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, museums, and private rooms to open in 2018. These new and renovated Toronto venues suit groups large or small for private and corporate events, business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, weddings, and more.
After years of delays, the Hotel X Toronto by Library Hotel Collection opened on the Canadian Exhibition Place grounds in March, with its event spaces debuting in June. The hotel, event space, and sports complex has a total of 90,000 square feet that Stephen B. Jacobs Group P.C. Architects and Planners oversaw. Andi Pepper Interior Design helped transform the hotel using reclaimed materials, clean contemporary lines, and modern touches. Offering Toronto’s only three-story indoor-outdoor rooftop, the hotel’s Falcon SkyBar features multiple event spaces. One such space is the View, which offers 1,662 square feet of indoor and outdoor space and features seating for 133 banquet style, 175 theater style, or holds 150 for receptions. On the third floor of the hotel, the Victory Ballroom covers 6,346 square feet and can be divided into North and South blocks via a Skyfold drop-down ceiling partition. It seats 500 banquet style or theater style, or holds 660 for receptions. The Bowtie Room, at 720 square feet, has multiple flat-screen televisions, a billiard table, and comfy lounge seating and holds 75 guests for reception-style events. Catering for events is available from ByPeterandPauls.com.Â
The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) opened in September in Toronto’s Junction Triangle neighborhood. Taking over five floors and 55,000 square feet of space in the former Tower Automotive Building, the museum seeks to become the hub for contemporary art in the city. The building has retained many of the original heritage doors and features newly installed large windows. Currently, the first-floor lobby is the primary event space, with a standing capacity of 220 or seating for 150. On the fifth floor, the museum has smaller event space available for talks and cocktail parties, which seats 40 or holds 50 standing. Beginning in May, the museum’s second floor will be available to host events for as many as 220 standing or 175 seated. The museum has a list of preferred caterers.Â
After the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto opened in 2012, the lively street-level lounge D-Bar became a fixture in Yorkville. After a brief closure, it re-opened in September with a new look thanks to Alison McNeil, principal at Dialog. McNeil focused on a palette of neutral colours including natural grays, rose quartz, and brass while adding more additional seating to the 4,000-square-foot space. A highlight is a digital installation of LED screens in the bar area from Christie Digital that the venue manages with Westbury National. There is a mix of lounge seating, banquette-style, and table seating, with no private dining, although there are three semi-private areas. Overall, the space seats 120 or holds 200 cocktail style. Catering comes in-house from the menu of contemporary American classics curated by chef Daniel Boulud.
In June 2018, the CN Tower revealed its $16 million renovation that transformed the main observation level. Some of the upgrades include a new glass floor that provides a two-tier vertical view 346 meters towards the ground, as well as a new floor-to-ceiling glass Window Wall that provides guests three separate sections of panoramic views. The main observation level is available for full buyouts and can hold as many as 1,400 guests cocktail style. All catering is provided by the tower’s 360 Restaurant, which serves locally-sourced Canadian fare.Â
The Senator Diner, located in Toronto’s downtown core, has been a staple of Toronto since the 1940s. In March, the owners converted the second floor of the restaurant into the Senator Winebar, a French-inspired restaurant. With 500 square feet of space and seating for 23, the area is outfitted with a Prohibition-era style bar, original wood flooring, and a 1920s Heintzman piano, as they hope to operate as a jazz bar at night. The space is available for buyouts and holds 30 for cocktails. The menu offers a range of Paris-style classics such as duck liver mousse and coq au vin.Â
Taking over the former Rosewater Supper Club in the Financial District, Don Alfonso 1890 opened in July. In partnership with Liberty Entertainment Group, it is the first restaurant in North America from Michelin-starred chefs Alfonso and Ernesto Iaccarino, who serve modern Italian fare. Overseeing the creative design of the space was Liberty Entertainment Group vice president and creative director Nadia Di Donato, who sought to evoke a sense of elegance and imported furniture from Italy. The 4,000-square-foot space is split into four dining areas. The main dining room seats 65 or holds 80 for cocktails, while a semi-private mezzanine lounge area atop an archway offers lounge-style seating for 50 or a reception capacity of 75. On the lower level, two private dining rooms seat 20 and 100 respectively. Full buyouts are available.
Escape Manor, an immersive entertainment complex, opened in the King Street West neighborhood in October. The 15,000-square-foot, three-floor space features escape rooms, axe throwing, board games, bocce ball, and board games. The venue offers three different event spaces, including the Lounge on the main floor, which seats 80 or has a standing capacity of 110. On the second floor is the Axe Throwing space, which offers eight axe throwing targets with a seated capacity of 60 or room for 100 standing. The entire facility has numerous screens and audiovisual capabilities to accommodate DJs. Food can be brought into the venue via preferred third-party caterers, and full buyouts are available.Â
Grant van Gameren has expanded his restaurant empire with the vegan Mexican concept Rosalinda, in partnership with Max Rimaldi and Jamie Cook (Pizzeria Libretto, Enoteca Sociale). Opened in May in the downtown core, the eatery boasts 4,700 square feet of space with seats for 138 and capacity for a 50-person cocktail reception. Bent and Gable transformed the space into a greenhouse oasis, with vintage finds to complement the modern space and hand-painted murals on the walls with lots of play between florals, bright colors, and a greenhouse-inspired interior roof hung with plants that create a garden vibe. With a commitment to plant-based dining, the kitchen has infused the rich, bold flavors of Mexico into bites including a roasted cauliflower tostada and a black-bean burger they call the Rosaburger. While the space doesn’t offer a private room, it has semiprivate options with a large table suitable for 10 people toward the back of the restaurant. Full buyouts are available.Â
The Food Dudes opened their globally-inspired fine dining concept, Sara, in November in the King West area. The 2,400-square-foot, two-story space is located inside a Victorian row house. The project preserved the building’s original brickwork and was designed by Odami, alongside Spanish architect Aránzazu González Bernardo and Canadian designer Michael Fohring to introduce marble tables, skylights, and custom Odami-designed furnishings built by Patrick Murphy and Toronto Woodworks. Sara offers family-style shared plates of globally-inspired cuisine including dumplings and modernized robata. With no private event spaces, the restaurant can accommodate a downstairs buyout, with seating for 20, an upstairs buyout for 30 seated, or a full buyout with seating for 50 guests. The entire restaurant can hold 75 guests for receptions.
