Craft Gin & Banh Mi Charcuterie Boards Bonding with Drew & Napier

When premier Singaporean law firm Drew & Napier booked a three-hour Saigon team event, they had one rule: no stiff cooking classes or touristy food tours. They wanted their busy team to truly unwind, connect, and immerse themselves in local food culture. 

To deliver, we designed an exclusive venue takeover featuring a hands-on Banh Mi Charcuterie Board Workshop with Chef Loi and an interactive Vietnamese Craft Gin Tasting with Brand Ambassador Conor Nguyen.

But how exactly did we get a room of high-powered lawyers to completely let their guard down and start bonding like old friends in under three hours? Here’s what we did.

The Client’s Brief

• Social and unstructured: A relaxed vibe built for organic mingling and bonding instead of a stiff, formal agenda.
• Shared, Low-Pressure Bonding: Simple activities that get colleagues working together and connecting over a shared creative experience
  
• Hands-on & culturally immersive: Interactive activities where the team could physically create rather than just watch.
• Duration: Under a 3-hour window, including lunch and drinks
• Privacy: The entire space reserved exclusively for their team from start to finish.
• Unique cultural experience led by local tastemakers: Real culinary experts sharing personal stories, moving away from standard service staff.

What we did

To check every single box for the Drew & Napier team, we turned our cozy little space into a private space designed just for the company centered around shared food experiences, hands-on fun and zero-pressure bonding.

Banh Mi Charcuterie Board and DIY fresh spring Rolls Led by Chef Loi: This shared hands-on food and cultural experience was a hands-on, social hour where they got to make their own Banh Mi while learning about Vietnamese herbs, ingredients and technique from Chef Loi – while keeping it casual, relaxed and easy. 

• Hands-on shared activity with Chef Loi: Building custom banh mi together naturally got everyone Loi laughing and talking. Even better, it gave the team a chance to chat with Chef Luke in a completely relaxed way. Instead of a stiff “teacher vs. student” dynamic, everyone was just mingling, hanging out, and making new friends!
• Fun Competition: Trying to roll the perfect fresh spring roll turned into a lighthearted, friendly competition. Chef Loi was there to guide everyone step-by-step, turning a simple meal into a great way to break the ice.

Expert-led Vietnamese craft gin tasting led by a tastemaker: Craft Gin Tasting. To keep the good vibes going, Conor Nguyen (Brand Ambassador for Song Cái Gin) hosted a casual tasting of Vietnam’s cool craft spirits scene.

• Storytelling & Sensory Tasting: Conor poured three unique craft gins, getting the team to smell, taste, and guess different wild botanicals with fun trivia games. Between pours, he shared fascinating stories about local mountain tribes and native herbs that gave everyone the perfect excuse to slow down, sip, and keep the conversation flowing.