Making my guests happy, however, doesn’t mean that I’m aiming to be liked by all of them. Our policy around smoking is a good example. When Matsuhisa opened in 1987, almost every restaurant allowed smoking as a matter of course, and, at first, we did, too. But with only thirty-eight seats, Matsuhisa was tiny. A smoke-filled dining room might be okay for smokers, but I had quit smoking myself and could imagine how unpleasant it might be for nonsmokers. Matsuhisa simply wasn’t big enough to make separate smoking and nonsmoking sections, and, about two or three months after we opened, I made up my mind to ban it. When I informed my guests about the new no-smoking policy, a few of them stomped out in disgust and vowed never to return. A few years later, however, the state of California banned smoking in all restaurants. Sales reportedly dropped an average of 35 percent in restaurants within the state, but Matsuhisa was not affected at all. In fact, those guests who had vowed not to come back were now regulars. The no-smoking policy in the dining rooms of Nobu restaurants worldwide dates back to this period.
Some people complain that Nobu is expensive. Perhaps they wouldn’t feel this way if they understood that we use no processed foods, select only the choicest ingredients, and don’t seek to make an exorbitant profit. Regular guests keep coming back precisely because they do understand.
I NEVER FORGET MY ROOTS—MATSUHISA
Both Nobu New York and Matsuhisa were always full, but the atmosphere of the 150-seat Nobu was completely different from that of Matsuhisa, which originally had only 38 seats. Nobu New York seemed very posh due to the stylish nature of New Yorkers themselves and also to its proximity to De Niro’s production office, which resulted in a star-studded clientele. Consequently, Nobu New York was soon the talk of the town.
We had four phone lines for reservations, and they rang constantly from nine in the morning until five in the evening. We only accepted reservations one month in advance, and the restaurant booked up so quickly that we had to apologize to most callers that we were already full. People complained that it took months to get a reservation, and it was a standing joke that when you called Nobu, the response was not “Hello, this is Nobu,” but “Hello, this is No.”
We served three hundred to four hundred guests a night, and it made me very happy when our system had developed to the point that they all went home satisfied. The professionalism that allowed Drew and his company to manage such a large-scale restaurant so flawlessly was impressive. It could not be run like Matsuhisa. In a restaurant that seated 150 people, for example, it would have been impossible to provide Matsuhisa’s ad-lib omakase style. We therefore limited this style to the sushi bar and provided a set Omakase Course designed by the chefs for the tables. In addition, whereas dessert at Matsuhisa was limited to fresh fruit, Nobu New York employed a pastry chef who developed such popular dishes as the Bento Box, a chocolate fondant with ice cream served in a lacquer box.
While on the one hand, we needed to evolve in ways that worked best for Nobu New York, we also needed to retain the same friendly, personal, high-caliber service offered at Matsuhisa. For that reason, I was determined that we would never introduce any mechanical, assembly-line approaches. The further Nobu has spread around the globe and the more it has become known and loved, the greater this determination has grown. Thanks to this, Nobu has inherited the Matsuhisa philosophy intact.
For me, Matsuhisa’s existence is huge. Whenever I feel uncertain, Matsuhisa is where I return to find my roots. Which is why I have kept that first restaurant in Los Angeles pretty much the way it was in 1987 when it opened. I believe that I did the right thing by taking the time to focus on building Matsuhisa a solid foundation instead of rushing into a new venture with De Niro when he first approached me. If we had opened Nobu New York before I had established the Matsuhisa style, I think that neither would have developed to this extent. The new venture succeeded precisely because the staff at Matsuhisa had been so well trained that I could leave Los Angeles with complete confidence and spend weeks at a time in New York.
Matsuhisa in 2013. It still looks the same as when it first opened. The left side became part of Matsuhisa in 1990.
VENTURING INTO THE WORLD OF MOVIES
Meeting De Niro literally changed my life, and in more ways than one. Before we met, it never occurred to me that I might one day appear in a Hollywood movie.
The first was Casino. This was when De Niro and I were still discussing the idea of opening a restaurant in New York. Apparently, he recommended me to Martin Scorsese, and the casting director called me in for an interview. Being totally ignorant about the movie industry, I told her very frankly that I wouldn’t be available to film on certain days because I had to work at the restaurant. She burst out laughing. “Nobu,” she said, “this is a major film featuring stars like Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci, you know! We have to arrange our schedule around theirs.” That’s how clueless I was.
Soon after, I received a call from De Niro’s production office congratulating me on getting the part. The film was shot in Las Vegas, and when I reached the site, I found that I had my own trailer in which to relax until I was needed. I could even order in food or anything else I wanted. De Niro, whose trailer was nearby, dropped in with a bottle of champagne and allayed my stage fright by reassuring me that he’d be right there and I had nothing to worry about.
I thought that everyone was treated this way, but in fact, only stars were given their own trailers. When I returned to Matsuhisa and shared my experiences with some of our guests who were involved in the movie industry, they looked puzzled. “A trailer?” they asked, probably wondering why an amateur like me would have one. It wasn’t until the next shoot that I discovered my mistake. Bored with waiting in the trailer, I happened to wander around between takes and came across a large tent. It was filled with actors and crew members having lunch. Only then did I realize the special treatment I had received, all thanks to De Niro, of course.
PURSUING A SINGLE JOB CAN BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS
Not long after this experience, Steven Spielberg and Mike Myers visited Matsuhisa with their wives. “If you’re doing any movies, give me a call,” I joked. Mike Myers, however, actually suggested me to director Jay Roach for a part in the third Austin Powers movie. When they heard about this, the regulars at Matsuhisa insisted that I should do it, so I accepted. I played Mr. Roboto, a character that even had some lines, and I was given an English coach to help me practice. Thanks to that movie, I became pretty famous.
One day, a father brought his young son to Matsuhisa. “Look,” he told him. “That’s the man who played Mr. Roboto in the Austin Powers movie.” Austin Powers was especially popular with kids, and when the boy heard this, he froze and couldn’t bring himself to look at me. “Enjoy the food,” I said. As I walked away, I could feel his eyes boring into me. I spun around, trying to catch his gaze, but he immediately looked away. I took a few more steps, then turned again. He looked away. His expression was so funny that I couldn’t resist doing it again and again. That seemed to help him relax, and he went home looking very happy and content.
Since then, I’ve had several opportunities to appear in movies and commercials. Experiencing this unknown field was a great education. It was also good publicity for Nobu restaurants. My true vocation is, and always will be, cooking, but by following that calling, I received these offers. I wasn’t consciously seeking them, but I think that devoting myself to my profession led to people inviting me to try new things, and that in turn broadened my horizons.
5
Conveying the Taste and Service of Nobu to the World
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What to keep and what to adapt to the locality
NO NOBU WITHOUT DE NIRO
Nobu restaurants now exist on five continents. Although Nobu Tokyo as well as most Nobu restaurants in the States are under the direct management of our company, the rest are not. This doesn’t mean, however, that they are franchises. Our approach is to have the local partner supply the location, staff, and capital w
herever the restaurant happens to be situated, be it London, Dubai, or elsewhere, while De Niro, Meir, and I provide the menu and service. We sign a license contract with the owner in each location.
I receive a salary for my work as a chef, royalties for the use of the Nobu trademark, and a certain sum commensurate with the profit made by each restaurant. Seen from our local partners’ perspective, the business model means inviting Nobu, a well-known brand, to their area, investing in it, and making income from the profits. Opening a new restaurant involves no financial risk for me or De Niro. The greatest risk we face is the damage a bad partner could inflict on the reputation of the Nobu brand. For this reason, the choice of partners is extremely important. We receive offers from around the world, but negative experiences in the past have made us very careful.
Nobu London, our next venture after Nobu New York, opened in 1997 in the Metropolitan Hotel overlooking Hyde Park. At the time, Nobu New York was still one of a kind, and we had not yet perfected our scheme for global development. Or, to be more accurate, it had not yet even occurred to us to establish Nobu restaurants all over the world. Our London partner, who had been a regular at Matsuhisa for many years, initially wanted to enter into a partnership with just Drew and myself. He did not see the need to include De Niro. While there was nothing to stop me from signing a contract on my own, it was De Niro who had given me the opportunity to open the first Nobu, and I could not imagine entering into a partnership without him. I agreed to the venture only on the condition that the partnership include De Niro, just as with Nobu New York. Since then, De Niro and I have always been a set whenever we open a new Nobu.
NOBU LONDON STAYS OPEN FOR CHRISTMAS
Once we had decided to open a Nobu in London, I made the rounds of the city’s sushi restaurants and found that they had a very limited menu. The only types of sushi offered were salmon, shrimp, squid, and scallop. At first, I thought that these must be the only fish available, but when I visited the fish market, they not only had tuna, but also sardine and mackerel. I realized that the chefs simply couldn’t be bothered pickling these kinds of fish in vinegar. This fueled my passion to share the delights of good sushi with people in England.
Just as I had done when we opened Nobu New York, I spent a whole month in London after the opening, making sushi and working in the kitchen as I trained the chefs. Then, when things settled down, I switched to spending two weeks in Los Angeles, a week in New York, and a week in London. Likewise, we began sending, one at a time, the new chefs from Nobu London to train at Matsuhisa and Nobu New York, while the chefs from Nobu New York also took turns working at Nobu London to provide on-site training. In addition, Drew and his team made a handbook that detailed how I had come to open Matsuhisa and how Nobu signature dishes had been born. This was distributed at an all-staff meeting before the opening and used as a textbook on Nobu Style.
When the Christmas season rolled around that year, the manager told me that we would have to close during the holidays because nothing in London stayed open, but I asked him not to. The restaurant, I told him, was in a hotel that would have guests staying through the holidays. If everything else closed down, then there would definitely be people to feed. We stayed open, and, as a result, Nobu was completely full during the holiday season. This experience confirmed my belief that while it’s important to adapt to local ways, stepping outside convention is often just as good for business operations as it is for inspiring new recipes.
I remember how thrilled I was to see the dishes that I had invented at Matsuhisa being produced identically in New York, and again in London. I couldn’t keep a grin from spreading across my face whenever I ate at either location. I frequently joined my staff after work for drinks and shared with them my dream of introducing the delights of sushi and the wonders of Japanese cuisine to the world.
The next restaurant we opened was in Tokyo. That was in 1998. For me, it represented my triumphant return to Japan, the land where I had been born and raised, and I was deeply moved. Today, Nobu Tokyo is located beside the Hotel Okura in Toranomon, but the original location was in Minami Aoyama. We introduced valet parking, which no other restaurant in Tokyo had adopted. There was also a cigar bar with cigar boxes signed by many celebrities and a garden-style patio lush with flowers and shrubs. Guests who kept up with the latest trends in Tokyo loved these features, and many foreign movie stars dropped by after film premieres.
But even though our restaurant was booming, some of our local partner’s other ventures failed, and the company went bankrupt. I couldn’t bear the thought of Nobu Tokyo disappearing with it. I consulted Meir, and we decided to open a new Nobu in Toranomon under the direct management of our company and with the New York management team at its core. Like its forerunner in the Minami Aoyama district, Nobu Tokyo is frequented by young entrepreneurs who drive the Japanese economy, as well as by executives from many foreign firms. Nobu Week, when I am there in person, is held once a month and is a very special occasion. Now that I have more time, I like to stop and chat or share a drink with those guests who come specifically to meet me.
GOING STRAIGHT TO MR. ARMANI HIMSELF
The opening of Nobu Milan in 2000 proved to be a challenge for me. Our partner was the internationally renowned fashion designer Giorgio Armani. We were introduced by our London partner, who was in the apparel and accessory business. It took me some time, however, to agree to a partnership, and I ended up keeping Mr. Armani waiting for a whole year.
I think one of the things that held me back was the fact that Italy as a nation treasures its native cuisine. Italians pride themselves on their food being the best in the world. I love Italian cooking myself, but it seemed to me that Italy’s food culture could represent a significant hurdle. In addition, Japanese restaurants in Milan only served what Westerners considered classical Japanese food; dishes like tempura, teriyaki, and sukiyaki. I wasn’t sure that Nobu Style Japanese cuisine would catch on.
There was another reason for my reluctance. Mr. Armani had once invited me to a fashion show in which he presented designs that combined Japanese and Chinese elements, but his fusion of the two made me wonder whether he really understood Japanese culture. This made me less confident that he would understand my approach.
After a year, however, I decided to give it a try. As I had expected, contract negotiations didn’t go as smoothly as they had for New York or London. For instance, one of my conditions was that the restaurant should be nonsmoking, just like other Nobu restaurants. But Milan is a city of tobacco lovers. Armani’s negotiators responded that a no-smoking policy was unthinkable. No matter how much we discussed this point, we got nowhere. Finally, I asked them to let me speak to Mr. Armani directly, and I was given a chance to explain in person. As a result, we agreed to allow smoking at the bar in the lounge on the first floor but not in the dining room on the second floor. The world-famous Armani had listened to the philosophy of this simple chef and understood.
The city of Milan enthusiastically embraced Nobu cuisine. A few years ago, I stopped in at a seafood restaurant that had recently opened there. To my surprise, they served a dish very similar to sashimi. When I had first visited Milan, there was no custom whatsoever of eating raw seafood. I asked the chef, “Do people in Milan eat raw fish now?”
“You must be kidding,” he responded. “When you opened your restaurant, you changed the food trends in this city, you know.”
EXPERIENCED NOBU STAFF TEACH OTHERS
Up until about 2000, I was directly in charge of training the staff for each new Nobu, including those in London, Tokyo, and Milan, as well as for the new Matsuhisa in Aspen, Colorado, which was run under a different type of partnership. After that, our approach changed because by then we had many well-trained chefs and had begun perfecting a scheme for opening new restaurants.
In each restaurant, the Nobu team is organized under the general manager, the sushi chef who runs the sushi counter, the executive chef who oversees the kitchen, the front of house mana
ger who is responsible for the dining room and captains, and the back of house manager who is in charge of inventory. More recently, we have also added the position of corporate chef, a person responsible for the kitchens in all the restaurants within his region.
Work is distributed among these sections, each headed by its own leader. When we open a new restaurant, we bring in experienced staff from other Nobu restaurants to fill the most important posts and to teach the new staff. For the first few months, we also gather a task force of experienced trainers from other Nobu locations to help with staff training. During this process, some of the local employees will demonstrate exceptional ability, and, when thoroughly trained, can take over the key posts so that we can confidently leave the new restaurant in their hands.
I think that it is because I continue to travel to every Nobu restaurant and share my philosophy that Nobu has spread around the world and gained an ever-expanding following of loyal fans; that the food and service at every Nobu is consistently as good as, or better than, Matsuhisa’s; and that every member of our staff takes pride in producing Nobu Style food and offering Nobu Style service to our guests. I am always aware that the Nobu brand would be destroyed if I ever took it for granted.
Good food, good service, and teamwork: I am always reminding Nobu staff to focus on these. Good food means putting your heart into your cooking and using carefully selected ingredients. Good service means personal service, practicing the Japanese art of perception to anticipate what each guest wants before they even say it. Teamwork means that everyone, from chefs to general managers, works together as equals.
Although we teach the chefs at every restaurant to faithfully reproduce signature dishes that are served worldwide, such as Black Cod with Miso, we must leave the fine-tuning of the seasonings to the judgment of each chef. After all, each country and culture has its own preferences when it comes to such things as the amount of salt or chili pepper used in a recipe. To ensure that such variations do not stray too far from the original, however, the corporate chefs and I visit every Nobu around the world.
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