Here's a look at new Boston eateries, drinking spots, hotels, conference areas, private rooms, and other spaces to open for events this spring. The new and renovated Boston venues are available for corporate parties, weddings, fund-raisers, outdoor functions, business dinners, teambuilding activities, conferences, meetings, and more.
A 4,000-square-foot concert venue, restaurant, and private event space, City Winery opened in November. It features a variety of unique spaces, including the Private Tasting room, a 1,000-square-foot space featuring exposed barrels that welcomes 32 seated guests or 40 for a cocktail-style event. There's also the Gallery, an 800-square-foot room that holds 30 standing guests, or the Haymarket Lounge, a 1,800-square-foot stage and private bar that seats 60 guests or holds 80 for receptions.
Among the first components of Kimpton Nine Zero’s $10 million renovation is the hotel's new meeting and private event space, which debuted in February. Spanning 2,400 square feet and three rooms—dubbed Reflect, Create, and Imagine—the spaces can hold events for many as 150 for receptions or 100 for seated events. Two of the rooms can connect for one larger space. Furnishings include bronze baseboards, custom furniture, and Timothy Oulton console tables.
The 14,000-square-foot Tuscan Kitchen Seaport opened in November in the booming One Seaport development. A 2,000-square-foot private dining space has four different rooms, including the private Toscana room, which measures 740 square feet and seats 52 guests or holds 60 for cocktails. It's also equipped with audiovisual capabilities and a flat-screen TV. There are also the 900-square-foot semiprivate Sicilia and Umbria spaces, which each seat 40 guests or hold 60 cocktail style. For buyouts, the venue seats 320 guest overall or holds 600 for receptions.
A collection of unique meeting spaces, Absolute 47 offers quirky environments for small groups. Spaces include a conference room with a table made out of old front doors and the Pods, an elevated treehouse-style retreat with oversize pillows, twinkling overhead LED lighting, and Sony wireless headphones. An upstairs room with risers would work for an interactive staff meeting. The 1,800-square-foot space holds 20 for meetings or 75 for reception-style events. Pricing can include transportation to the venue.
Set to open later in March is Courtyard by Marriott Boston Downtown/North Station, a 220-room hotel. Its four meeting spaces, which overlook the Zakim Bridge, span a total of 2,512 square feet. These range from a 10-person boardroom to the 1,680-square-foot Hanover Cambridge room, which seats 100 or holds 130 theater-style.
White Bull Tavern is a casual spot serving pizzas and skillet-cooked appetizers. The tavern is filled with antiques, from a custom gas lamp found in Long Island to an old Singer sewing machine that has been made into a table to a vintage mermaid sculpture that overlooks the eight-seat raw bar. The venue covers 7,500 square feet across two floors, and seats 180 or holds about 340 for a cocktail-style event. It opened in February.
Inside the Boston Park Plaza hotel is the 19,000-square-foot Lynx Fitness Club, which opened on January 1. The space features a virtual golf course in the TopGolf Swing Suite, a virtual gaming spot ideal for parties or casual networking events. Measuring 2,000 square feet, the suite can accommodate 40 guests. Each of the three simulators fits eight people, so a maximum of 24 guests can play golf at the same time.
Named for the Korean word for "heart," Simjang is a 2,700-square-foot American-Korean restaurant in Worcester that opened on March 1. Originally a Buick dealership built in 1928, the building fuses original design elements like floor-to-ceiling Art Deco columns and big windows with modern colors and fixtures. An upstairs semiprivate dining space, which measures 400 square feet, seats 24 guests or holds 50 standing. It has its own bar, a television, and a gaming space that features shuffleboard and vintage video games like Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga and Big Buck Hunter. The first-level dining room seats 75 guests or holds 100 for receptions. The venue is available for full or partial buyouts.
The Seaport brewery Hopsters opened in January, with 2,000 square feet of brewing space and 4,000 square feet for dining and drinking. For private events, the venue holds as many as 200 guests and offers teambuilding activities. Groups can participate in a brewing session by scheduling as many as 12 kettles that create up to 36 cases of beer with custom labels. The 4,000-square-foot upstairs event space can be rented without brewing.
Located in the Hotel Salem, Counter is a 55-seat restaurant inspired by 1950s luncheonettes. Available for either full or partial buyout, the restaurant features a 20-seat counter bar and a 35-seat dining room. The entire space, which opened in January, measures 1,100 square feet.
