Here's a look at new Boston eateries, drinking spots, hotels, conference areas, private rooms, and other spaces to open for events this winter. The new and renovated venues are available for corporate parties, weddings, fund-raisers, outdoor functions, business dinners, teambuilding activities, conferences, meetings, and more.
Located in Kendall Square, Sulmona Restaurant serves small plates, wood-fired pizza, and homemade pasta. Available for full and partial buyouts, the 3,500-square-foot restaurant seats 152 guests in its dining room, as well as 20 guests on the 550-square-foot patio. There's also a 320-square-foot bar with 18 seats, as well as 24 high-top table seats. The venue opened in late February 2017.
In June, the Ritz-Carlton, Boston, unveiled a $13 million redesign highlighting the 3,500-square-foot ballroom overlooking Boston Common. The space accommodates 300 guests for a reception, 250 guests for dinner, or 70 with conference seating. The 1,200-square-foot Studio, an additional function space adjacent to the ballroom, accommodates 125 guests reception-style, 80 for a seated dinner, or 45 with conference seating. The property offers audiovisual capabilities, in addition to the services of a Technology Butler.
Earls Prudential Center, the second Earls Kitchen & Bar location in Boston, opened in September. The 14,500-square-foot restaurant, located in the Shops at the Prudential Center, has a variety of private event spaces. A 1,300-square-foot separate bar called the Cocktail Lab on the lower level seats 40 guests or holds 60 for cocktails and features a 58-inch TV and full audiovisual capabilities. There's also a 300-seat main dining room with an open kitchen on the second floor and a 200-seat, three-season rooftop patio.
With 18,000 square feet of newly renovated event space spread throughout 13 meeting and function rooms, the Hilton Boston/Woburn has a variety of options for events. The largest is the 7,220-square-foot Grand Ballroom, which accommodates 500 for a classroom-style meeting or 800 for a reception. Fully equipped with audiovisual services, the hotel, which debuted its changes in October, also accommodates video and teleconferencing, as well as catering inspired by the menu at Matadora restaurant.
Copley Place, the famous shopping destination in Copley Square, has revamped its Center Court. The 1,600-square-foot space, which can accommodate 300 guests for cocktail-style events, can also coordinate seated dinners for as many as 100. Stanchions can provide as much or as little privacy as planners choose, and catering from outside providers is permitted. The renovations were finished in October.
Serving up Californian- and French-inspired food, Explorateur Cafe, Restaurant & Bar opened on Tremont Street in late August. Overall, the space spans 5,329 square feet and can hold 400 guests for a cocktail-style event. The 1,800-square-foot Library Room is a private dining space with a nine-seat bar and seating for 110; it holds 175 for cocktails. There’s also a smaller “map room” inside of the Library Room with 18 seats. The restaurant's main dining room seats 66 guests, while the main bar has 19 seats, as well as 21 high-top table seats and a cafe area that seats about 60 guests.
In October, the Boston Marriott Burlington completed the Marriott's iSuites, composed of three meeting rooms with audiovisual capabilities designed with meetings, speaking engagements, and interactive presentations in mind. They include the 486-square-foot Ignite, which accommodates 40 guests; the 713-square-foot Imagine, which accommodates 60 guests; and the 850-square-foot Inspire, which accommodates 70 guests. The entire hotel has 14,000 square feet of meeting and event spaces, including a 9,000-square-foot Celebration Ballroom that seats 1,000 guests for a theater-style event or 650 guests for banquets.
Known for its lavish spa and wellness programs, Exhale Battery Wharf debuted Core Cycle, its 1,155-square-foot indoor cycling studio program, in mid-May. Groups of as many as 34 riders can conquer hills, jumps, and sprints on state-of-the-art bikes while music booms from the audio system. At an additional cost, the venue can provide food and drink from the connecting Battery Wharf Hotel.
At the 5,000-square-foot Jack's Coal Fired Pizza, sleek red booths and barber-style bar stools accommodate 140 people with a mix of high- and low-top tables, large booths, and bar seating. There's also a 56-seat, 1,060-square-foot covered seasonal patio with two HDTVs, and a wall of accordion glass doors that provide full access or separation from the main dining room. Offering both a Wood Stone coal-fired oven and Marra Forni wood-fired oven, the pizza place opened in October.
Curds & Co., a 1,150-square-foot Brookline Village cheese shop, doubles as an event space where private gatherings such as tastings, classes, and multi-sensory experiences are on offer. The shop, which opened in late August, seats 16 guests or holds 40 for reception-style events.
