Puttin’ In On at The Ritz

In February 2011, The Ritz-Carlton opened in Toronto. Located in the heart of the downtown core and at the crossroads of the financial and performing arts districts, this hotel brings a new level of luxury to the city.

The Ritz-Carlton Toronto’s five-storey glass podium at the base of the guestroom tower, contains the public areas of the hotel and features the grand foyer lobby with its striking glass bridge, restaurant, bar, lounge and upscale meeting and conference facilities and the city’s largest luxury ballroom.

There are two sets of ballrooms at the Ritz-Carlton, on the 2nd and 4th floors. The main ballroom on the second floor can be accessible either by elevator or via stairs.

The cocktail area of the main Ritz-Carlton ballroom on the 2nd floor is right outside the ballroom and spans from the north side to the east side of the building in an L-shape. There are mobile bar areas throughout and also a grand piano in the corner.

The 7,400 square foot Ritz-Carlton Ballroom can seat up to 600 guests. For smaller groups, the ballroom can be partitioned into four separate areas. The chairs they provide are standard banquet size and should fit most chair covers. Walls are padded for increased acoustics. There isn’t a bridal room, however the Ritz-Carlton provides a complimentary hotel room for couples who host their reception with them, and can dually serve as a changing and makeup area for them.

Similarly, on the 4th floor, there is an L-shaped cocktail area encompassing the Wellington ballroom. The Wellington ballroom is 3,000 square feet and can seat 325 guests. Like the Ritz-Carlton ballroom, it too can be partitioned into four separate rooms. In addition to the Wellington ballroom, there is also a smaller Gallery that can seat 140 guests.

Individual meeting rooms are also available including the Executive Boardroom and the Park View Room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Wellington Street West and Metro Hall Park. Spacious pre-function space with dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows overlooks Metro Hall Park and Roy Thompson Hall.

The Ritz-Carlton also offers an unrivalled dining experience with signature restaurant, TOCA by Tom Brodi. The interactive restaurant includes an open-concept kitchen, walk-through pastry corridor, in-kitchen chef’s table, glass-encased cheese cave and extensive wine cellar with a focus on Canadian wines.

For more information on the Ritz-Carlton and to find out if this is the right venue for you, visit http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Toronto/Meetings/Default.htm.

 

Liberty Social Hour: Le Bel Été – Are You In?

Perhaps the atmosphere of last Thursday’s Liberty Social Hour is best captured by the name of our host venue: Merci Mon Ami – it was truly a gathering of friends. For some, it was the greeting of old friends but for most, it was being finally able to exchange names and numbers with the faces they’ve seen and the businesses they’ve come across in the neighbourhood.

Trinity-Spadina PC Candidate Mike Yen was there. Folks from Danceology, Kingwest Fitness, and other studios came by. Artists, techies, designers and chefs made appearances. Residents came out. Commuters dropped in. From veteran Villagers to aspiring hopefuls… the collection of guests were as varied and interesting as the Liberty Village mosaic itself.

And as usual, food was delicious and drinks were refreshingly apt for a summer’s evening.

I can’t wait for the next Liberty Social Hour at Locus 144. With live singer Lucia, drink specials and menu promotions all happening in conjunction with Live It Up.  Liberty Social Hour: Le Bel Été.

For more pictures go to: Link

Chef’s Challenge for a Cure

Bobby Flay is no stranger to culinary showdowns. This November, however, he’ll be hosting a culinary challenge in the name of ovarian cancer research at Mount Sinai Hospital.

We were lucky enough to attend the press conference for the second annual Chef’s Challenge last Wednesday and boy did our stomachs thank us. Each celebrity chefs came with a special hors-d’ouevre and everything was simply delicious! Whoever end up getting to work with these chefs is in for a real treat.

Chefs present included David Rocco, host of La Dolce Vita, Massimo Capra, host of Restaurant Makeover and Mark McEwan, head judge on Top Chef Canada and host of The Heat with Mark McEwan.

Though we’re not huge chefs ourselves, the event looks so exciting and goes towards such a great cause that it had us thinking we’d want to participate too! The actual Challenge will be hosted on November 26, 2011 and will feature six (one more than last year) celebrity chefs from The Food Network who will each lead a team of 10 top fundraisers and self-proclaimed foodies to create the best-tasting five-course meal, as judged by a panel of celebrity judges. Last year, the Challenge raised $1.1 million for ovarian cancer research. This year, they plan to do even better!

Should be great! Can’t wait to see the culinary rivalry heat things up!

Ps. The Sub-Zero Wolf showroom is spectacular. It could not be more gorgeously designed. Great venue.

Andrew Designs Night – Secreto de Verano

Andrew Richard Designs presented its Annual Industry Night Summer Secret last Wednesday. It was a great event and showcased some amazing talent for the event-planning industry. We were lucky enough to make guest list and got to sample a variety of food and drinks all night thanks to partners like Moët & Chandon, Belvedere Vodka as well as many other terrific catering companies in Toronto like 10tation catering, Encore Catering or Malbec Restaurant. Everything was delicious!

From decadent ice creams provided by Origin and Colborne Lane to sliders, ravioli and salmon, everything was delicious and perfected complemented. I particularly enjoyed the wines from Wines of Argentina, Chateau La Garde and Andre Lurton and the champagne from Moët & Chandon was absolutely delicious! The rest of my friends had a great night drinking beers and sipping on Belvedere Vodka cocktails made by the fabulous bartenders of R.E.D.

All this, coupled with sensual Argentinean tango and Brasilian samba, topped with an impressive show of Brazillian martial arts, it made for a riveting event!

Apart from the standout food, beverage and entertainment, the evening did a wonderful job at showcasing the venue. It was beautifully decorated and the atmosphere was perfect. It can definitely be adapted to

suit a variety of different themes and functions. The two storeys and patio create distinctly different spaces but has enough flow and cohesion to make for one great party! Definitely a terrific place to host an event if you have more than 400 attendees. The possibilities are endless!

Celebrate Bloor

Coinciding (unintentionally?) with Father’s Day, last Sunday’s “Celebrate Bloor” was the perfect event for a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Hosted by the Bloor Yorkville Business Improvement Association with sponsors like Holt Renfrew and Manulife, the event promised to transform Bloor St “Red Carpet Style” by closing down the street and rolling out the red-carpet. They sure delivered. I was pleasantly surprised by how wide the red carpet actually was and even more so by the number of attendees there. It was very busy for a first-time event. Perhaps scheduling it for Father’s Day helped!

I have to say I had a good time there. The food partners were great. For $5, you had access to a wide selection of snacks and treats, not bad for being on Bloor St. I also got to take home a bottle of free beer from Stella Artois. I don’t even know if that’s legal. Are you allowed to hand out free beer, even if it’s a festival?

I was dragged to check out Shawn Desman who I thought was great with his dancing team and the crowd tripled when he came on stage, I also saw a bit of Keshia Chanté she was great, I skipped  Platinum Blonde, just not the same as when they visited my high school…ah back to the good old days… Great event!

Here are some photos of the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityeventstoronto/sets/72157627002409908/

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