Summer at SHIFT SF: Guac-tail Hour, Taco Town and Trivia

Something I love about working at SHIFT is being a part of the Party Peeps, our culture club. Every couple of weeks, the group gets together to plan the next thing we will do as an office to enjoy one another’s company, make memories and learn more about the people we spend our days with.

July was full of fun (and even more guacamole) at SHIFT San Francisco! At the end of the month, our annual summer outing took place at the famous Chef Joe’s Culinary Salon,which has been awarded with accolades such as Best Cooking Teacher and Cooking Classes in San Francisco. Located near Duboce Park, Chef Joe’s Culinary Salon is a unique space that offers a range of classes from knife skills to egg cookery and gourmet fish to French pastry.

The SHIFT SF team participated in a four-hour-long private class, “Taco-Fajita Town,” where we learned how to make grilled flank steak, pepper and onion fajita tacos; vegetarian tacos and spicy braised pulled chicken tacos; pico de gallo and salsa verde as well as handmade corn tortillas. The ingredients that were provided were so fresh that some of them even came from Chef Joe’s garden!

When we arrived, Chef Joe and his two partners enthusiastically walked us through all the steps which included fun things like strategically flattening our tortillas so they wouldn’t fall apart, chopping and sautéing colorful peppers and prepping the meat so it cooked to perfection. My personal favorite  was using the press to perfect the tortilla-making technique!

By the time everything was prepared, everybody was ready to eat, and we approached the beautiful, handmade spread of taco fixings we were proud to say we had cooked and created as a team. Everything was delicious! While we enjoyed our meal, we spoke about the first jobs we had ever had (so many SHIFTers know how to dip the perfect ice cream cone). We also modeled our new SHIFT-branded quarter-zip jackets and even played a couple games of the old-fashioned “telephone game” (don’t get us started on plastic plants!).

After hanging up our aprons at Chef Joe’s, we continued the afternoon and summer celebration at San Francisco Castro District restaurant Starbelly. Here, we enjoyed summer-y cocktails and hung out in a large patio out back.

Earlier in the month, we turned up the summer heat with a friendly guacamole competition to celebrate National Tequila Day. Folks from our sister agency FoodMinds and Padilla (with whom we share our office space) joined SHIFT in a guac-tail hour competition,  bringing in not only typical ingredients —  avocadoes, limes and salt – but also more obscure ones such as strawberries, balsamic vinegar and pepitas. The entries were judged on the guacamole’s taste, presentation (bring on the garnishes) and titles … think Dwayne “The Guac” Johnson. All attendees enjoyed not only a range of guacamoles, but also a fierce game of trivia that tested players on their tequila knowledge. Do you know how many official classifications of tequila there are?

With the help of our social SHIFTers, all of our office events and more are captured on our Instagram. Check out our profile and follow us to keep up with all the things we are doing!

P.S. Want to join in on the fun? Come join us, we’re hiring!

Shannon Steffen,
Account Coordinator