TIFF ’18 Pop Up Lounge at The Omni King Edward Hotel

One of the great things about TIFF are the pop up lounges that appear in Toronto during the run of the popular film festival. One such pop up lounge is taking place at The Consort Bar at The Omni King Edward Hotel. Torontonicity was invited to a sneak preview on Sept. 4, 2018 of the menu that will be offered at the pop up lounge, which is hosted by Moët Hennessy during TIFF ’18.

The Consort Bar has two levels…who knew? We were invited to the top level, which overlooks the main floor of the bar and is equipped with an HDTV and its own washroom!

The Moët pop up is open to the public during TIFF ’18 and features a menu that was developed for A-list celebrities. When we arrived, we were offered a mini bottle of Moët & Chandon Champagne with a sipper. The sipper was first used on the red carpet for celebrities who wanted to sip champagne without spilling their glass.

We then tried a few of the tasting plates on Executive Chef Daniel Schick’s TIFF ’18 Pop Up Menu, including the Smoked Fiore di Latte with herbed migas, heirloom tomato, tomato gel and rooftop garden pesto. The mozzarella cheese was superb, with the perfect amount of firmness and effectively neutralized the acidity of the tomatoes.

I loved the Yuzu Seared Tuna plate, $45, which was served with watermelon, Acadian Sturgeon Caviar and avocado cream. This was a brilliant pairing: the salty roe were perfectly complemented by the sweet, juicy melon.

Did you know that Moët & Chandon is one of the world’s largest champagne producers, producing 28,000,000 bottles of champagne annually? Moët & Chandon merged with Hennessy Cognac Hennessy in 1971 and with Louis Vuitton in 1987 to become LVMH, the largest luxury group in the world. Dom Perignon is also produced by Moët & Chandon.

We tried the Unconventional Love cocktail, $35, which is made with Moët & Chandon Imperial Rose, Belvedere Vodka, citrus cordial, coconut water, muddled raspberries and freshly grated cinnamon. Delicious and refreshing!

The Royal Burger, $149, which includes 8 oz. of Wagyu beef, Hennessy caramelized onions, shaved fresh truffles, black garlic aioli and aged Ontario heritage cheddar and served with truffle parmesan hand cut fries. We were offered smaller burgers to try and I have to admit, I had two because they were so darn good. The beef was incredibly tender while the aged cheddar provided a sensuous sharpness. The caramelized onions were sweet and spicy and really elevated this burger to star status.

Those stars whose movies get rave reviews at TIFF might want to celebrate with The Royal 75, which will cost them a cool $500. This special TIFF ’18 cocktail is made with Hennessy Paradis Imperial, citrus cordial, fresh lemon juice, Dom Perignon 2009 and lemon twist garnish.

The Omni King Edward Hotel is located just a few blocks east of TIFF Bell Lightbox at 37 King Street East. Stop in at their TIFF ’18 Pop Up Lounge at the Consort Bar if you want to receive the celebrity treatment.