10 Boston Meeting and Event Venues Opening This Winter

Showcase Live, a 16,000-square-foot event space at Foxborough’s Patriot Place, 30 miles south of Boston, began hosting private events this month. It holds 850 and is outfitted with a 52-foot-long bar and V.I.P. banquettes. Custom seating arrangements can be coordinated with an in-house event team. The space is outfitted with three digital projection screens and nine high-definition LCD televisions. A culinary team customizes seated meals, cocktail functions, or food stations. The venue is adjacent to Gillette Stadium, a concert venue and home of the New England Patriots.

Boston Chops will open in early 2013 in the South End. The restaurant, housed in a refurbished late-19th-century bank, styles itself as a bistro with unusual steak house fare. A private, glass-enclosed dining room will seat 20; a semiprivate wine room table will hold eight. Chef Chris Coombs, recently named to Forbes’s 30 Under 30 list, will showcase underutilized cuts of beef in his entrées; custom steak frites will be the house specialty.

The Bee's Knees, a gourmet grocery in Fort Point headed by noted Boston chef Jason Owens, will open in early 2013. The 5,500-square-foot market will house downtown Boston’s largest cheese selection and will also sell house-cured meat and pickles, local seafood, wine, and craft beer. A full-time chef will coordinate private wine dinners and cooking demonstrations in a state-of-the-art kitchen, and events can be customized based on size.

Abby Lane, a two-story theater district restaurant that opened in late 2012, is now available for private events. The second floor, which has a 20-seat bar and a fireplace, is available for buyout and accommodates 150. The restaurant has a sound system and Wi-Fi. Chef Jason Santos, known for his appearances on the TV show Hell’s Kitchen, creates menus for seated dinners, cocktail stations, or passed appetizers and cocktails.

Giulia, an Umbrian restaurant between Porter and Harvard Squares in Cambridge, opened in December. A chef’s table, which serves as a pasta-rolling station by day, hosts semiprivate dinners at night. The reclaimed white-oak table seats 10 and is adjacent to an open kitchen. Additionally, the restaurant is available for buyout and seats approximately 70 for dinner. Gluten-free items are available, and many gluten-free pastas are showcased on a rotating basis.

The North End’s Prezza, newly rebuilt after a fire, will be available for private events beginning in early February. The restaurant will be available for buyout and accommodates 110. Named for a town in the Abruzzi region of Italy, ancestral home of the restaurant’s owners, the space is known for an 800-plus bottle wine list, a seasonal Italian menu, and hearty portions. Two flat-screen televisions are mounted over the bar, and event planners can coordinate additional amenities.

Estelle’s, a homestyle Southern restaurant on the outskirts of the South End, opened in December. The venue is available for buyout and accommodates 95 for dinner or cocktails. Two semiprivate dining rooms can be assembled to accommodate smaller groups. An audiovisual team coordinates with event planners; additionally, two flat-screen televisions are mounted over the bar. The restaurant is named after Estelle’s, a legendary restaurant and nightlife destination in nearby Roxbury, now closed.

The Sinclair, a restaurant and music hall in Cambridge’s Harvard Square, opened earlier this month and is available for private concerts and events. An event team coordinates seating, food, and beverages; house audio and lighting engineers are available for concerts. A downstairs bar area holds 35 for seated events; an upstairs dining room holds 50, and a concert staging area seats 300. For cocktails, the staging area holds 525, or 50 in the bar and 60 in an upstairs dining room. In warm weather, a patio holds 52 for cocktails. The venue is outfitted for Wi-Fi. The menu was developed by noted chef Michael Schlow of Boston’s popular Radius. Signature dishes include grilled octopus and pastrami pork-belly sliders.

Waban Kitchen, a New American restaurant in Newton’s Waban section, opened in December and is now available for private events. The dining room’s charcoal gray walls are dotted with chef Jeff Fournier’s artwork; a built-in wine shelf overlooks the bar. Fournier spotlights shareable plates that emphasize local ingredients from his personal garden; house-made rigatoni with Bolognese is a signature dish. Menus and amenities can be customized for events.

The Burro Bar, a casual addition to Davis Square’s popular Latin American restaurant the Painted Burro, will open this winter. The space will host cocktail parties or seated dinners for 50. The space is outfitted with a jukebox and is Wi-Fi-equipped. Chefs can concoct signature cocktails and entrées named to suit each event.