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Panda Ball for the World Wildlife Fund

  • October 29, 2012
  • charity, gala
  • Comments Off on Panda Ball for the World Wildlife Fund
Panda Ball at the Aria room at the Four Seasons Hotel

Panda Ball at the Aria room at the Four Seasons Hotel

The Panda Ball is an evening of celebrating the place that connects us all, Earth. This 2nd annual fundraising gala for the World Wildlife Fund brought together key philanthropists and business visionaries who want to make positive changes in the conservation of the universe’s only known living planet. The work that the WWF does is so vital, dealing with issues that impact everyone on a global scale in a changing climate, melting Arctic, health of our oceans, rivers and the preservation of wildlife and endangered species.

It was our first time at the new luxurious Four Seasons Hotel in Yorkville. We had the pleasure of meeting The Bachelor Canada’s one and only Brad C. Smith who had heaps of fun facial expressions to share with us. Thanks for the photo ops!

Following the reception, guests were gathered into the thoughtfully decorated Aria banquet room with elegant dining table settings. The gold panda pins at each seat were a nice touch. The charismatic Ziya Tong, co-host of Daily Planet, did a great job as Master of Ceremonies for the evening and she made inspirational speeches about the importance of environmental issues and our planet Earth.

Environmental Leader Awards were given out to Greg Kiessling, co-founder of Bullfrog Power, for “Leader for Conservation”, followed by the award for “Partner in Conservation”, accepted by Coca-Cola Canada President, Nicola Kettlitz, and the “Living Planet Legacy” was awarded to Annette Verschuren who highlighted her work as President of Home Depot Canada.

Feist rounded out the evening with unique renditions of her hits such as “My Moon My Man”.

At the end of the evening everyone enjoyed choosing their own WWF stuffed animal species to take home and adopt. So many great ones to choose from! Check out all these great stuffed animals you can choose from that would make great Christmas gifts. You’ll also be eligible to receive a tax receipt while also supporting WWF’s conservation efforts.

We wish the best success to the WWF in it’s fundraising efforts.

ABOUT WWF (World Wildlife Fund)

WWF (World Wildlife Fund) is Canada’s largest international conservation organization with the active support of more than 150,000 Canadians. We connect the power of a strong global network to on-the-ground conservation efforts across Canada, with offices in Vancouver, Prince Rupert,Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, St. John’s, and a growing presence in the Arctic. For more information visit wwf.ca

Brad C Smith, Bachelor Canada, and Arlene Dickinson of Dragon’s Den at the VIP reception

Auctioneer, Jay Mandarino with guests at the VIP reception

Dinner setting for Panda Ball at the new Four Seasons Hotel in Yorkville, Toronto

Dinner setting for Panda Ball at the new Four Seasons Hotel in Yorkville, Toronto

Ziya Tong, co-host of Daily Planet and MC of Panda Ball 2012

Ziya Tong, co-host of Daily Planet and Master of Ceremonies at Panda Ball 2012

Annette Verschuren, O.C. accepting an Environmental Leader Award: Living Planet Legacy

Feist performing at Panda Ball 2012

Feist performing at Panda Ball 2012

Feist performing at Panda Ball 2012

Dessert at Panda Ball

Dessert at Panda Ball: Caramelized pear Pavlova, vanilla brulee with Cointreau Chantilly

Wonderful WWF ladies giving out stuffed animals to each guest

Lindt chocolate teddy bears for a sweet ending to the evening

Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style

Making it’s North American debut right here in Toronto, TIFF Bell Lightbox’s exciting exhibition just opened to the public! What’s not to love about the world’s most famous secret agent exuding British flair, martinis, fast cars, gadgets, action and the Bond girls.

To celebrate 50 years of Bond style, TIFF rolled out the red carpet for an evening of adventure and intrigue at the James Bond opening night party. Passports were given out to each guest with the mission of reaching each checkpoint. Live performances included the one and only Sheena Easton singing “For Your Eyes Only” followed by a great live band, “The Big Sound”, that captivated the crowd on the ground floor and rang through the rest of the floors with classic James Bond theme songs. There was also a casino room, martinis (of course), and the various James Bond exhibits available for viewing.

Our favourite feature was the Kobo Ice lounge giving out snow cones with your personal choice of liquor. We tried a similar gin-flavoured ice in a cup at the recent Eat to the Beat, but now this is in snow-cone form! There was so much to enjoy with so little time. For the latter part of the night, the party happened to be at the TIFF Bell Lightbox’s loading dock where there was a bar, DJ and a Parts and Labour catering truck allowing you to hop on board and enjoy oysters. Different but great!

This new must-see exhibition now at TIFF Bell Lightbox, “Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style” at TIFF Bell Lightbox features a treasure trove of James Bond memorabilia from Dr. No to the latest upcoming film, Skyfall. For more information visit tiff.net/bond and also CBC’s detailed article about the exhibition here.

Art installation from the new James Bond Exhibition, Designing 007

Art installation from the new James Bond Exhibition, Designing 007

Well played, Spiro!

Here are some of our favourite tweets from the night

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Eat to the Beat

For the 17th year, Eat to the Beat held their annual women-helping-women culinary fundraiser, where guests get to indulge in a vast variety of delectable Ontario culinary delights from 60 female chefs.

The event is a great cause where the Willow Breast Cancer Support, a national non-profit organization that not only supports women in surviving breast cancer but also to thrive.

The evening features sweet and savoury food and drinks, live music, a silent auction, raffle draw for great prizes. It’s a delicious event not to miss.

A tower of white macarons

We indulged in some Devils on Horseback – roasted, port stewed prunes wrapped in bacon by Alexandra Feswick, Samuel J. Moore. We loved how the prunes sweetness counterbalanced the bacon.

Devils on Horseback – Roasted, Port Stewed Prunes wrapped in Bacon by Alexandra Feswick, Samuel J. Moore

Scarlet Gaffney, Westin Harbour Castle menu included caramelized pear and woolwich goat cheese crostini, pecan onion butter, which was a tasty blend of goat cheese and pear that looks and tastes elegant.

Scarlet Gaffney, Westin Harbour Castle – Caramelized pear and woolwich goat cheese crostini, pecan onion butter

Tobey Nemeth from Edulis restaurant provided a colorful selection of morsels of: Fresh Sheep’s Milk Cheese with Piquillo Pappers and White Anchovies, Smoked Silver Bass with Herbed and Pickled Red Onion.

Toby Nemeth, Edulis Restaurant: Fresh Sheep’s Milk Cheese with Piquillo Pappers and White Anchovies, Smoked Silver Bass with Herbed and Pickled Red Onion.

We also loved the Pulled BBQ veal slider – mushroom confit, tomato herb aioli by Joan Monfaredi, Park Hyatt Hotel, where the pulled BBQ veal was soft and juicy.

Joan Monfaredi, Park Hyatt Hotel: Pulled BBQ veal slider, mushroom confit, tomato herb aioli

Along with wines, spirits, and premium beer, we found Tipicular Fixin’s Sno Ball refreshing and hits the spot!

Tipicular Fixin’s Sno Ball, despite it’s light pink colouring, was deceptively strong. Loved it!

Nuit Regular of Khao San Road with Mar Hor – Savoury pork and peanut on a sweet slice of fresh pineapple, garnished with spicy thai chili and cilantro

Trista Sheen of Crush Wine Bar – Jerk chicken wings with jalapeno corn cream

Chef Joanne Lusted, Clean Eating Magazine, making homemade ricotta rapini pesto with fall vegetable chips

Dulce de Leche Brownie Lollipops

You can stay in the loop about Eat to the Beat in 2013 by subscribing to updates at eattothebeat.ca. You can help ensure that no one has to face breast cancer alone!

ABOUT WILLOW BREAST CANCER SUPPORT CANADA

Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada is a national not-for-profit organization that provides free support and information today for those who cannot wait for tomorrow’s cure.

For more information visit www.willow.org

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Operanation 9: Sweet Revenge for the Canadian Opera Company

Rated as a must-attend event, the highly-anticipated, Canadian Opera Company’s 9th annual sold-out fundraiser, Operanation, lived up to the hype and then some. This year’s theme was “Sweet Revenge”, based on the operetta, Die Flaudermaus, by Johann Strauss.  The evening featured star-studded personalities including musicians, Nelly Furtado and The Arkells, each with their own unique collaborations with the COC’s Ensemble Studio.

The extravagant night started with dinner for VIP guests only, then at 9pm the rest of the guests pulled out their coveted tickets for this high-profile evening at the one-and-only multi-level Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Rose Reisman Catering served pulled pork, black truffled mac and cheese.  There was also a mini grilled cheese bar and an impressive mini apple bar.  The mini apple bar was our favourite, sweet delicacy of the night with a real tree branch protruding into a miniature apple dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles. What a refreshing take on the candy apple!

At the Mini Apple Bar: Baby Fall Apples dipped in White Chocolate with Sprinkles or Caramel Sauce with Skor Pieces

Prior to the night, it was pretty amazing to have our first celebrity, Nelly Furtado, with almost 3 million followers follow @bestoftorontoTV on Twitter! What an honour!  Nelly Furtado did a short set including a spanish song with the COC’s ensemble studio baritone member, Cameron McPhail, and then ending it with Maneater.

Nelly Furtado performing at Operanation: Sweet Revenge

Later into the night, a talented soprano, Ambur Braid, did an interesting opera-rock fusion set with the Arkells band showcasing her impressive high-pitched range one-minute and then rocking out in her glittering dress the next minute.

COC’s soprano, Ambur Braid, performing a mash-up with The Arkells

Since everyone knew that the Arkells would be one of the headliners, we were wondering to ourselves if Jian Ghomeshi would be performing at Operanation just like at his own recent 1982 book launch party at the Opera House. Nevertheless, it was still very refreshing and surprising to see him jump onto stage and rock the house once again with the Arkells and the COC’s Ensemble Studio.  Great vibes all around!

It was great to see our new Ryerson fashion designer friend, Jill Dickieson (see our interview here) at the unveiling of her dress inspired by Adele from Die Flaudermaus.  I also met up with another Ryerson designer, Sarah Elizabeth Graham, with whom we had a hilarious time along with her mom.  We had too much fun!

Enjoying Sweet Revenge macarons

Members of the Ensemble Studio: soprano Tamara Wilson, baritone Cameron McPhail, soprano Ambur Braid, mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb

Enjoying the Sweet Revenge macaron tower by Nadege Patisserie

Here are some notable tweets including our own, which the Canadian Opera Company retweeted as well.  Thanks for that!


Watch Citytv’s interview with Nelly Furtado before Operanation

ABOUT OPERANATION

Established in 2005, Operanation is the Canadian Opera Company’s premier fundraising event. For arts patrons as well as the opera-curious, Operanation presents a unique experience, equal parts party and performance, with special collaborations between classic and modern music and complementary art forms ranging from visual arts to fashion. Attracting over 1,000 guests, Operanation takes over three floors of the COC’s opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Funds raised for Operanation are directed towards the COC’s Ensemble Studio, Canada’s premier training program for young opera professionals. For more information on Operanation, please visit www.operanation.ca

ABOUT THE CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY

Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The COC enjoys a loyal audience support-base and one of the highest attendance and subscription rates in North America. Under its leadership team of General Director Alexander Neef and Music Director Johannes Debus, the COC is increasingly capturing the opera world’s attention. The COC maintains its international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation by creating new productions within its diverse repertoire, collaborating with leading opera companies and festivals, and attracting the world’s foremost Canadian and international artists. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world. Designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects, the Four Seasons Centre opened in 2006, and is also the performance venue for The National Ballet of Canada. For more information on the Canadian Opera Company, please visit its award-winning website, coc.ca.

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Art with Heart: A fundraiser for Casey House

  • October 20, 2012
  • arts, charity
  • Comments Off on Art with Heart: A fundraiser for Casey House

For art lovers who want to make a difference, Art with Heart is an art show fundraiser for Casey House with a 19-year history, in support of those living with HIV/AIDS right here in Toronto.  The evening at The Carlu consisted of a great collection of Canadian contemporary works of art, gourmet food, complimentary bar and giant live auction.

Final viewing before the big art auction

The art auction

The live auction

The great catering of the fine food was by Daniel & Daniel.  These guys are everywhere. The seafood dish featuring scallops and mussels were delicious.

Scallop, clam and mussel bake with fennel cream sauce in a scallop shell with micro greens

 

ABOUT CASEY HOUSE

Founded in 1988, Casey House was the first free-standing HIV/AIDS facility in Canada. A specialty hospital with community programming, Casey House provides exceptional care, support and clinical expertise in the following settings:

  • In the Inpatient Program located at 9 Huntley Street
  • In the familiar comfort of people’s homes through our Home Care Program
  • Serving some of our city’s most marginalized people via our Outreach Program and community partnerships

To find out more about Casey House, please visit us at www.caseyhouse.com

Please consider making a donation today. Your generosity will bring positive change to the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS in Toronto. Please click here to make your secure online donation.

For more information about Casey House click here.

Here is a video from Art with Heart 2011

Also check out the Casey Awards 2012 earlier this year cleebrating the life and memories of June Callwood, one of the founders of Casey House.

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