Here are new ways to entertain, feed, and treat summer associates and interns.
1. For a party favour guests are sure to remember, Samba Days provides "gift experiences." You can gift everything from a spa treatment ($109) to a day driving luxury Ferraris and Lamborghinis down a secluded Ontario road ($599). Alternately, you can book any of these options for a group.
2. Contemporary Furniture Rentals has recently adapted several of their metal framed products, including bars, back bars, coffee tables, and cruiser tables, for use outside. The pieces have been coated with a special finish that can withstand the elements, and that allows them to be placed directly on grass. Inquire for pricing.
3. The Drake Hotel's new Drake Academy program offers unique teambuilding activities for groups of eight to 20, including a bartending 101 class with the hotel's award-winning mixologists and a barista 101 class, which lets you learn from the pros how to make a perfect latte or cappuccino. Classes start at $500.
4. Host an outdoor barbecue at the new Evergreen Brick Works complex, which has two appropriate venues, both of which include picnic tables and fire pits for roasting s'mores. Koerner Gardens is an open-air venue that holds 300 people in a roofless 20,000-square-foot space filled with greenery. For larger barbecues, the Pavilions, which look out onto the Weston Quarry and Parklands of the Don Valley, hold 800. Pricing starts at $1,500 for Koerner Gardens, or $4,500 for the Pavilions.
5. Signatures Restaurant at the InterContinental Toronto Yorkville just unveiled a new seasonal wine-pairing menu that allows groups to significantly cut down on the price of a high-end meal by letting them bring their own bottles with no corkage fee. The deal is on Monday through Thursday, and the restaurant merely suggests a wine (i.e., bring your favourite Chablis to match the vanilla-poached lobster). Space for groups includes a semiprivate table for six and a lowered area for 30.
6. For a fun, family-friendly entertainment addition to your event, Mystic Drumz can supplement an outdoor festival or corporate party with a walkabout drum circle. A musician circulates throughout the crowd, creating a drum circle wherever they go. Pricing starts at $500.
7. The Crowne Plaza Hotel Toronto Airport is offering a new "picnic in the city" package that offers prepackaged catering to groups eating on site or anywhere else. The packed lunch boxes, which cost $16 per person, include a gourmet sandwich, salad, fresh fruit, sparkling water, and freshly baked goods.
8. For a corporate well-being initiative, Yoga Tree offers on-site, in-office classes that can be scheduled during lunch hours, after work, or at any other time. Classes last 45 minutes or one hour, can be tailored to beginner or advanced students, and cover a wide range of yoga styles, including hatha flow, hot yoga, and ashtanga. Classes start at $100.
9. Teambuilding company Beyond the Box is now offering their arts-based creativity workshops, designed to help employees and executives think creatively about problem-solving, at new venue Spazio Dell' Arte. The art gallery/restaurant space can hold groups of as many as 100. Pricing varies.
10. For a summer meal outdoors, All The Best Fine Foods catering company has a line of seasonal soups, including gazpacho, charred tomato basil, vichyssoise, creamy asparagus, and beet gazpacho, which can be packed and ready to take anywhere. Pricing starts at $13 per litre.
