Holding a wine and cheese event...

[hungryabbey]

I'm trying to put together a wine and cheese event for my Nutrition students at Ryerson. I haven't worked out the logistics of it.. but I need a venue that could accomodate probably around 50-80 people, standing.. and either allow us to BYOB (we might be able to get it donated) OR buy wine... We also would like it to be somewhat close to Ryerson (downtown). Any ideas?

[Googs]

My suggestion may or may not be helpful with your negotiations. Remember one thing: You're representing Ryerson. That's substantial clout whether or not you have a big budget. Ryerson is buying up downtown real estate at an astounding pace and doing all the right things with it. They may single-handedly revitalize the downtown core a success neither The City nor any other business entity has been able to accomplish. This and they manage to educate a few people to boot. We should all be grateful for what they're and hail the great and powerful Ryerson. Go Team Toronto!

[hungryabbey]

Woo! Thanks for the support!
I wish they put as much money into the student groups as they do in new buildings, but- thats why we fundraise.

[Toronto Fastfoodie]

Since Ryerson does have so much downtown real estate, have you looked into getting space from them? There must be at least one spot on campus that caters (no pun intended) to your needs. Like an alumni club or something?

[hungryabbey]

No alumnia club, per se. But I did manage to score a good space in Ryerson.. a lovely demo kitchen.. the problem was all of the places I was calling on campus would not allow me to bring my own wine/cheese vendors, which was important to me b/c I wanted someone to serve while giving informal info talk.. so I was hesitant about that, but I pulled some strings and it is going to work out well.
I'm just doing some comparing on the quotes now for the vendors.

[Otonabee]

Doesn't the LCBO rent out their kitchens? If so Summerhill has a good spot as does the LCBO at Bayview Village.

[hungryabbey]

hm.. would they do a social event where people could just mingle? I just cant picture how this would happen at an LCBO. Ive never seen their kitchen..

[Otonabee]

Not sure, I know they do tutored tastings but I would call and ask It would make getting the wine much easier!

http://www.lcbo.com/learn/tutoredtast...

[hungryabbey]

True. Thanks so much!

[Nelson]

A Taste of Quebec in the Distillery District has a wonderful gallery space for up to 150 that can either be hired as a venue, or comes as part of a wine and cheese tasting package.

[hungryabbey]

Very interesting. Ill look into that.

[tartytatin]

I was also going to mention A Taste of Quebec also. I think it suits your requirements perfectly.

[JamieK]

Just an idea -- perhaps engage the services of Julia Rogers at Cheese Culture... she knows her stuff regarding cheese events for sure and maybe she may have some suggestions about venues and logistics.
http://www.cheeseculture.ca/about.html

[hungryabbey]

Wonderful idea!! Thank you!

[JamieK]

oh great I'm glad you liked the idea. I've been to a few of Julia's events and she's a delight.

[childofthestorm]

Basically you need to be in a private space, and then get an SOP (special occasion permit) from the LCBO where you're going to buy the wine.

[hungryabbey]

Okay, thank you, I didnt know that. I will look into it.

[kurtwalter]

Remember, the Special Occasion Permit requires at least a week.

[hungryabbey]

Oh thank you for that. I do have until Sept so Im not in a huge rush, but thats good to know.

[Apple]

Didn't mention the budget... Have you considered a rental space such as Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, Berkley or Coupe Space? Maybe if you do it mid-week, they would give you a deep discount on the space?

[hungryabbey]

Oh right.. well, we dont quite have a budget yet. Nothing too expensive, but we can fundrais to cover the costs.
Those are all great suggestions and yes, probably on like a thursday or something to reduce costs