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When it comes to perfecting event details, one of the most fitting analogies we've heard is that planners collect suppliers and resources like sports cards: “Have that one; need this one.” To help beef up your deck of premium players who can help score the big win in the food and beverage department, consider these talented event specialists for delivering sublime finishing touches: Wine Entertainers — On par with the wine industry's new cheeky wine labels appealing to a new generation of consumers, sommeliers Stacey Metulynsky and Sean Moher of Groovy Grapes are putting fresh zip into wine education with their stylishly fun approach. Metulynsky, host of the Food Network's new series This Food, That Wine, Moher and their team design wine dinners, tastings and seminars that bring vino down to earth with “groovifying” flair and everyday lingo. For an informal tasting, try the Talking Wine Bar staffed with a sommelier offering wine chat while pouring. A Groovy Grapes Walkabout Wine Tour invites guests to explore themed wine and food pairing stations. Passports provide takeaway information. www.groovygrapes.com
The Scoop On Cheese — Some people know their wines; Andy Shay knows his cheese. As cheese courses make an appearance on au courant event menus, Shay's company, Shay Cheese, is just the source for suggestions and the goods for creating the perfect tasting plate. For a more interactive foodie spotlight, Shay leads formal tastings, serving up the finer points of cheese and a how-to-taste primer as participants sample an impressive range of styles and origins. Shay Cheese also offers gift baskets. Choose from house specialties that showcase Canadian artisanal cheeses paired with tasting notes and wine suggestions, or custom-order a cheese trip around the world. www.shaycheese.ca
Aw Shucks! — If you like your oysters shucked and served with a side-order of entertaining schtick, Oyster Boy Retail, Restaurant and Catering is at your service. Champion oyster-shucker Adam Colquhoun, and his award-winning team of talented mollusk aficionados, turns in crowd-pleasing performances with their on-site event raw bars, shelling out just-shucked half shells along with juicy bivalve stories and trivia. Powered by lively shucking action and stocked with a variety of seasonal wild and cultivated oysters and unusual condiments, an Oyster Boy station is renowned for enticing even the most timid to slurp a raw one. Oyster rule of thumb: plan for two to four oysters per person; one oyster station per 200 guests. www.oysterboy.ca
Let Them Eat Art — The façade of a new building, an employee's portrait, the corporate logo, a special theme-anything can be sculpted in cake in the hands of The Cake Lady-Edible Art by Vanessa Le Page. From frothy, whimsical designs to the purely bizarre, Le Page's creations aren't just conversation starters; they're delicious, too! Vanilla, chocolate, carrot and banana make for yummy flavour foundations. Or batter up with exotic rosewater, lime or grapefruit-infused sponges. The real art, though, is in the buttercream icing decorating that Le Page uses to bring the masterpiece to life. www.thecakelady.ca
Carbonated Retro — If you grew up in the '70s, chances are you quaffed a cream soda or two from The Pop Shoppe. Fast-forward to now: The resurrection of The Pop Shoppe a couple of years ago means its cool glass stubbies are back in circulation making the perfect nostalgia detail for themed retro events. Order them up wholesale in eight original flavours. Hint: Lime Rickey and Pineapple are the perfect vodka mixers for a little cocktail fun. Planners and charity organizers can also tap the beverage-producer's event services including a 1978 Volkswagon ”Pop Shoppe van-mobile,” branded umbrella pop kiosks and ice barrel coolers. www.thepopshoppe.com
Tea Habits — Tea, a common drink throughout the world, has potential far beyond a pot of steeped leaves. To Catherine Lashko, owner of The Tea Leaf shop in the Beaches, a formal tea service gives a sophisticated finish to events and offers a window on its ceremonial role in many different cultures. A wine sommelier by training, Lashko draws on the similarities between grapes and tea in guided tea tastings that can include food pairings and tea-infused cocktails. For multi-cultural themed events, Lashko can also orchestrate the formal rituals of a Japanese tea ceremony and provide the authentic teas and accessories from far-flung destinations including China, Persia and Morocco. www.thetealeaf.com
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