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| Venues with Holiday Style |
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| Art-deco beauty of the Palais Royale |
As the holiday season draws closer, the “Where's the party?” office buzz begins. Along with making lists and checking them twice, this time of year calls for masterminding the planning details of many occasions, not the least of which is sourcing places to host the annual company bash, department celebrations and client appreciation events.
To help, TSEvents XS has put together a list of venue suggestions that offers a variety of entertaining and budget options for groups of every size:
Ballroom Blitz
If a ballroom soiree is the must-have tradition for your group, break out of the hotel box and go for the real McCoy on Lakeshore Boulevard. The Palais Royale, a restored 1922 heritage gem, genuinely glows with mood-setting elegance and stately architectural character. The grand ballroom, the showpiece, inspires with vaulted ceilings, Tiffany-style drop lighting and gleaming wood dance floor. The room, with capacity for 300 sit down, offers two bars flanking a fireplace and a walk out to a tentable patio deck overlooking the lake and city skyline.
Behind the stage, the Red Room lounge has its own bar and socializing area dressed in red velvet curtains and sink-into sofa chairs. For pre-event receptions, host in the art-deco accented Parlour just inside the main entrance. Catering menus can be customized. www.palaisroyale.ca
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| New resto-lounge Maro |
Cool Cocktail Cheer
If 'tis the season to up the hip factor without drowning guests in club-land's youth-centric vibe, head west to Maro in King and Dufferin's Liberty Village. This new resto-lounge from the Brant Group blends chic Euro-Asian influences in both décor and menu. Cleanly designed with filmy draping accents, plush reds and warm woods, this once-upon-a-time jailhouse offers a spacious main-floor entertaining zone for receptions of up to 800, 240 seated. A black lacquer bar lines one wall, a raised seating-lounge area the other.
A 14-seat chef's table bar rims the open kitchen headed by celebrity chef David Adjey, whose attention-getting menu concept serves its offerings two ways on a plate: Euro and Asian. Downstairs a private VIP room and bar with floor-to-ceiling banquettes holds 100 for cocktails and boasts its own street entrance. Audio-visual includes WI-FI access, plasma televisions and LCD projection screens-perfect for broadcasting your event's holiday greeting. www.maro.ca
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| A private dining room at Crush Wine Bar |
The Holiday Nosh
In a city brimming with fabulous restaurant experiences, it's tough to choose just one for the seasonal lunch or dinner celebration. But we did–Crush Wine Bar–based on its welcoming loft-style elegance, simple, well-executed menu and wine cellar stocked with unique, reasonably priced vintages. The main floor's open-plan is available for exclusive use, easily reconfiguring into dining arrangements for up to 110 people; 250 for receptions. Exposed brick, warmed with colourful vintage beverage artwork, and huge windows work a visual charm with the restaurant's rich wood flooring and finishings.
Start cocktail hour off with a sommelier-led wine tasting in the bar-lounge overlooking King Street action. For intimate gatherings, two cosy rooms downstairs, with a just-below street level vantage point, offer private event space, the largest seating 30, or combining for receptions of up to 70. www.crushwinebar.com
A Toast To The Season
Hard to beat the cheery atmosphere of a pub where groups make merry over pints and casual fare. In the heart of the financial district, Fionn MacCool's at University and Adelaide is ideally located for the office lunch or after-work celebration and is especially open to private weekend events without a hefty buy-out fee. Sunny gold and warm red walls punch up the traditional Irish pub interior.
The main floor layout winds around a central bar and easily sections off into distinctive semi-private hosting areas: The City Bar (Capacity: 60), The Oyster Bar (Capacity 60), The Scotch Snug (Capacity 20) and The Cottage (Capacity: 25), complete with stucco walls and gas fireplace. Private events for 100 can take over the Irish Family Room on the second level, a simple space adorned with portraits of celebrities of Irish descent. www.primerpubs.com
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| Make a meal at Great Cooks |
Cooking Up The Spirit
Since the kitchen seems a natural magnet for party guests anyway, do your celebrating over menu preparations at Great Cooks. Located on the eighth floor of The Bay Queen Street, this stylish restaurant-cooking studio has a Zen-like peacefulness with its soothing creamy colour palette, gleaming chrome, granite and glass with windows overlooking old and new City Halls. But tie aprons on a group of up to 100 and watch the fun heat up.
For holiday entertainment, customize class teaching around a seasonal menu that the group preps, prepares and enjoys as a multi-course meal from apps to desserts. Class times include morning, with participants savouring their gourmet efforts for lunch, late afternoon and evening. Add in a wine tasting, a learn-to-mix cocktail station or bring in a celebrity chef. www.greatcooks.ca
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