The Cookery Durham — Attraction in Durham

1st time at The Cookery. Attended a wedding last weekend and was really impressed with the layout, service and food & drinks. The space is a hollowed out old brick building which is nice because whatever bash gets booked in there means there’s plenty of freedom to create any desired look without having to cover up what’s already there. It’s a nice blank canvas to work with. I especially liked the smooth cement floors. A modern touch in a vintage space.

So, the main entrance is a large room with a dance floor on one end, a long bar on the side, and lots of space for seating (ceremony area) at the other end.

Next to that is a courtyard with strung up accent lights and some tables & chairs.

On the other side is another courtyard with same accent lighting and an old, large, metal door slid open along the brick siding which made for a nice photo backdrop.

This leads into another space which has a smaller bar. The space has a really tall ceiling, and there’s a staircase along one wall leading up to what I think was additional space for guests to hang out. I’m actually not certain about that as I didn’t make it over to check out.

All in all, I really liked the variety offered here. It’s nice to be indoors and go outdoors in a snap, without having to feel like you’re leaving the party.

Much needs to be said about the service here. From the moment of arrival to the time of departure, every employee I encountered was extremely helpful, friendly, and professional. One of the bartenders even made a cocktail for me that was not on the party menu. He noted it would take a few minutes as ingredients were at the other bar. Well I can’t tell you how thrilled I was that I got the cocktail I wanted. Not only that, but the bartender found me milling around in a different room and brought the glass to me. It tasted amazing! Even though the other drinks I had were amazing too, and they really were, this one is probably my fave because extra effort went into making it and getting it to me.

The food was catered by Donovan’s Dish, out of Apex. I had never heard of them before, but now I’m sure I’ll never forget them. They served apps at cocktail hour which were delicious, and then at dinner they were serving 3 types of entrees at stations. I wouldn’t be able to call myself a foodie if I didn’t taste all 3, so of course I did just that. The meat, the chicken and shrimp were incredible.

I’m not sure what biz provided the wedding cake but it was gorgeous and tasted excellent.

Tip: If you arrive a little too early for an event here, (like I did), just note that there’s a coffee shop diagonally across the street where you can hang out until it’s time to walk over to The Cookery. Joe Van Gogh Coffee,...

The Cookery was the first, and only venue we toured when we got engaged. It is a beautiful space, and we couldn't wait to celebrate there with all our family and friends.

Six weeks prior to our April 2020 event we had to postpone due to Covid. When it became clear hosting a Fall 2020 wedding wasn't going to be any safer, we postponed again to Oct of this year.

In an attempt to make sure vaccines were available for the children in our wedding party, we attempted to postpone one final time... but were told no.

We were not beyond understanding their desire to have our event done and off their books - but pigeonholing us into a date we weren't comfortable with left a bad taste in our mouths.

Fast forward to last week. We reached out to our caterer, Durham Catering Company, as we had questions around choosing a new menu. After having a hard time contacting anyone at Durham Catering, we had to get confirmation from The Cookery that Durham Catering was no longer in business. (And by the looks of their social media - HAD been out of business for quite some time.)

Not only had one of The Cookery's "preferred" caterers ghosted us, but they took our deposit with them. (To be absolutely clear - the catering deposit check that was cut for Durham Catering was made out and given to The Cookery.) Now we were left, four months out from our wedding, scrambling to find another caterer from their "preferred" list who could accommodate not only our diminished catering budget... but our Oct date as well.

The Cookery may not be contractually obligated to let us know when one of their caterers goes out of business - but are they not morally obligated? Had they given us a head's up that Durham Catering had gone out of business when it happened instead of simply removing them from their website and leaving us to find out on our own, we would still be getting married at The Cookery this October.

At this point we'd rather eat our deposits than give any more money to a business who obviously cares so little about its clients. How many other couples got screwed out of money, had their weddings blown up, and reached out to The Cookery wondering where Durham Catering had disappeared to? We know we were not...

I've had the pleasure of attending a couple events at The Cookery and most recently this past weekend. I gotta say this event venue used to be a quaint little event space but I'll circle back to the "little" part here in a minute. First, off the original room with its mezzanine is awesome! The way the exposed brick fits in with the re-purposed structure give this place a very rustic feeling and it could't be anymore cozy. It also seems to be a very versatile space in that they can dress it up however need be. Secondly, the staff has always been the most friendly and helpful people I've come across. You could have the best looking place in town but without the right people running it but in the end you wouldn't have much. The Cookery seems to do a outstanding job in the staffing department. Now, getting back to the "little" part.... I had noticed in the past that the Cookery's space was a little on the limited side. Well, as of this past weekend they just opened up some additional space they expanded into on both the back and side of the venue. The end result is what has to be an extra 5000 square feet consisiting of a huge great room, a spacious brick patio, extra bathrooms and even a "Bridal Suite" which can be used as a private room. I got to chatting with the owner Tammy, who is awesome by the way, and she gave me a quick tour of the new areas which weren't in use at the time and I couldn't believe how absolutely beautiful it all looked. The Cookery's new expansions have to have more than doubled the capacity for the venue and added a lot of really cool options for people looking to rent event space. Basically, if you are in the market for a place for your event in Durham this would absolutely be the place...