Baro Toronto (The Loft) - Event Space Open House

Welcome to The Loft (Baro Toronto).

Baro Toronto, located at 485 King Street West, has just recently been opened in Toronto and it has been the talk of town. This is definitely a new hotspot right now for both food & drinks. This past week, MoKenny & I got invited to check out The Loft of the Baro Toronto. It’s an industry open house evening for Event Planners and Companies to check out the event space for hosting future potential private parties.

What’s interesting about this open house event was that the food and drinks that we got to try during this event were no limited to just Baro Toronto food. Other catering companies from other restaurants or caterers were also on hand to showcase the food that they offer.

As I entered the entrance of Baro Toronto, I was greeted by the friendly staff. Apparently, there are 3 floors and each floor brings different theme and dining services. I was told the 2nd floor is more for chilling, grabbing a drink and some tapas and enjoy the night. The main dining service happens on the ground floor. Meanwhile, we took the elevator to get to The Loft on the 3rd floor.

Cheers to Baro!

As I exited the elevator, on my right, through a corridor, that’s where I dropped off my coat for coat check. Then, I walked back near the elevator and that’s where the event space was located. The room was a good size, with a check-in station, followed by mini tables where different catering companies were offering their signature sample dishes. At the mid-section of the room, you will see a big bar station that stood 3 bartenders, there were signature drinks that evening with each bartender assigned to make a signature drink.

The “Pink” drink for this open house event.

Speaking of bartenders, they were amazing. Great service, good eye contacts, talkative, sincere and just easy going, which was greatly appreciated. I had been to quite a number of other restaurants or nightclubs where you encountered snobby bartenders that you possibly had to wear neon green to even stand a chance to get their attentions to give you a drink.

What impressive to me with the bartenders at Baro Toronto was that they took pride in making good cocktail drinks. I recalled during one round of drinks as I stood there, I asked for 2 “pink” cocktails, the bartender mis-heard me and thought I only want 1 drink. As he pour the drink into 1 full glass and the rest to the second glass, he wasn’t happy with the lack of volume of the second drink (since he thought it was only 1 drink), he decided to make the 2nd drink all over again. He believed the portion isn’t the same if he just make half new drink and mixed it with the rest of the other half of the second drink. I had never seen anything like this coz most bartenders will just pour whatever especially it’s open bar. Not him, he took it seriously and you could tell he was very passionate to deliver a nice drink to the customers for every single order. That really stick in my mind that evening and little good gesture like this means ALOT to bringing a good experience for the attendees.

As we walked to the back of the event space, I saw my favourite food, freshly shucked oysters, nicely plated by Chef Bryan Carr. I later chatted with him and told him that “when an event offers open oyster bar, you know it’s a great event” and I stick by that. Fresh horse radish, vinegar sauce, fresh oysters. Luv it!

MoVernie with Baro Raw Bar Chef, Bryan Carr.

The Citizen (located just across Baro Toronto) had two unforgettable food items as well. It’s tasty and I love the unique ingredients. 1) Smoked salmon crispy chicken skin and 2) Creamy escagots on toasty crostini. Both were delicious items.

The Citizen, Creamy Escagots on crostini.

Overall, it was my first visit at Baro Toronto – The Loft and I definitely love the event space. What I like the most was the fact that it has an elevator to guide you to the 3rd floor, once you are up at the 3rd floor, you have no choice but to check in. So, if you are not on the guest list and try to crash the party, you can’t, it’s just not even possible. Mind you, there are staircase at the coat check area, but it’s not easy to penetrate if there is a bouncer situated there. I also love the furnitures, lovely low end comfy arm chairs and sofas. Love the purple light fixtures and the exposed historic bricks that dated back long long time ago. The only thing that some peeps may not like is the fact that there are lack of windows, so it’s a bit like a SpeakEasy but at The Loft, which I totally don’t mind. If you are planning to host a party or a corporate event, I highly recommend you to do a FAM tour at The Loft, it’s a good spot. I was invited to this open house event by Maria (aka Cory) Goncalves (maria@mgrouptoronto.com) from the M Group Event Consultants, so you can contact her to take a visit of The Loft. Thank you for the kind invitations Cory!

After I had posted lots of photos and videos of my visit at The Loft, lots of my friends and followers asked me how the food taste at Baro Toronto. I am an honest man, I told them that I can’t really conclude anything since all I tasted at the open house event was freshly shucked oysters by Chef Bryan Carr, which was fresh and tasty. The oysters were tasty and super fresh, but that’s the only item I tasted. I don’t even know what the the ground level or second level looks like and the main dining food items. So, stay tuned as I will be back to check Baro Toronto in the near future and will share with you of my findings and my dinning experience.

Chef Bryan Carr told me that I should visit him at the Baro Raw Bar, which quite honestly, which I haven’t visited yet and don’t know what other fresh seafood they serve, so again, I have to visit again. So many different sections at Baro Toronto to explore, but that’s what I like, to discover more and more each time I visit Baro Toronto.

Stay tuned and MoVernie is outta here!

Baro Toronto
485 King St W,
Toronto, ON
M5V 1K4
www.barotoronto.com