The trip began with a wonderful welcome dinner at Spark Woodfire Grill in Huntington Beach, where Thermador executives, bloggers and Traditional Home representatives mingled and enjoyed a spectacular beachside sunset.  The following day, the group headed to the Thermador Experience & Design Center for a delicious breakfast, tour and sessions to learn about the array of Thermador luxury cooking and refrigeration appliances before they had an opportunity to participate in an interactive cooking lunch, led by our own Chef Kyle.

To make the stakes a little higher during the cooking session, we held a fun social media contest. Each pair of bloggers that cooked together uploaded photos of their beautifully plated dishes to their Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages to show-off the culinary creations they cooked up in the Thermador Pro Theater. The winners were selected based on the number of likes, re-tweets and favorites from their fans across each platform. Can you guess which was the winner?

Another highlight of the day was a discussion on industry trends led by Zach Elkin, director of brand marketing for Thermador, followed by an engaging roundtable discussion. During the roundtable session, Traditional Home, Thermador and our blogger guests discussed everything from what is hot in the kitchen, such as multiple cooking zones to accommodate more cooks in the kitchen; to how fresh, healthy and delicious food cooked in our steam and convection ovens can be – and that this appliance should be in every true culinary enthusiast’s kitchen; to how Thermador is a true innovator in modular refrigeration and offers an array of features that make it ideal for ultimate food preservation.

The trip concluded with a farewell dinner at Pacific Edge Hotel’s private Bungalows, overlooking the ocean in beautiful Laguna Beach. Guests dined on delicious fare that included a sweet way to end the evening – a plate featuring the Thermador logo in chocolate alongside a delightful cake.