Last week Momofuku posted to their Instagram announcing their departure from the Shangri-La Hotel, and now the prestigious Mott 32 is confirmed to be taking over the space in the new year.
Momofuku (headed by legendary chef and personality David Chang) detailed in the post that they would not be renewing their lease at 190 University Ave. ending operations on December 23, 2022. Since opening in September 2012, several iterations of the Momofuku brand have shared the space with Noodle Bar, catering to different dining experiences and tastes. Concepts such as tasting menus, a cocktail bar and most recently with Kojin, a steakhouse featuring locally sourced ingredients from Ontario. Mott 32 however, known around the world for high end Chinese cuisine, will instead bring a new flavour and style to Toronto as they prepare for a springtime opening in 2023.
With a focus on Cantonese cuisine from Hong Kong, Mott 32 draws its name from the address of 32 Mott Street in New York, where the city’s first Chinese convenience store opened in 1891. Xuan Mu co-founder of Maximal Concepts (the group who collectively own and run several dining concepts including Mott 32) confirmed in an interview with Prestige "we’ll have a new one opening in Toronto as well, in the Shangri-La hotel. We’re designing it right now." Job openings for a Restaurant Manager and General Manager have also appeared under Mott 32 Toronto with start dates listed as January 1, 2023.
Mott 32 is world renowned for offering up Hong Kong flavours and dishes in luxurious settings, each space carefully crafted and designed. Alongside the flagship restaurant in Hong Kong, other locations include Singapore, Seoul, Las Vegas, Vancouver and most recently Bangkok, with Dubai and Cebu to follow later this year. Mott 32 is extremely particular with where they want to be as Xuan pointed out in the same Prestige interview, "We don’t want to have too many Motts. Perfect execution takes time and effort, and we want to make sure each one is successful, so we open them selectively."
Their chefs generally train in Hong Kong for a few weeks, in order to perfect the recipes that are unique to Mott 32. At the Vancouver location signature dishes include a 42 Day Apple Wood Smoked Peking Duck and Barbeque Pluma Iberico Pork with most dishes hovering in the $35-$60 range.
Having won multiple awards around the world and in Canada, Mott 32's dining experience will be one to look forward to in the new year, as they prepare to elevate Toronto's expectations of Chinese cuisine with their high end fine dining approach.
