I went yesterday - I was very pleasantly surprised. It was different from the Eaton Centre in terms of the vibe and architecture and there were still obviously many shops that haven't opened yet. The Well had a fashionable and hip atmosphere, felt as if I were in a mini NYC and i'm not exaggerating everyone looked as if they were off the runway. Youthful, great selection/eats at Wellington Market and really busy for a Tuesday!

Recommend everyone to visit Friday it will likely have a cool atmosphere with the DJ!
 
I went yesterday - I was very pleasantly surprised. It was different from the Eaton Centre in terms of the vibe and architecture and there were still obviously many shops that haven't opened yet. The Well had a fashionable and hip atmosphere, felt as if I were in a mini NYC and i'm not exaggerating everyone looked as if they were off the runway. Youthful, great selection/eats at Wellington Market and really busy for a Tuesday!

Recommend everyone to visit Friday it will likely have a cool atmosphere with the DJ!
It's marketed as an "European Food Hall" like in Spain and Italy. That concept doesn't exist in the GTA before
Did you feel like you were on he Spanish steps yesterday with the Steps they built outside? :)
 
You are correct. Still 500 more people is still a good draw.
I was in that room tonight. I wouldn’t want to be in it with even 200 people. Maybe sections of it were cordoned off behind movable walls, but if that’s the case, they are well hidden.

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I was in that room tonight. I wouldn’t want to be in it with even 200 people. Maybe sections of it were cordoned off behind movable walls, but if that’s the case, they are well hidden.

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Ok. Now I showed pictures of an ‘event theatre’ to the east of the market. But I seem to remember a larger space, perhaps under the office tower, that is much larger and has a dome. I believe that the large retail space at the southwest corner is for The National but it is way behind schedule. So the large southeast space must be the event space. I looked through the images on the database but at over 10,000 it is impossible to find specific ones. And there must still be unfinished areas yet to open.

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It's marketed as an "European Food Hall" like in Spain and Italy. That concept doesn't exist in the GTA before
Did you feel like you were on he Spanish steps yesterday with the Steps they built outside? :)
Yes, it was you that oversaw it right? That was why it was executed brilliantly ;p
 
Ok. Now I showed pictures of an ‘event theatre’ to the east of the market. But I seem to remember a larger space, perhaps under the office tower, that is much larger and has a dome. I believe that the large retail space at the southwest corner is for The National but it is way behind schedule. So the large southeast space must be the event space. I looked through the images on the database but at over 10,000 it is impossible to find specific ones. And there must still be unfinished areas yet to open.

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These are your own photos of the Wellington Event Venue:

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I'm not sure what the capacity of that space is, but no way it's 500 people.

The entire Wellington Market area has evolved over time as tenants have signed on, so the layout on the image above is no longer accurate. Here's what we have:

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Essentially, about a half of what was to be the event venue became entry area, Little Harvest, fire escape, and an additional access to the east washrooms (not shown on the diagram above, but you can walk through to them from the event venue).

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Okay, let's head in to check it out...

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So, Little Harvest is the first place you see when entering from the Front/Spadina east end escalators, and they are on both sides of the hall, with the flower shop on the north side...

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...and the groceries on the south side:

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Next up is a French Patisserie called Nord Lyon. I didn't get a chance to try their fares...

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...followed by another place I didn't get to check out food-wise, East Tea Can:

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Both looked good though and I wish I had had more room to munch on things. Sampling starting in the next post...

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So now we get into the core area of the Wellington Market, and here we meet Ralph Giannone and Cassandra Hryniw of Giannone Petricone Associates. Cassandra was the lead architect on the interior fitout of the Wellington Market.

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So, Hooky's: good fish in a nice, light, tempura style batter. Better than average fries too.

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Didn't try Szechuan. I think these guys are the largest mini-chain operating down here (I don't think they're nation-wide, are they?).

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Doraji were sampling their Korean Bibimbaps. Yummy.

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I love La Cubana's sandwiches already, so didn't have one here.

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Blue Claw: yes please! Simply a really good lobster roll.

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I had a slider of Rosie's friend chicken sandwich, coleslaw topped as opposed to pickle topped that you get at so many places these days. I like both styles, and this was a good slider.

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One of my missions in life is to try all styles of Ramen, and the sample I had here was umami-packed (I believe the base was a mix of pork bone and chicken broth) and I'll be happy to return for a full bowl or seven sometime:

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I really wanted to try Japadog... will have to come back!

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Also didn't get to try these guys out yet...

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...and I keep hearing about Gus Tacos, but still haven't dug in there yet. Want, as the kids say.

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Shake Therapy did look therapeutic, especially with excellent Kawartha Dairy ice cream in them...

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Wait, so the Samosas here are multicoloured? Does that make them sweet (?!?!?!?!?), or savoury? Will have to try another time.

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More coming...

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It's marketed as an "European Food Hall" like in Spain and Italy. That concept doesn't exist in the GTA before
We've had this concept in the GTA before. There's Village by the Grange, there's Downsview Park Merchant's Market and Farmer's Market, (both the St Lawrence Market and the Market Area at Union Station can be seen as variations on this too) and for sure there are others besides, they are either just older or don't have as much money behind them or both. (Union Station is probably closest to this, but also has a national chain-filled foodcourt right beside it.)

Not that every counter/booth at the Wellington Market has a lot of money behind them; several are bare minimum set-up-wise, which is good as it allows less experienced (but promising) operators to get in there without huge up-front decor costs. Frankly, I think there are too many dessert-based counters/booths within the Market and there's no way they'll all be around longterm (at least, not through my patronage, I don't eat enough sweet stuff), so for sure it's good that there are relatively cheaper spots to open in within the Market... just to see if there's a large enough market for your offerings here...

...and all of that is not completely different from the other market-style food hall places I've mentioned above. So, some of the Wellington Market is high quality foodcourt finishings, and some of it is quick-open no-decorations — and maybe that combo is the one thing we haven't had, or not had much of, before in one venue.

Anyway, let's look at some of the less expensively set-up places:

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I missed the sign on this one, this is called Sweetie Pie, and it's got a full counter, but it seemed more sparely fitted out.

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The Snakes and Lattes is a "rotating pop-up". I'm hoping they do well here, I think it could be fun here on a permanent basis. (Anyone who doesn't know how to play Azul in the top right corner of that shelf? Great game!!)

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Some of the cheaper buildouts still have serious signage, like Mado above (good, not too sweet nor sticky baklava), and Tong Mein below...

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...and then there's Isabella's Mochi Donuts. I don't know if they are the world's best, but (along with a piece of baklava) they were the one sweet thing I tried (mango glazed) and I can tell you why they were all but gone when I got to this counter: wow, so, so good. If that's Isabella serving me there, I do not know how she maintains that trim size, unless it's that it all sells out before she gets any. I would never end up patronizing any other dessert joint in the Wellington Market, because I'd be trying another flavour here on every visit, and then I'd just cycle back again to the top of Isabella's menu.

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In regards to the operating hours of the Wellington Market, this is straight from the development team:

The doors to the market are open from 7AM – 11PM, seven days a week. Every Wellington Market tenant is open between the hours of 11AM-7PM at a minimum. Depending on the day of the week and their product offering, some tenants will open before 11AM and close later than 7PM. If you are hoping to visit a specific tenant, it is best to check the Well website to confirm their specific hours. The bar stays open later into the evening and on Fridays from 6-10 there is DJ spinning on-site.​

I don't have any shots of the bar mentioned above ('The Pier'), not sure why I missed them, other than maybe because it was thronged. I did really enjoy a draft beer they are offering...

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