Gloria Graham, AKBD
Brendan Donovan Furniture & Cabinet Co.
3685 Investment Lane, West Palm Beach, Florida
Phone (561)254-7736,
kitchensforliving@gmail.com

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Toronto Day 2




The "Womb" of wine at Via Allegro




The white is growing on me.  I can’t stop staring at the snow drifts.  I know by now this is getting tedious for my northern readers so I will refrain from any more comments about “the white”.  For some reason 30F in Toronto feels like 50F in Florida.  Today the group met up and we were taken by limo to Via Allegro Ristorante, world famous for their amazing wine cellar known as “the womb”.  The priciest bottle in this room, kept at a constant 57F, goes for $65,000!


Our gracious host, Blanco Canada President Flavio Bergamin, presided over a four course lunch in the true Italian custom including a not-to-be-missed Napa cabernet/shiraz blend by the name of Duel.  Kudos to restaurant manager Joseph for his great service and enthusiasm.  After lunch it was on to the Blanco Silgranit Plant.


Silgranit is a composite sink made of 80% granite and 20% acrylic resins.  Believe me when I tell you it is indestructible.  We witnessed two-day-old stains of tea, wine, mustard, ketchup and juice wipe right off a light colored sink with just a sponge and water.  After trying diligently none of us were able to scratch or dent the surface either.  Blanco is currently the only company manufacturing granite composite sinks in the US and they own 6 of 7 patents on the product.  If you are tired of stainless, which can scratch, this is a great option.  The most popular color is Anthracite Black followed by my favorite Café Brown.  The seven colors offered coordinate with quartz countertops as well as granite.





Anthracite Black is the #1 color for Silgranit Sinks





One of the perks of an adventure like this is you get to cross paths with all kinds of interesting people in the world of kitchen design.  Today I had the pleasure of meeting a group of people ranging from design bloggers and writers to radio and TV personalities.  Here’s the line up:


Joseph Freenor writes about cabinet & furniture trends and information CFT411.com


Paul Anater is someone you probably already know.  He writes about design and anything else along the way. Kitchenandresidentialdesign.com


Cindy Dole is host of KFWB radio talk show Home Wizards


Vicki Payne CEO of Cutters Productions CuttersTV.com


Susan Palmer is the Decorating Diva SusanPalmerDesigns.com


Last but not least our hosts Flavio and Marc Presidents of Blanco Canada and Blanco America.


Tonight is the opening reception for the Interior Design Show!  More pix to come.  The concierge is digging in the basement through thousands of left-behind cords to find one that will fit my camera.  Did I mention how nice Canadians are?



2 comments:

  1. aww, yay for the concierge, how nice!

    that sink is definitely gorgeous!

    glad you are surviving the cold, can't wait to see pics!

    (and that wine 'womb' is amazing!!!)

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  2. Glad you are seeing the beauties of winter. it can be hard to explain to those who haven't experienced it. Maybe you can now start offering your clients a wine womb! Enjoy and hope they dig up a cable for you so we can see some pics!!

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