This year saw the opening of many significant event and meeting venues in Toronto. Here's a look at the best restaurants, party rooms, hotels, corporate event venues, conference centers, and private rooms to open in 2013. These new and renovated Toronto venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, weddings, and more.
Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, the largest indoor aquarium in the nation, opened in October. The $130 million project features more than 16,000 marine animals in 50 live exhibits. For events, the 135,000-square-foot aquarium holds 1,200 for receptions, as well as sit-down dinners of various sizes within the 10 galleries.
Following a series of private events for the Toronto International Film Festival, Hudson Kitchen opened to the public in September. The Dundas West restaurant includes a 75-seat dining room and a 55-seat patio. A private room called the Counter is an open kitchen pantry that seats 18 at a counter-height communal table or accommodates 30 for receptions. For buyouts, the venue holds 150 for receptions indoors and another 80 on the patio. The menu features global influences and local ingredients, which the restaurant calls its "leaf to root" philosophy.
A private event space, 2nd Floor is an open-concept 3,000-square-foot space with an industrial feel highlighted by exposed brick walls and large bright windows. It features a 36-foot bar with custom light boxes, an elevated DJ booth, and audiovisual equipment. The venue seats 160 or holds 215 for receptions and can be used for launches, concerts, previews, runway shows, and film and photo shoots.
Trump International Hotel and Tower Toronto debuted its Exchange Floor, a collection of stylish executive meeting and event suites on its 30th floor, in late June. The 5,000 square feet of space offer smaller spaces for holiday dinners or larger rooms for festive parties, all in a color scheme of black, white, and gray with luxe touches such as Victorian chandeliers and marble fireplaces.
Drake Hotel Properties' first stand-alone restaurant, Drake One Fifty, opened in August in a converted bank building. The 6,000-square-foot space includes a dining room, a bar, a micro-Drake General Store, curated art and performance space, and a 70-seat patio that is covered and heated. The interiors were styled by Martin Brudnizki, whose previous projects include Miami's Soho Beach House, Cecconi’s West Hollywood in Los Angeles, and Le Caprice New York. The venue seats 175 guests and is available for buyout. At the Drake Hotel, the newly redesigned Lounge opened this fall. The decor features several textures, including flocked velvet on Douglas fir walls, copper bar tops, geometric-patterned brass lighting fixtures, and curved leather booths. The space fits 200 people.
The Living Room is a new gathering space at the Windsor Arms Hotel available to guests as a casual meeting spot for drinks or meals as well as for private events. The shabby-chic, cozy decor from Dinel Designs includes oversize chesterfields, leather seating, and original art by Canadian painter Charles Pachter. The space includes practical amenities such as a charging station as well as whimsical touches with games such as Jenga and Deluxe Super Scrabble. At a self-pour draft table, guests can serve their own pints of beer such as Amsterdam’s Pale Ale and Mill Street Brewery’s Organic. For receptions, the space fits 150 with room for another 50 on a seasonal private patio. The fine-dining back room seats 34, and the casual area seats about 50.
Stratus, the restaurant at the Toronto Athletic Club, reopened October 1 following an extensive renovation to the 36th-floor space atop the TD Waterhouse Tower. For holiday parties, planners can book one dining room that seats 35 for dinner or holds 80 for receptions, or both rooms for 70 seated or 160 for receptions. A private dining room in a wine cellar seats 10.
Legoland Discovery Centre, Canada’s first Lego attraction, opened in March at the Vaughan Mills mall. The 34,000-square-foot indoor facility includes a 4-D movie theatre, a Lego Master Builder Academy, and a Miniland Lego replica city of Toronto. For events, a party room is available for 50 people, and venue buyouts are available.
Nespresso's second Boutique Bar in Canada opened in October. The two-story 14,122-square foot venue, previously occupied by the Cumberland Four cinema, features bright lighting and contemporary decor. The bar seats 47 inside and 14 on a terrace overlooking Cumberland Street. The N Pad Bar's high-top tables are equipped with iPads for browsing. The retail store also has a gallery of Nespresso machine products that complement the colorful wall of Grand Cru capsules at the back of the bar.
