Have a Cocktail & Get to Know Gabe's Gurl Event Productions
E x c l u s i v e Promotional media events for specialty food / bev / kitchenware brands
C r e a t i v e Events / excursions / sampling opportunities promoting the ART of food
I n v e n t i v e "Social marketing" that gets people buzzing your brand / cause / event
Gabe's Gurl Event Productions is a fresh, new boutique event producer creating promotional opportunities and sampling experiences that showcase specialty food, beverage, and lifestyle brands to food and lifestyle media, connoisseurs, enthusiasts, tastemakers, industry notables and insiders, and potential new customers.
Will Work For Food - to get your product and brand noticed.
Gabe’s Gurl Event Productions locates the gourmet industry’s best kept secrets in taste, creativity, presentation, and value and put those products, and the story behind the brand, in front of the gourmet buyers, tastemakers, passionate consumers, and authorities who can take those goods to the next level through genuine interest, write-ups, support, sales, and knowledge.
With 10+ years of experience in- and an in-depth knowledge of- the businesses of specialty cake design, full-service catering, restaurant operation and management, food brokering, and wedding and special event design, we know the ins and outs that will make the difference for your brand. Our desire is to focus on providing our clients with value-packed, affordable, and worthwhile avenues of generating buzz and exposure, allowing our client to focus precious time and energy and trial and error on creating the premium product for which you will very soon be known. After all, time is money.
Gabe's Gurl Event Productions employs creativity and innovation in everything we do. We are not a PR (public relations) firm. We embrace and readily agree, though, that Gabe's Gurl Event Productions is equally as valuable. We choose to do things differently, and utilize inventive, attention-grabbing methods to get you off to a fantastic start- and be there with you along the way. All with the creativity, affordability, and results that small businesses and entrepreneurs need.
Get to Know GGEP's Founder, President, and Head Foodie
Melissa Parks
Melissa is a true foodie; she loves to read and talk about, see, cook, experience' and taste food, chocolates, confections, desserts, beverages, and everything resembling the edible. There is a true fascination with seeing real butter, pure cane sugar, fresh eggs, and flour come together into a beautifully smooth raw batter, then bake up into a golden, delicious goodness, scenting the entire area with anticipation of what is to come from the oven. The more adventurous and creative the better- but hold the spicy. Melissa will eagerly try anything once! Not only is she passionate about the actual product, she is passionate about the techniques, the tools of the trade, the story behind the product (every product and producer has a story), the ingredients, the hands that created it, the many ways it can be done. There is no better joy than a great meal prepared with the best and freshest ingredients and shared with the closest people in one’s life. For those reasons, it is only natural that she founded a company to find, promote, and share the culinary industry with anyone and everyone who wishes to experience it.
Highlights from Melissa's 10+ year culinary career and social entertaining endeavors
Random food facts to know about Melissa:
… uses smoked paprika on just about everything
… wonders how she ever got along without sweet basil
… loves cooking on the outdoor grill (charcoal, baby!)- rain, snow, sleet, or hail
… thinks BBQ (ribs or pulled pork) should be eaten at least once a day
… acknowledges Bobby Flay as her chef crush (and Michael Symon, some days Eric Ripert, Aaron McCargo, etc)
… brines chicken, pork, and turkey faithfully
… watches Diners, Drive-in, and Dives and Restaurant: Impossible regularlyy
… believes Food Network programming is finally getting a needed overhaul (call me, Bob!)
... will cook all day long, but will feign serious illness to avoid doing the dishes
... is instantly calmed with a piece of good quality chocolate
Melissa's FAV eats:
... medium-well ribeye at least the size of a human head
... spinach rolls at Manny's House of Pizza in the arcade
... just about any flavor of Izze
... Pepsi!
... fresh pasta with good olive oil and real parm reg
... mango key lime pie
... about anything ethnic, BBQ, or grilled
... a caprese salad on a gorgeous day
... the fresh-baked apricot, cranberry, and brie scones at FiddleCakes
... fresh seafood in just about ANY preparation
... Zydeco Spice's Bayou Blast hot sauce
... Santa Cruz Organic Raspberry Lemonade
Other Tidbits
... Hates traffic and avoids rush hour and contruction zones like the plague
Melissa’s foodie wish
… that people who douse painstakingly prepared, perfectly seasoned, beautifully presented meals in hot sauce, ketchup, or other ridiculous condiment can be arrested for crimes against food and chefs (a GREAT steak does not need steak sauce- just sayin)
With a degree in Marketing and Business Management, Melissa (who is completely self-taught in the world of culinary, by the way) has been in the kitchen as caterer, cake designer, production staff, and cook, and has been out of the kitchen (is any true foodie ever really out of their kitchen?) as a restaurant manager and owner, regional food broker representative, and event planner. Her knowledge, experience, passion, and interest is genuine and contagious.
We’re passionate and inventive entrepreneurs. We’re hard-core, adventurous-eating foodies. We love to entertain. We’re providing the best of two worlds and debuting to small businesses invaluable resources to buzz their brand(s) in 2010 and beyond. GGEP is your company's new BFF- and believe me, we take loyalty seriously.
Our sites are informative, but it’s nearly impossible to convey every single detail- even when you’re passionate. Don’t hesitate to email with any questions you may have, or to schedule a consultation- complimentary, of course. Once you decide to work with us and participate in our events, we’ll get to work promoting your brand. I’m already planning what I'll make you for dinner.
