High-end, fun/new, private restaurants near Bay/King area please

[chutchut]

My boss plans to take his managers and their spouses (about 26 people) out for a celebration dinner. They're tired of Canoe, Bymark, Jump, Far Niente... Any new fun ones near Bay/King area?

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Far Niente
187 Bay Street, Toronto, ON M5L 1G5, CA

Bymark
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3, CA

[JennaBean]

You could try Toca @ the Ritz. It seems to be getting a little love even if they are still in the soft launch stage.

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Toca
181 Wellington St W, Toronto, ON M5J 2H5, CA

[jlunar]

There's also Blowfish on Bay, though that's closer to Adelaide. Never been, so I'm not sure about the fun part, but it's certainly new!

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Blowfish on Bay
333 Bay St, Toronto, ON M5H 2S8, CA

[chutchut]

I'm bad, ain't I? ;-( I wouldn't be able to provide feedback on Mistura as that boss has moved down to US.

However, to share with you all, here're the recommendations that I've got from my colleagues so far:

Colleague 1:
Turf Lounge is very nice and they can accommodate up to 40 people in their private area as well as they do horse betting, etc. so it makes for a fun evening. I have had a few functions there for A and he likes it.

Turf Lounge
http://www.turflounge.com/contact.html
330 Bay Street (Adelaide & Bay
)Toronto, Ontario
M5H 2S8
Tel: [phone]
Map: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=330+Bay+Street,+Toronto,+Ontario&aq=0&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=330+Bay+St,+Toronto,+Ontario+M5H+4A6&ll=43.649973,-79.380898&spn=0.007049,0.020964&z=16
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Colleague 2:
Depending in which bosses – some of them belong to private clubs – for example B and C belong to the Granite Club – so you can reserve a room there and have a meal and the event at one of their Private clubs. Also D belongs to a really HIP and HAPPENING private club that is very difficult to get membership for – if she is one of the people you could use her club.
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Colleague 3:
Colborne Lane: Not too far from Bay/King – they have a really interesting tasting menu. You can pre-select a 3-course or 5-course dinner and wine selection.

Colborne Lane:
http://colbornelane.com/welcome
45 Colborne St. (near Church & Wellington
)Toronto Ontario
Tel: [phone]
Note:
*Globe & Mail review: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/restaurant-review-colborne-lane/article746945/
*(Tripadvisor ranked as #49 of 3209 restaurants in Toronto
)Map: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=45+Colborne+St.,+Toronto,+Ontario&aq=&sll=43.648994,-79.375062&sspn=0.007049,0.020964&g=45+Colborne+St.,+Toronto+Ontario&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=45+Colborne+St,+Toronto,+Toronto+Division,+Ontario+M5E+1E3&ll=43.650423,-79.374611&spn=0.007049,0.020964&z=16
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Colleague 4:
One of the admins from downtown office sent her guys there and they raved about it.

Pravda Vodka House
http://www.pravdavodkabar.com/functions.php
44 Wellington St. E. (Wellington & Church
)Tel: [phone]
Map: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&so...
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Colleague 5:
When E takes her team out for a celebratory event, she likes to break away from the ordinary dinner and hosts an evening at a cooking studio. These events are interactive and everyone claims to have a great time. Let me know if this is something your team would be interested in and I’ll send you the details.

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Mistura
265 Davenport Rd, Toronto, ON M5R1J9, CA

Colborne Lane
45 Colborne Street, Toronto, ON M5E 1P8, CA

Bay Street Cafe
22 Bay St, Parry Sound, ON P2A1S5, CA

[prima]

Out of the places you've mentioned, the only place serving very good, sometimes great, sometimes fun/innovative/interesting food is Colborne Lane ;-)

George also serves very good food, and it hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet. Maybe not fun, but good.

The Granite Club's food is similar to food you'd find at a good hotel.

Pravda turns into a nightclub when it's packed. I don't mind it when there's a dip in the stock market, and it's relatively empty, but when it's packed, it's a zoo. Food is an afterthought, as far as I can tell.

I'm curious about the hip and happening private club. The Spoke was exclusive when it opened, and there was some sort of Mission that the members be invited to join, rather than applying without an invitation, and be involved in design/art/entertainment, but my friend's stock broker brother managed to join without any design/art/ent leanings a few years ago, and the week after I flew Porter this year, I was invited to join, along with (presumably) everyone else who had flown Porter.

Of course, there's also the older private clubs like the Albany, the York, the National, etc. Not exactly hip in my books, but I guess hip is in the eye of the beholder. Excellent selection of soft cheeses on the tray at the National the one time I've attended an event. Level of fun varies, mostly depending on how many bottles of wine are opened, I would think, but many of the members of the National Club looked like they were having fun.

Good luck with finding a place that works for your boss & colleagues! ;-)

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George
111 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON M5C 1S2, CA

Colborne Lane
45 Colborne Street, Toronto, ON M5E 1P8, CA

[chutchut]

What about Origin, Luma, Nota Bene, Lucien?

Origin
http://origintoronto.com/profile
107-109 King Street East (King & Church
)Tel: [phone]
Map: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=107-109+King+Street+East,+Toronto,+Ontario&aq=&sll=43.735587,-79.344796&sspn=0.007039,0.020964&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=109+King+St+E,+Toronto,+Toronto+Division,+Ontario+M5C+1G6&z=16
Note: It’s rated as one of the Top 10 Best New Restaurants 2011 by TorontoLife: http://www.torontolife.com/daily/daily-dish/from-the-print-edition-daily-dish/2011/03/30/best-new-restaurants-2011/2/

Luma
TIFF Bell Lightbox, 2nd Floor
330 King St. West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 3X2
Tel: [phone]
http://www.oliverbonacini.com/Luma.aspx
Note: Luma is located on the north-west corner of King and John Streets, on the 2nd floor of the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Map: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=330+King+St.+West,+Toronto,+ON&sll=43.656,-79.389742&sspn=0.049616,0.08111&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=330+King+St+W,+Toronto,+Toronto+Division,+Ontario&ll=43.646417,-79.389846&spn=0.012406,0.020278&z=16
*Auberge’s old chef has gone to Luma.
*Luma is the latest addition to Toronto’s hottest new entertainment destination, the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Located at the corner of King and John Streets, the Lightbox is home to the Toronto International Film Festival, and houses five theatres, three exhibition galleries and Malaparte, a dramatic sixth floor event space.
*Toronto.com listed Luma as one of the new restaurants: http://www.toronto.com/article/370307

Lucien Restaurant
36 Wellington Street East
Toronto, ON M5E 1C7
[phone]
http://www.lucienrestaurant.com/
Map: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=36+Wellington+Street+East,+Toronto,+Ontario+M5E+1C7&sll=43.621012,-79.667981&sspn=0.010951,0.024719&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=36+Wellington+St+E,+Toronto,+Toronto+Division,+Ontario+M5E+1C9&z=16
Street parking is available on both Wellington Street and Front Street. There are numerous parking lots including one street north on Colborne Lane; two streets south on the Esplanade and numerous underground lots in the surrounding office towers.

Nota Bene
180 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 3X3
[phone]
http://www.notabenerestaurant.com/
Map: http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&...
Located at 180 Queen Street West, Nota Bene bridges the Toronto business district with funky Queen West; steps away from the Theatre district and the Opera House.

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Colborne Lane
45 Colborne Street, Toronto, ON M5E 1P8, CA

Nota Bene
180 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 2A1, CA

Luma
330 King St W, Toronto, ON , CA

[prima]

I'd still go with George or Colborne Lane. Or try Toca that's recommended above, which is new, hip, and getting decent, if somewhat mixed, reviews. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7676...

Haven't been to Luma , the other restaurants in the Oliver and Bonacini empire tend to get more postive press.

I've never been to Lucien, but it's a small space, and I think 26 people would be tight. Reviews are mixed.

I've been to Nota Bene for lunch once and dinner 2 times, and I find it ok, but it's fairly ordinary, and not really a place for a celebration. More of a place for a regular business lunch or dinner.

Origin is the casual restaurant operated by the Chef Claudio Aprile, who is the Chef at Colborne Lane. Origin is fairly loud, and bustling, but the menu is mostly small plates- something I wouldn't tend to choose if I was dining with colleagues. The food is more innovative, sophisticated and inspired at Colborne Lane, hence the higher costs.

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Colborne Lane
45 Colborne Street, Toronto, ON M5E 1P8, CA

Nota Bene
180 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 2A1, CA

Luma
330 King St W, Toronto, ON , CA

Toca
181 Wellington St W, Toronto, ON M5J 2H5, CA

[estufarian]

I'm not sure any of these have private rooms. Luma might, but based on my one boring meal there I wouldn't return. The only good thing (for me) is that I was avoiding Auberge for similarly boring food. Now it may be worth my while re-trying Auberge as the chef has left.

Reds has a private room for about 30 people and has been respectable on my visits.

And George has several private rooms (not sure of sizes) and the food is better there than most places mentioned.

There's also a private room at Kultura that's the right size - HOWEVER it changed hands recently, and I haven't tried the food under the new regime.

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Kultura
169 King St. E., Toronto, ON M5A 1J4, CA

Luma
330 King St W, Toronto, ON , CA

[chutchut]

Our function happened at Reds at the end. My boss said that both service and food were good. I contacted George and Colborne Lane. However, George was booked at our planned date and Colborne Lane doesn't have a room that would fit our crowd. Thank you all for your suggestions!

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Colborne Lane
45 Colborne Street, Toronto, ON M5E 1P8, CA