After a three-week closure, Rosewater Supper Club reopened September 10, in time to host an opening night cocktail reception for the Toronto International Film Festival. The venue, operated by the Liberty Entertainment Group, has a new menu and a more contemporary look, courtesy of aredesign by creative director Nadia Di Donato.
Dark oak tables fill the dining room, and the bar is now faced in blue glass. A front room that formerly housed a piano bar now offers bistro-style seating. Downstairs, a private room, formerly decorated in dark tones, has been washed in white. "It's a Philippe Starck influence," Di Donato said of the space, which has a 22-foot table surrounded by white Chippendale chairs. The Supper Club, a second private room, is being renovated in the next phase of the redesign.
"We didn't want to change the personality of it, we just wanted it to feel a lot more contemporary and a lot fresher," Di Donato said of the restaurant, which also features two murals by artist Doug MacRae, whose work also hangs in Spice Route. The murals, inspired by a recent trip to Indonesia, depict pheasants perched in blossoming plum trees and provide a focal point in the main dining room.
Rosewater also has a new menu, including a bar menu with dishes like wasabi-crusted shrimp and Mexican fajitas. "We moved away from the French influence we used to have. It's a much more approachable menu with fresh ingredients and recognizable plates," Di Donato said.
Rosewater is available for full buyouts. The entire venue holds about 375 people: The main dining room seats 110 or holds 200 for receptions; the mezzanine seats 70 and holds 100 for receptions; the Supper Club seats 110 and holds 160 for receptions; and the White Room seats 20 and holds 50 for receptions.
