Uncork, Untap, Unwind, for West Park Hospital

I got to tag along with my friend Natalie who was invited to attend Uncork, Untap, Unwind, a charity fundraising event that benefits West Park Hospital Centre.  A rehab centre that is very highly regarded and the funds raised will be used to build a new hospital.

Normally when we attend events we see a lot of familiar faces but this time there was only one other Blogger that we knew.   But it was a very interesting evening.  It's nice to go to something that's a bit different with different people around because it becomes too familiar sometimes.

The event was held at Airship 37, a tucked away event space just behind the Distillery District.  I have been there once before so I knew it would be nice there.  It was set up completely different this time with 2 separate rooms adjoined by the entrance and coat check.  They even had different food in the 2  rooms all catered by Chef Mark McEwen's Catering team.

Former Bachelor and Chopped Canada Host Brad Smith was the host who got a little frisky with the women on stage.   I saw Noah Cappe also from Food Network around the crowd and I thought he was going to go onstage but he didn't.

There was a live Auction with some great prizes like a cruise and a whole BBQ package that included steaks even.  A couple of smart bidders got a pretty good deal on those prizes.   There was also a silent auction with a lot of fantastic restaurants and other great packages.

There was a live band and a female roaming Violinist and a DJ.  There were raffle tickets being sold for $25 with a chance to win cash or the final prize of a Jeep.  I purchased a ticket and crossing my fingers and get lucky and win new wheels.  It could happen... I wish..

The food as expected was fantastic.  The appetizers were amazing, from miniature lobster tacos, seared tuna with mango salsa, fig and goat cheese crostini's and duck confit and Natalie's favourite were the mushroom tarts.

There was also pickled beet salmon and slaw and braised short ribs with barley risotto.   On the other side was Mark's own Gnocchi and chicken popsicles and mashed potatoes.

We stuck around to hear the winners and see if there was dessert and we were rewarded with delicious and light Churros with chocolate and caramel sauces.

There was even a Volkswagon photo booth bus and of course we did the silly photos to add to our ever growing collection.

The one thing we both noted was the fantastic staff, from the friendly volunteers selling raffle tickets to the lickety quick waitstaff.   You would put something down and 5 seconds later it was gone.   No glasses and plates piled up anywhere.  When you attend a lot of events these things stand out.

t was a very well organized event and I was really impressed with the venue and the fact that they could open a huge garage door to freshen up the place when it got really hot and people could go outside to an astroturf patio for a breather.

All this was to raise funds for a new Rehabilitation Hospital for West Park Hospital Foundation.

I hope they raised a lot of funds while everyone was having a great time.


West Park Healthcare Centre
82 Buttonwood Ave
Toronto, ON M6M 2J5
T. 416-243-3600
E. feedback@westpark.org
Twitter https://twitter.com/westparkhcc