With more than 50 restaurants and more than 30 hotels around the world that carry the name, it’s easy to forget that the first Nobu restaurant opened in 1994 in New York City. Although the legacy and prestige the name carries have huge significance in the culinary industry today, the challenges that founder Nobuyuki Matsuhisa had to overcome to reach such superstar levels are worthy of any movie and why his influence extends far beyond his industry.
“There are many challenges, but the first is to actually move into the culinary world,” Chef Nobu, as he is affectionately known, says now. He was born in Saitama prefecture in Japan and, after graduating from high school, worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo, before he eventually trained as a sushi master at the same place. Seven years later, a Peruvian customer of Japanese descent invited him to open a Japanese restaurant in Peru. There, he learnt to improvise using Peruvian ingredients in his Japanese dishes, a technique that he’s become known for all over the world today.
Chef Nobu’s insistence on using only high-quality fish led to an argument with his Japanese-Peruvian partners and he eventually quit. He moved to Argentina but its poor economy also meant poor business and so he returned to Japan. There, a friend introduced him to another partner who was looking to open a restaurant in Alaska. Two weeks after the grand opening, however, the restaurant went up in flames due to an electrical fire.
Those were trying times for Chef Nobu, to say the least, but he says they turned out to be a big turning point in his life. “I learnt how to endure many challenges through this experience. I learnt how to be thankful and grateful for all the people who supported me after this trauma. And from there, I was able to slowly but surely take one step forward.”
He moved to Los Angeles in 1979 and worked at a couple of small sushi restaurants. In 1987, he finally opened his first restaurant in the US—Matsuhisa. A year later, he met legendary actor Robert De Niro, who invited Chef Nobu to open a restaurant in New York City. However, memories of his experiences in South America and Alaska kept him from accepting the actor’s offer. He kept his focus on his restaurant and was rewarded with positive reviews by the American media. Four years later, De Niro contacted him again with the same offer. Impressed by the actor’s patience, Chef Nobu said yes and opened Nobu in New York’s Tribeca in 1994.
“If you have any kind of interest that you want to pursue, the first thing is to take that one step forward. Don’t think about it and just dive in. Never be afraid if there will be hiccups and failures along the way. That’s not the point of going forward. It comes with trying,” he reflects now. “After you have accomplished something, always look back and see what you can do better and implement that in your next step. They don’t have to be big steps—even one millimetre is closer than you were before, so every progression counts.
“It’s not just about me prevailing over these challenges but it’s also these circumstances. A lot of the people that surround me provide this opportunity for me to overcome these challenges and move forward. I am always humbled by these people who helped me out back in the day when I had nothing to give back at that time.”
Alongside De Niro, Chef Nobu also opened Nobu Hotel in 2013, which is now available in more than 30 destinations. In addition, he has starred in two Hollywood films: Casino (1995) and Goldmember (2002). His name has even been included in pop music. “It’s very honouring, of course. And through music, it spreads to an even wider audience who have not dined with us,” he says, adding that he hopes the staff can also feel pride and joy in representing a brand that is even featured in music.
Although he has achieved so much in life already, he has no plans to slow down. “In success, you don’t stop there, you just want to keep raising the bar. So, I don’t want to express what success means at this point because, in my mind, I’m not there yet.”
Despite his trademark humility, there’s no denying that Chef Nobu seems to be thriving. He also possesses a genuine fondness for the simple pleasures in life. “In Asia, people like rice and noodles. It’s comfort food,” he says. “In Japan, there’s rice and tea. Like a congee, but with rice and tea. It’s easy to eat.”
