Mercedes & Nobu Toronto Team Up: Here Are the Best Perks for Clients

Good news for fans of the finer things in life: Mercedes-Benz and Nobu Toronto have just announced a rather interesting (and perfect) new partnership.

The collaboration sees Mercedes providing a house car — a stealthy black G-Class, naturally — to Nobu Toronto for exclusive use by guests and residents. Whatever they need, the G-Class will be at their disposal. In exchange, Nobu Toronto is promising “exclusive experiences” and priority access to dinner reservations for Mercedes customers.

“It’s about every detail coming together to create a sense of luxury.”

Andreas Tetzloff, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada

It’s a win-win, given the fact the Venn diagram of Mercedes owners and Nobu restaurant-goers probably looks like one big circle. And the G-Class might be the unofficial luxury transport of downtown Toronto; you can’t go to Yorkville or the Entertainment District or Ossington without seeing one these days. (We’re especially fond of the spectacularly overbuilt G 580 with EQ technology.)

“Nobu Hospitality approaches the guest experience in the same way Mercedes-Benz does the driving experience,” explains Andreas Tetzloff, chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz Canada. It’s the sort of statement that could read like boilerplate corporate speak were it not for the fact his statement happens to be true. Both brands understand that luxury isn’t only about excess, but rather the sum total of a thousand carefully considered details: the way a door closes, the fold of a napkin.

“Whether it’s an unforgettable dining experience at Nobu Toronto or the feeling of stepping inside a Mercedes-Benz, it’s about every detail coming together to create a sense of luxury,” Tetzloff adds.

Nobu, the sprawling luxury hospitality group founded by Robert De Niro and his favourite chef, Nobu Matsuhisa, chose Toronto as the location to open the first Nobu Hotel, Restaurant & Residences in the world. (The restaurant opened in 2024, while the hotel opened this spring.) The space is a 45-storey refuge, rising above the historic Pilkington Glass Factory and out of the 24-hour bustle of downtown Toronto’s Entertainment District. Nobu Toronto is carefully tucked away on a little side street, steps from cultural institutions like the TIFF Lightbox and Roy Thomson Hall, home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Almost instantly, the restaurant became a celebrity fave, the sort of place that, on any given night, you might see a few Raptors, or Drake, or whoever’s in town for a show. The fact it — and the adjoining Nobu hotel — exist in Toronto is a testament to the fact this city has become a hub for international wealth.

If you’re reading this you’re probably well aquatinted with Nobu but you might not know the full story behind the brand. It begins with some spectacular failures. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s first restaurant in Peru closed after three years. His Alaska venture burned down just weeks after opening. It wasn’t until 1987, when he opened Matsuhisa on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills, that the tables started to turn. That place quickly became a favourite hangout for celebrities, including Robert De Niro.

“We have the same philosophy. Quality, excellence, care in every detail. Every visit to Nobu Toronto offers more than a meal and every Mercedes-Benz offers more than a drive.”Nobu Matsuhisa

Matsuhisa’s black cod with miso isn’t just a signature dish; it’s a dish so good that when De Niro tasted it in 1988, he spent years convincing Matsuhisa to open a place in New York. That’s how Nobu came to Tribeca, and the brand has just kept on growing (carefully) ever since. Today the Nobu empire includes more than 50 restaurants and 27 hotels across five continents.

Matsuhisa himself, now well into his 70s, still reportedly spends more than 10 months a year travelling between his globe-spanning properties. His comment on the partnership with Mercedes reveals his philosophy with characteristic simplicity: “Nobu Toronto and Mercedes-Benz. We have the same philosophy. Quality, excellence, care in every detail. Every visit to Nobu Toronto offers more than a meal and every Mercedes-Benz offers more than a drive.”  Perfect. Just like that black cod.

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