Relaxed corporate dinner - best place to go?

[muckluckgirl]

Okay my chowhound friends, this one should be easy for you!

I have to arrange a dinner for about 20 out of town execs who will be staying at the Pantages hotel. Something relatively close by, excellent quality, elegant, but also somewhere that shows off Toronto a bit. Somewhere kinda cool. Somewhere other than the obvious choices e.g. Canoe, 360, etc. I want these guys to go home saying "wow, wasn't that a GREAT place to eat? Toronto is fantastic!"

If anyone has any ideas - I would love to hear it!

[sloweater]

Go to Perigee...

The tasting menus are innovative and well prepared; the room is intimate and not overly pretentious. Be warned, the price tag is comparable to Canoe. Not sure if they can accomodate 20 at one table.

[deelicious]

I would guess nearby Kultura would be the best bet.

[Rabbit]

What about Starfish (Jarvis and Adelaide)? It's not really "see and be seen", but it is an excellent "secret" Toronto place - wonderful food, relaxed, elegant - and in the neighbourhood.

George also comes to mind, although I haven't been there in about a year.

Also, (always) Jamie Kennedy on Church.

[estragon]

How about Kultura?

Also, Claudio Aprile's Colborne Lane is supposed to be opening soon:

http://www.torontolife.com/features/o...

[courgette]

For a more casual, relaxed atmosphere, you can try the Academy of Spherical Arts. The Academy offers a few events that you can include as part of the evening's entertainment: scotch tasting, wine tasting, champagne and caviar tasting, beer tasting or you can bring in a jazz trio, have a pool pro demo-ing trick shots on the many pool tables they have, have a demo of cigar rolling, etc. I just had an event there and they treated us really well.

[todc1996]

no brainer. perigee in the distillery.
i believe there's a restaurant in the distillery that has live music. can't remember the name. maybe someone else can help me out.

[paper_bag_princess]

boiler house?

[orangewasabi]

Senator? and some jazz with drinks afterwards?

it's a block away

[estragon]

There hasn't been jazz at the Senator in years.