to the recipient via email. Once the class ended, they held a Q&A then all participants received a follow-up email with the intricate drink recipes.
Upcoming events are:
Tues., March 24 at 6 pm: Agave Spirits Club Education- Free hangout (Exclusively for Agave Club Members)
Thurs., March 26 at 6 p.m: Cocktail Lab Happy Hour- Free Hangout to Drink and Create Cocktails
Sat., March 28 at 5 p.m. Cocktail Class- $10 to Support The Bar Team
To register for the upcoming events, go to www.laylowap.com/virtu
