Lunch

EatWith, a San Francisco-based global platform that provides alternative dining experiences with local residents and chefs, has a private-dining venue in the city. Called Test Kitchen, the space seats as many as 24 guests or holds 40 for receptions; the site can also host cooking classes. 

Now available in Toronto through the Idea Hunter, Original Beverage Toppers are edible disks that can be branded with corporate logos, colors, and taglines. The discs float on top of hot, cold, iced, or frozen drinks and are easy to apply.

If you’re looking to disguise a staid-looking hallway in a hotel ballroom, check out Las Vegas–based FWR Rental Haus’s modular tunnel, which can display fully customized graphics. Mirrored surface tunnels are also an option. The rentable items are available nationwide.

Interactive marketing display company ZoomKube has launched the ZK100, a stand-alone touch-screen kiosk that allows consumers to interact with a brand while it captures real-time feedback, such as information accessed and time spent. The portable display is designed for use at events, product launches, and conventions, and includes customizable software, a built-in camera, social media sharing, badge-scan capability, and a heat or air-conditioning unit for outdoor use. The product is available to rent for around $10,000 per event.

Now available in the New York area through Classic Party Rentals is the ZAK Collection, a line of four design suites: Library (traditional oak), Chester ­(tufted leather), Mirror (beveled mirror ­panels), and Parsons (sleek dark wood).

Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr continues his New York takeover: His catering and events division is now the in-house food and beverage provider at the New York Botanical Garden, handling all special events. This fall, Starr’s team will also become the exclusive caterer at Carnegie Hall.

The Hotel Monaco Alexandria near Washington is now offering county-fair-theme catering options for events, including mini funnel cakes, cotton candy, and root beer floats. Staffers can also set up carnival-style ­activities.

The inaugural Rosé Day L.A. was held on June 9 at Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, California. Headlined by Moët & Chandon, the Instagram-friendly daylong picnic was designed and produced by Ben Biscotti of 1iota Productions, Tony Schubert of Event Eleven, and hospitality veterans Bobby Rossi, Sylvain Bitton, JT Torregiani, and David Jarret.

Iron Chef Marc Forgione selected gourmet food trucks for the day, and DJs including Zen Freeman and Caroline D’Amore entertained the crowd from a booth constructed of on-theme pink crates.

The team created several Instagram-friendly moments throughout the day to take advantage of the Malibu location. In one area, guests could pose inside of an oversize frame. 

Another photo op featured hanging pink and white flowers. Floral Crush Studio provided flowers for the event. 

Furniture from FormDecor and rentals from Town and Country added an appropriately pink touch to the outdoor event.

Moët & Chandon’s Rosé Imperial, Grand Vintage Rosé 09, and Ice Imperial Rosé were displayed as decor throughout the event. In addition, Forgione prepared a rosé-inspired menu for an invited group of celebrities and influencers; the Food Matters handled additional catering.

Another stylish seating area was located next to a Moët & Chandon-branded Airstream trailer, which had pink and red florals cascading out of the windows.

Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts is celebrating its French heritage all summer with Au Soleil: a Summer Soirée by Le Méridien. The global event series, which is taking place at the brand’s 100 hotels around the world, offers a Petit Plates menu with light, local fair, plus a soundtrack curated by Nouvelle Vague and backgammon games. Six varieties of rosé spritzers and aperitifs are also on the menu; options include the Campari Lavender Spritz, made with Campari, sparkling rosé, soda water, and lavender syrup.

Another drink on Le Méridien’s summer menu is the Royal Rosé: a mix of bourbon, Lilet Rosé, orange bitters, Peychaud bitters, and rosé champagne. 

In May, Kim Crawford Wines hosted a “Sip Into Summer” rosé soiree at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. An elegant gold and black step-and-repeat was adorned with bottles of rosé and a variety of pink flowers.

The event served a variety of rosé-infused cocktails, including the “Rosé and Tonic”: a mix of Kim Crawford rosé, rose water, tonic, and lime. Wine bottles served as a simple—but eye-catching—bar backdrop.

Another creation was rosé sorbet. The team shared the recipe: Bring sugar and water to a boil and allowing it to simmer until the sugar dissolves. Cool and mix in Kim Crawford Rosé, then freeze in a loaf pan. Process in a food processor until its smooth, and then freeze again until it’s firm and ready to serve.

Kim Crawford Wines also celebrated the pink wine at a rosé-theme celebration in June 2017 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Wine bottles served as understated—and on-brand—decor, strung from tree branches.

The ninth annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, held in June 2016 in New York, featured a rosé garden that offered guests bottles of Veuve Clicquot Rosé. Starr Catering Group created rosé-theme gourmet lunch boxes, which included kale salad, mini bottles of raspberry vinaigrette, Serrano ham sandwiches, and raspberry almond cakes.

When Toronto-based Eatertainment Special Events & Catering relocated its offices in July 2017, the company threw a summer bash with a rosé-theme room. In addition to featuring five varieties of the wine, all from Provence, France, the space offered a variety of pink macarons and a chandelier made of roses from Bloom Plus. 

New York bar and lounge the Skylark is offering a customizable menu dubbed Rosé Your Way. Available on Wednesdays throughout the summer, the menu offers twists on traditional rosé beverages, created by head mixologist Johnny Swet. In the Frosé Your Way option, guests can order rosé mixed with St. Germain, cranberry juice, simple syrup, and lemon wheel, then choose between toppings including rosé gummies, seasonal fruit, or edible flowers.

The Midtown venue is also offering popsicles made with coconut sangria and Whispering Angel rosé. 

For its annual conference, which took place in March, MillerCoors partnered with AgencyEA to create an exhibit for 22 beer brands at the Austin Convention Center. The Crispin Rosé hard cider bar displayed bottles of the new cider against a backdrop of greenery with oversize hot pink letters that read "Rosé all day." A pink bar was situated under a giant teepee with pink florals.

WineSociety, a California-based wine producer that launched in April, offers canned wine in rosé, red, and white blends. The 500-ml cans are just shy of a full bottle, making it one of the few canned wine options that isn’t single-serving. The wine can be ordered online, and the packaging is designed to chill fast and be lighter than bottles, making it an appropriate option for outdoor summer events.

Salvatore Ferragamo hosted this year's bash at the Windsor Arms Hotel on September 9. Aiming to evoke an orchid conservatory, Frank Rea of Forget Me Not Flowers decked the space with glass towers filled with red Aranthera orchids and floating candles. Spinning Top Productions produced.

SodaStream presented and the Mint Agency produced a celebration for The Railway Man at Live at the Hive on September 6. Logos appeared in multiple spots, including over a candy bar filled with scoop-it-yourself goodies.

Other brand activations included a mirror with a decal cut into the shape of a SodaStream bottle. A SodaStream machine on site was autographed by celebrity guests (Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth were in attendance) and then auctioned off for charity.

The Mint Agency also produced a fete for The Grand Seduction at Brassaii on September 8. The film centers on a doctor character, and staffers' uniforms and the catering from executive chef Chris Kalisperas played up the theme.

Menu items followed the quirky theme, including lemon vodka shots served in syringes.

The Grand Seduction menu also contained "Thermometer-Dipped Pretzels."

Filthy Gorgeous is a documentary about the life of Penthouse magazine publisher Bob Guccione. Event designer Bill Fulgham chose the new nightclub Cube as the venue for the screening's after-party because, he said: "It was almost made-to-order. The interior is dark and sexy with that required amount of shimmer, and it evokes a sultry and stimulating atmosphere." To amp up the sultriness even more, planners staged a mock Penthouse photo shoot, replete with models and photographers greeting guests. Contemporary Furniture Rentals brought in fixtures that added to the '70s-lounge vibe.

The bar was sponsored by Belvedere vodka, and staffers passed snacks in tight tank tops emblazoned with Filthy.

The Mint Agency recently began handing SodaStream's public relations, so staffers decided to host a media lunch during TIFF to introduce journalists to the brand's executive team. Decor for the daytime event, held at Live at the Hive, was clean and bright. 

Along with pink and orange gerbera daisies, decor included vases filled with fresh citrus fruits, Moroccan-style lamps, and displays of the SodaStream machine itself.

Planners brought in celebrity chef Susur Lee to prepare the meal and his son, Kai Bent-Lee, to make drinks at the bar (Bent-Lee is also the mixologist at local hot spot Bent). Working at the so-called "Soda Bar," Bent-Lee prepared drinks that paired with the lunch: For the main course of coffee-marinated pork tenderloin with sautéed wild blueberries and Ontario apples glazed in ice syrup, Lee marinated the meat in SodaStream bubbly water.

The drinks included a basil-yuzu mojito, a ginger-tarragon lemonade spiked with vodka, and a gin and tonic with cucumber-infused gin. All the cocktails, of course, contained SodaStream soda.

Hugo Boss hosted a rooftop after-party for The Enemy screening at the Chase on September 9. Because the film is set in Toronto, planners sought a venue that showcased the city skyline, and McNabb Roick Events kept decor minimal to not detract from the views. The venue selection also presented a play on words that related to the film's plot: in it, star Jake Gyllenhaal chases his enemy. 

The event included a DJ stand—and staff uniforms—splashed with the Hugo Boss logo.

On September 9, Wahlburgers—the burger chain backed by celebrity brothers Mark, Paul, and Donnie Wahlberg—celebrated its Toronto launch with a green-carpet bash at the Soho Metropolitan hotel. The burgers come in flavors such as "Mark's Choice," a turkey patty topped with orange-cranberry sauce, roasted butternut squash, and stuffing.  

Drake Hotel, a gold-level hospitality sponsor for TIFF, hosted parties from September 5 to 15. The hotel partnered with Future Projections to showcase Sweat by Radical Friend on the outside of the building. The projected images revealed sometimes disturbing representations of mass culture, including murder; there were also images of bikers and deserts. The layered images were ultimately meant to reference the brain functions of characters from films by Canadian director David Cronenberg.

With a "Down the Line" theme, inspired by 1970s London, the nightly programming at the Drake included a showcase of designs from the Brazilian artist Baby Steinberg, who is based in Toronto. Steinberg's project "Science Film" comprises wearable artworks made from VHS tapes' film that has been knitted and crocheted together.

The late-night parties also offered free tattoos in the hotel's Room 222, which became a temporary ink shop. Guests could choose from one of six tattoo designs created for the event.

To celebrate its 29 films premiering at TIFF, Entertainment One hosted a blue-carpet bash (playing off its logo) on September 9. Held at the Roundhouse, the event was designed by McNabb Roick Events and had an outdoor bar sponsored by Skyy. Cocktail tables were lit in the evening's signature hue.

Inside the venue, sleek decor stuck to a white-and-icy-blue color scheme.

Lifestyle and hospitality brand Nikki Beach once again hosted a pop-up lounge on the rooftop of the Spoke Club. The venue hosted a Sunday brunch and fashion shows for beachwear from several lines, including Kochon (pictured). Models held baby pigs as a cheeky nod to the brand's name.

Josh Wood Productions produced the September 8 gala at the Carlu. The evening, which was presented by M.A.C. Viva Glam, included a performance from Gossip.

NKPR hosted the IT Portrait lounge at its West Adelaide Street offices, and this year's theme was "Modern Vintage." Sponsors included Barilla, which sent in chefs to cook pasta dishes for the celebrity and V.I.P. guests. A rep for the lounge said that this year's sponsors all had a rich brand heritage; Barilla has been operating since 1877.

Avon provided makeup touch-ups at the lounge, which was decked in vintage-inspired, black-and-white decor.

This year, the Variety Studio was held at Holt Renfrew. Stars such as Jessica Chastain popped in to conduct on-camera interviews about their TIFF films, and the interviews were broadcast on the industry publication's Web site.

Presenting sponsor MoroccanOil showcased its products with hand massages. Susan Sarandon—and her canine companion—were among the guests.

Glo Communications hosted the Bask-It Style lounge in an $8 million penthouse on Harbor Street. Chique and Unique Home Staging gave the venue a "Rustic Luxe" look, and sponsors included Mary Kay. The makeup company displayed its limited-edition "Fairytales & Fantasy" collection in an area that held a solid-oak, 1800s church pew. A tall, reclaimed wood table was used as the makeup station. 

Diesel's Food Truck for Change, produced by Spinradius Events, hit the streets of the greater Toronto area on September 5 to coincide with the film fest's opening. Targeting celebrities and influential festival attendees, the food truck doled out "croughnuts" in exchange for a donation to the charity OneXOne. The truck rolled around the city through September 8.

The Storys Building became the AMC Storys Building for the festival's run and hosted a slew of activations produced by Ink Entertainment and Icon Legacy Hospitality. In the AMC private lounge, banners advertised the channel's popular shows Mad Men and Breaking Bad.