Like many of the world’s fanciest restaurants, the interior of Mott 32 is a treasure trove of copper, leather and darkly stained wood. Even during the day, as light floods in through floor-to-ceiling windows, the restaurant’s spaces – a warren of shared dining rooms, private dining rooms and a lounge – reflect a lighting design, so fastidiously crafted by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of lamps, chandeliers, sconces and so many other hidden sources of illumination that Jan de Bont would be concerned about too much lens flare.
With dishes such as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup (which features abalone, sea cucumber, dried scallop, fish bladder and bamboo pith, a fungus also known as veiled lady or basket stinkhorn for $168 a bowl), Nova Scotia lobster har gow ($28 a piece), Peking duck with sturgeon caviar ($480) and braised whole dried fish maw ($650), the newly opened Mott 32 may be Toronto’s most expensive restaurant (though it’s neck and neck with Sushi Masaki Saito, which serves only an omakase menu at $680 a person). That may frighten away the couple saving up for a special anniversary meal. But it’s a positive distinction to the kind of diners Mott 32 needs in order to thrive – corporate clients looking to impress their guests.
When you’re wining and dining a finance-industry executive within a purple velvet-lined corner of the restaurant called the “Boom Boom Room,” you want to be able to say to your client, “This is a $168 bowl of soup. This is how much we care about you.”
The signature smoked black cod at Mott 32 Toronto.Galit Rodan /The Globe and Mail
Part of a global brand based in Hong Kong, Mott 32 joins other recent luxury dining launches such as Nobu, Jade, Aera and a splashy new rooftop patio for Yorkville’s long-standing dining spot, Kasa Moto.
Venues like this don’t get built by mom-and-pop restaurateurs, or aspiring chefs who have saved to open their dream space. These are major investors laying heavy bets on Toronto.
Nobu currently operates 56 restaurants and 18 hotels, globally. The growth of the company, always publicly linked to initial backer Robert De Niro, is at least partly owing to private equity. A 20-per-cent stake in Nobu recently traded hands, from Crown Resorts, a casino company controlled by Blackstone, to a different company within the private-equity giant’s portfolio.
Casa Madera, another Hollywood transplant that launched in 2022 and located inside 1 Hotel Toronto, is backed by venture capital fund Endeavoring Capital, according to data from Pitchbook.
Major Food Group, which operates luxury dining brands Carbone, Parm and Dirty French in cities such as Dallas, Miami and Seoul, made a foothold last year in Toronto with a Yorkville location of pastel and caviar brunchery Sadelle’s at Kith, a New York-based lifestyle store that recently expanded north of the border. The group is venture capital-backed by LeFrak and Spring St. Group.
These companies see an opportunity in Toronto.
“Toronto is the third largest city in North America,” says Eric Yang, managing director of Mott 32′s Toronto and Vancouver locations, “and I believe there is a lack of upscale Chinese fine dining in the downtown area.”
Toronto is the ninth location of Mott 32, operated by the privately held, frankly named Maximal Concepts Group (Brickhouse, Limewood, Stockton, Double D). Originally budgeted at $5-million, the cost of renovating the three-floor restaurant inside the Shangri-La Hotel, formerly home of Toronto’s Momofuku, ended up closer to $8-million.
It’s no mystery why Yang and others behind Toronto’s latest high-profile dining destinations believe that their investments will pay off.
“Since the pandemic, fine dining is on the rise again,” says Alex M. Susskind, professor of food and beverage management at Cornell University. “Restaurant guests are always price sensitive. But when it comes to luxury products, they tend to be less price sensitive. There is definitely an increased demand for luxury experiences. So fine dining has seen a resurgence. That’s what drives it.”
Toronto is a diverse city, with a large population that likes to eat out. More importantly, in a recent study by Henley & Partners, a firm that specializes in “residence and citizenship by investment,” Toronto was ranked as the 13th wealthiest city globally, with the city boasting 106,300 millionaires and 18 billionaires.
Whether these restaurants are good or “worth it” is entirely subjective. Within these iconic, proven, global luxury dining brands, the quality of ingredients, skill of culinary execution and seamlessness of service is rarely in doubt. They are well-conceived to serve their target clientele.
However, how many luxury dining brands can Toronto sustain? The city has plenty of millionaires. But a millionaire’s Scrooge McDuck lifestyle of swimming in gold coins isn’t what it used to be. (Even an average-priced home in Toronto sells for over a million dollars these days.) How frequently can a restaurant expect one of the super-wealthy to dine with them?
The Toronto location of renowned international restaurant Nobu opened in early August, and reservations were sold out almost immediately.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
Nobu believes they will rise to the top, partly because of the existing hype that has been cultivated worldwide.
“What sets Nobu apart is the excitement around this iconic brand opening its first ever Canadian location, as Canadians have been eager to experience the luxury of dining at Nobu without having to book a plane ticket or cross the border,” says Benoit Pretet, general manager of Nobu Toronto. “With reservations booking up mere minutes after the restaurant’s official opening, it’s evident that Torontonians have been hungry for a taste of the world-renowned Nobu-style cuisine.”
The size of these operations increases competition for customers and labour. What do they add for diners?
Josée Johnston, professor and acting chair at the University of Toronto’s department of sociology, finds that this scale of restaurant is, for a certain type of diner, about comfort.
A chef uses tweezers for precision while plating a dish at Nobu Toronto.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
“As a global city, Toronto attracts a high number of global elites, and its food scene reflects this elite residency,” says Johnston. “Elite eaters often seek familiar, but interesting dining experiences. Upscale restaurant brands offer this element of familiarity, along with the status, creativity and aesthetic distinction that comes with a globally recognized culinary icon.”
Don Alfonso, for example, serves five types of caviar. Nobu Toronto’s executive chef Alex Tzatzos has created a few dishes unique to this location, such as the grilled lamb with hatcho miso. Meanwhile, regulars will be comforted to find the restaurant’s signature black cod miso that’s on Nobu menus from Malibu to Marrakech.
With locations in some of our planet’s wealthiest cities (Las Vegas, Dubai, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Seoul, Singapore), Mott 32 clearly sees a potential local and international dining class to support this scale of restaurant. And that’s reflected in other restaurants of this stratum.
“People that would go into a restaurant, looking for a bottle of wine that’s $5,000,” says Justin Madol, assistant general manager at Don Alfonso inside the Westin Harbour Castle. “At Don Alfonso, we get that all the time. Those kind of spending habits, in some restaurants, can be shocking. ‘I can’t believe someone’s going to spend $10,000 on a meal.’ But for us, it’s the market we cater to. For some people, that’s well within their reach. It’s up to us to be able to deliver on it.” The restaurant is part of a dining portfolio run by the Toronto-based Liberty Entertainment Group, which focuses on high-end dining including $275 tomahawk steaks at the BlueBlood Steakhouse.
The dining room of the BlueBlood Steakhouse at Casa Loma in Toronto.Mark Blinch/Globe and Mail
But unless you traverse Toronto by helicopter, a drive, ride or walk through the city will remind that not everyone here is wealthy. Though 14.7 per cent of Torontonians earn more than $100,000 a year, according to the city’s 2021 census, 13.2 per cent of Torontonians are low income, making less than $26,503 a year.
In between, however, there is a middle class for whom dining out like this represents a once-a-year special occasion, an opportunity for a sort of wealth and fame culinary cosplay.
“What is distinct about elite dining is that it offers a “taste” to the middle and upper-middle classes. Foodies from professional classes can save up to enjoy the luxury dining experience on special occasions, like anniversaries or birthdays,” says Johnston. “While you might not be able to go shopping for a luxury car or a Rolex, you can experience the elite dining atmosphere at Nobu or Mott 32 with enough money and advance planning.”
That taste of luxury is part of the marketing for restaurants like these, which are hoping for a boost in business with the return of the Toronto International Film Festival. Though discretion is practised for the guest lists of already-booked TIFF parties, past events and celebrities are a key part of branding.
The assurance of food and service that caters to corporate culture, combined with brand recognition, means that people booking upscale business meals can trust in an experience that will pamper customers, without challenging them.
“Major Food Group aims to usher in an unprecedented chapter of lifestyle-driven hospitality and exceptional design,” reads the self-description of the group behind Sadelle’s. “Our goal is not to invent something you have never had before, but to give you the best version of your favourite memories.”
But creating beautiful spaces that cater to people who appreciate, and can afford to prioritize, the status that comes with quality, has a limit.
Jade has 62 seats. Mott 32 has 220 (plus four private dining rooms totalling 50 seats). Nobu has 278 seats (with another 34 in private dining spaces). How often can they fill these seats with people spending $650 on fish bladder? How many of these venues will survive?
“I genuinely believe there isn’t a set limit to the number of high-end restaurants Toronto can support,” says Julia Balatbat, senior account executive for Halo, the public-relations firm representing Jade, which is owned and operated by Reza Abedi, a partner behind clubby spots Lavelle, Lobby, Kissa and Baby’s Caberet.
That kind of bubble-economy thinking is not supported by data from reservation company OpenTable, which compared bookings during TIFF 2022 and TIFF 2023 and determined an increase of 2 per cent, which they define as “nearly flat.”
Despite the size of Toronto’s wealth, population and visitors, there aren’t enough chairs at the table for all of these new entries to survive.
“You open three, and one has the longevity,” says Madol. “There’s a critical saturation level. Every restaurant can’t be that high-end. There’s not enough consumer base to support it. That’s why if you’re going to do it, you have to try to do it perfectly.”
One in a regular series of stories. To read more, visit our Inspired Dining section.
