| EVENT REPORT 11.11.08 5:54 PM |
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Local Celebrities Use Secret Ingredients in Iron Chef-Style Cook-Off
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 | The cook-off at the Metropolitan Hotel
Photo: BizBash |
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Metropolitan Hotels and the Hong Kong Tourism Board invited four local celebrities to test their skills in the kitchen Friday during the Great Hong Kong Culinary Cook-Off, held in the Metropolitan Toronto's Mandarin Ballroom. ET Canada reporter Roz Weston, eTalk reporter Zain Meghji, and Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan of HGTV's Home Heist all competed in the event, which featured a six-course meal created by the hotel's executive chef, Patrick Lin, and famed chef Chow Chung, who flew in from Hong Kong for the event.
"Working with chef Chow Chung on this project was a great honor for us, and we are proud of the menu that he and chef Patrick Lin developed for our guests," said Henry Wu, president of Metropolitan Hotels. The hotel chain called on Solutions With Impact to manage and produce the event. Eric Aragon, the company's creative director, dressed the room in red and black and created an Iron Chef-feel for the Cook-Off with three food stations on a stage flanked by two large screens.
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eTalk, ET Canada, Colin & Justin's Home Heist |
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| NEWS 11.07.08 12:02 PM |
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Patti LaBelle, Macy Gray Unveil Holiday Windows at Holt's
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 | Patti LaBelle at Holt Renfrew
Photo: George Pimentel |
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Holt Renfrew called on Patti LaBelle and Macy Gray to entertain guests at the unveiling of the holiday windows at the retailer’s flagship store Wednesday night. A crowd of onlookers filled Bloor Street—which was closed to traffic between Yonge and Bay streets—for the fourth annual event, hosted by Rosey Edeh and Roz Weston of Entertainment Tonight Canada. Prior to the unveiling, Gray and LaBelle performed on a stage set up in the middle of the street. The retailer also offered extended shopping until 9 p.m., with two per cent of sales being donated to the Children’s Wish Foundation.
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Holt Renfrew, Patti LaBelle, Macy Gray, ET Canada |
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| NEWS 09.11.08 4:43 PM |
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Big Name Brands Sponsor TIFF Lounges, Portrait Studios, and Event Spaces
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 | The Tastemakers Lounge
Photo: BizBash |
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Earlier this week we offered a glimpse inside some of the sponsored lounges that have popped up in the Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood during the Toronto International Film Festival. Here’s a look at a few more.
The Tastemakers Lounge, produced by Rock-It Promotions, adopted an "Ohhh Canada!" theme for its fourth installment in the Portman Room at the InterContinental Hotel on Bloor Street. Tastemakers founder Debra Goldblatt worked with Jason MacIsaac, owner and founder of the retail shop Ministry of the Interior, and Pink Twig Floral Boutique to dress the space, which featured a temporary wall showcasing Timorous Beasties’ damask wallpaper, flooring by the Shaw Contract Group and custom furnishings including a Wrongwoods credenza.
Goldblatt selected 20 companies to feature in the lounge, which opened September 6 and wraps up Friday. Participants this year included AG Hair Cosmetics, Burt’s Bees, Carry Clean, Cromwell & Cruthers, Eska Water, HBC, Ike & Sam’s, Joe Fresh Style, J.R. Watkins Apothecary, JUZD, Kiss My Face, LypSyl, PUMA, Raincry, Ruby Gloom, Sabon, Salt Spring Coffee, Strellson, Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland, and Trollbeads.
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Toronto International Film Festival, Tastemakers Lounge, Diesel, InStyle.com, OneXOne, CTVglobemedia, Smashbox, ET Canada, Hollywood Life Magazine, LIVEstyle Entertainment, BG&E Productions Inc., The Film Lounge |
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| NEWS 09.10.08 4:03 PM |
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Converse-Inspired Diner Party, Celebrity Hockey Game Among TIFF Events
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 | The African Children's Choir
Photo: George Pimentel |
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The parties and events thrown by production houses, magazines, television stations, and sponsors generate as much buzz as the films during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)—and sometimes more. Here's a look at what's been happening around town.
Holt Renfrew's TIFF Party: The new Converse ad campaign for the line designed by John Varvatos provided the inspiration for Holt Renfrew's annual TIFF party (sponsored by GQ) at the Bloor Street store Friday. Gwen Gibson, Holt's director of special events, worked with Nicholas Pinney of Nicholas Pinney Design to transform the concourse level into a 1950's diner. Props used for decor included vinyl lettering on the walls and more than 1,000 ketchup bottles and white china plates. The band MGMT, in town for the Virgin Festival (held on Toronto Island this past weekend), performed for the more than 300 guests—including celebrities like Jeremy Piven, K-OS, Dean and Dan Caten, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Kristin Booth—who could dress up in a tiara (or bunny ears) to have their photo snapped in a retro photo booth.
Virgin Unite Party: Flanked by Kate Hudson and model Petra Nemcova, Sir Richard Branson arrived fashionably late to his own party, held Friday at Muzik to honour the ladies while raising money and awareness for the charitable organizations they support—WildAid and the Happy Hearts Fund. Branson, founder of the Virgin Group of companies, took to the stage to welcome about 400 people to the nightclub, decorated in black and white for the event. Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk performed her hit songs "Surrounded" and "All You Can Do," and Hudson and Nemcova showed videos of the work their charities are doing around the world.
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Toronto International Film Festival, Holt Renfrew, Converse, GQ, Virgin Unite, Richard Branson, OneXOne, ET Canada |
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| NEWS 09.02.08 4:10 PM |
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Boy George, Sir Richard Branson Among Those Hosting Parties During TIFF
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Plans to entertain the more than 500 special guests and celebrities scheduled to hit town for the 33rd annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)—which starts Thursday and runs until September 13—are sure to create a buzzing party scene in Toronto, with everyone from Boy George to Paris Hilton getting in on the action this year. "We do a lot of focused entertaining for the directors and talent that come to the festival. Virtually every programmer will be entertaining," says TIFF director and C.E.O. Piers Handling, who personally plans to host two large dinners for 60 to 70 filmmakers.
"The rest of the party scene is basically our sponsors who are leveraging their sponsorship—Holt’s, the big CTV bash on Friday—there is a whole series of events like that. Then the distribution industry, Canadian and U.S., will get into the scene in a major way and do parties post- film," he said.
The TIFF party scene kicks off Thursday with a cocktail reception at the Rosewater Supper Club prior to the presentation of the Canadian film Passchendaele at Roy Thomson Hall. The screening will be followed by the official TIFF opening night gala at the Liberty Grand. (Barbara Hershenhorn of Party Barbara Co. is planning the event for more than 3,000 guests.) Alliance Atlantis also will host a Passchendaele party at the Drake Hotel following Thursday's screening, and Ultra Supper Club presents a performance by Boy George.
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RELATED TOPICS
Toronto International Film Festival, eTalk, Holt Renfrew, CTV, ET Canada, In Style Magazine, Alliance Atlantis, DSquared2, Flare Magazine, Hello! Canada, Canadian Film Centre |
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| EVENT REPORT 06.09.08 1:17 PM |
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Big Night Out Adds V.I.P. Reception, Live Auction
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 | The silent-auction room
Photo: BizBash |
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Organizers adopted a superhero theme and added two new elements—a sponsor reception and live auction—to the 38th annual Big Night Out gala in support of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Toronto, held Thursday at the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex. "We wanted to do something different, and we wanted the opportunity to celebrate our corporate partners," BBBST president Cathy Denyer said of why they added the V.I.P. reception for sponsors.
The organization invited Jim Leech, president and C.E.O. of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, to address representatives from sponsors like Metropolitan Hotels, BMO Financial, KPMG, Great West Life, London Life, Canada Life, National Bank, Blackmont Capital, Peller Estates, Molson, Coca-Cola, Global, ET Canada, and The Toronto Sun.
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RELATED TOPICS
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Toronto, Metropolitan Hotels, BMO Financial Group, KPMG, Great West Life, London Life, Canada Life, National Bank, Blackmont Capital, Peller Estates, Molson, Coca-Cola, ET Canada, Toronto Sun |
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