One casualty of last year’s financially hectic winter season appears to be making a 2009 comeback: the holiday party. However, since many companies are likely to be celebrating the season within a tight budget this year, here are 10 unique new venues where you won’t need to truck in too many extras.
1. Seasons Restaurant at the Millennium Bostonian hotel was known as a good stand-by to bring guests for a high-end meal with prime Boston Common views (and prices to match). Since closing the restaurant earlier this year, the hotel has redesigned the 3,000-square-foot space into the event-ready Seasons Ballroom. With new bay windows and a glass ceiling, the light-filled room seats 160 and includes an 800-square-foot prefunction space.
2. The Vegas-style Splash Ultra Lounge and Burger Bar, which opened in September, offers a scene-y atmosphere on its cabana-lined pool deck, but there’s a more casual vibe inside. A 50-person room on the first floor includes two pool tables and a full bar, and is available for private parties. For a more exclusive event, a V.I.P. room with overstuffed mahogany-toned couches and a flat-screen TV seats 15.
3. British-based chocolatier Hotel Chocolat opened its first U.S. retail outlet on Newbury Street last month. The small store includes a private event room that seats 10 and can be booked for chocolate and wine tastings that pair some of the chain’s 150 gourmet selections with reds and whites from L’Espalier.
4. For a chocolate party that allows guests to work off some of the guilt, the new Stil Studio in Dedham offers unique events, like a private yoga class followed by a chocolate tasting. The 1,800-square-foot space can host up to 30 guests for a yoga class or 50 for a reception.
5. Upscale French-Indian restaurant Mantra introduced a fun new event series this fall—tandoori cooking classes. For as many as 20 people, chef Ranveer Brar demonstrates the ancient hot clay cooking technique, while guests are provided with cocktails, food samples, and recipes to take home. The demos are held in Mantra’s Naan Bar space, which includes an adjacent seating area for 50.
6. Just a few doors down, Stoddard’s Fine Food and Ale is set to open December 3 in a historic 1868 building. The ground-level space will feature a classic pub feel, with exposed beams, a 30-foot imported English mahogany bar, and 110 beer selections. The space can host 140 for a cocktail reception. A few weeks later, the venue will introduce a lower-level, members-only club with room for 100; companies can become members by purchasing one of the 13 seats at the bar for a one-time fee.
7. Casual American restaurant City Table opened in the Back Bay in October with a creative but affordable menu of small plates, salads, sandwiches, and some fresh seafood entrées. The 90-seat seat space features bamboo floors, dark wood highboys, and banquettes, while a thick curtain sets off a semiprivate dining room that seats 32 and can be booked for weekday events.
8. Patrice Vinci Salon, set in an all-white fourth-floor penthouse on Newbury Street, can host groups for after-hours beauty treatments paired with champagne. Alternatively, the salon can host small receptions by placing a buffet table over the four shampoo stations, while a back room includes a sink and space for small kitchen equipment.
9. The North End's recently upgraded Wine Bottega store now includes a cellar space that can host private parties for 20. Guests can bring in their own food to pair with the wine, or the Bottega staff will arrange meat-and-cheese platters and olive selections from nearby eateries such as Salumeria Italiana.
10. A red-brick and beige space decorated with colorful paintings and hand-carved wooden gourds, the 36-seat pan-African restaurant Teranga is available for buyouts. The South End eatery, which opened in May, serves an array of African specialties, from Senegalese chicken yassa to Moroccan couscous with herb-stuffed roasted lamb shank.
