Nobu

by Nobu Matsuhisa

  The partnership with Crystal Cruises, a project launched in 2003, presented us with a series of challenges. We put a Nobu Style sushi bar aboard a luxury cruise ship that traveled the world. Crystal Cruises proposed the collaboration and installed a sushi bar inside Silk Road, one of the ship’s restaurants. Hiroshi Nakaguchi, a sushi chef who had worked with me for many years since the time of Nobu New York, was put in charge. I told him that if guests asked for things that weren’t on the menu, I would like him to respond as best he could instead of refusing outright. The operation staff, however, protested that this would create mayhem, because at that time, guests on board could only choose from a fixed menu. I explained that as they had gone to all the trouble of asking me to participate, then it made sense to incorporate the spirit of hospitality with which I serve my guests rather than sticking to a fixed repertoire of my recipes.

  One day, I received the following letter.

  My mother and I took this cruise together. She loves cruises and is quite used to traveling by ship, but this time, she began feeling a little under the weather. When I told Mr. Nakaguchi, he brought a bowl of udon noodles to our room. He had made the broth from scratch. Thanks to that, my mother recovered quickly, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the trip. We’ve decided that next time we travel by boat, we’ll take the Crystal Cruise again.

  Just a simple bowl of noodles can move a person’s heart. As a result of such incidents, criticism of our approach gradually lessened. Instead of changing things just for the sake of change, if you think about what you would want if you were the guest and do your best to meet the needs of each situation, things will naturally change for the better without even needing to worry about it.

  In 2013, I offered cooking demonstrations aboard a cruise. Unfortunately, I fell ill and had to get a shot to keep myself going. I asked Nakaguchi to make me a bowl of noodles and a few pieces of sushi. After eating this, I slept for over ten hours and, when I woke up, I was fine. Although we can’t fulfill everyone’s wishes, I think that we should always want to do whatever we can in response to each situation.

  The sushi bar was a success, and guests can now eat Nobu Style sushi on two Crystal Cruises ships: the Serenity and the Symphony. The sushi bars don’t take reservations, which means there is a line every day before opening, and the seats fill up as soon as the doors open. Recently, I have noticed quite a few children of various nationalities at the sushi bar. They seat themselves at the counter and order Soft Shell Crab Rolls or kappa maki (cucumber rolls). This shows how well known sushi has become, and that makes me very happy.

  A SPIRIT OF MUTUAL LEARNING, NOT RIVALRY, MAKES ORGANIZATIONS STRONGER

  Nobu restaurants are always trying new things, and employees make full use of mailing lists, Skype, and other means to share their successes with staff at other Nobu locations. It’s Nobu culture for everyone to work together when implementing a new idea. I’m very proud that we work as a team, rather than trying to sabotage each other’s efforts.

  In the food industry, chefs are normally very protective of their kitchens and most would never send their staff to work at branches elsewhere. At Nobu and Matsuhisa, however, sushi chefs, kitchen chefs, and managers go overseas on business trips and may even be posted to jobs in other countries.

  In the summer of 2013, for example, we did a Nobu promotion in Monte Carlo. The Cannes Film Festival and the F1 Grand Prix were being held at the same time, so we did a pop-up, bringing in staff from Dubai, Miami, New York, Dallas, and Aspen. This generated an exciting chemical reaction. Sushi chefs, kitchen chefs, and managers from different restaurants matched skills, exchanged information, and inspired and stimulated each other. I know that the experience will help them to grow. Although it was only for one month, they also formed strong bonds and have stayed in close contact ever since. This network represents one of Nobu’s invisible assets. The promotion was so well received that negotiations to open a Nobu in Monte Carlo went very smoothly, and we opened in December of the same year.

  The Nobu restaurant aboard the Crystal Cruise ships could be called a “Nobu-in-motion,” and that results in some interesting developments. The chef on board might contact me, for example, and say, “We’ll be docking at Cape Town soon. Can you ask the chef at Nobu Cape Town to prepare some ingredients for me?”

  I then put the two chefs in touch with each other. The chef on land will procure local foods and deliver them to the chef on board, most likely along with some tips on how to cook them. It’s a source of great joy for me to see chefs who work in very different environments collaborating in this way and holding each other in mutual respect. These moments show me that not only has our business grown, but the Nobu spirit has also developed right along with it.

  In general, when a business expands, it becomes that much harder to coordinate and unify. But with Nobu, the spontaneous spread of our staff network, which links every restaurant, has created synergy. The desire to learn from one another is far stronger among our restaurants and staff than rivalry. I think this is the result of creating a business culture that readily welcomes and incorporates new ideas and approaches. For example, if a regular guest of Nobu Atlantis in the Bahamas should request Miso Cappuccino for dessert at Nobu New York, the New York staff will immediately email the Bahamas staff for a recipe and receive it along with a photo. This kind of thing happens daily.

  MY STAFF’S SUCCESS IS MY SUCCESS; I WANT THEM TO GRASP OPPORTUNITIES

  No matter how large a business grows, its employees are people, not robots. If all we do is make them work, they cannot develop. By focusing instead on how to motivate each individual to strive and grow, we end up generating growth in our business as a whole.

  In June 2013, Nobu New York held a Sake Dinner promotion featuring namazake (unpasteurized sake) and yuba (bean curd sheet). Chefs from many other Nobu restaurants gathered in New York to create new recipes using yuba and serve them to our guests. The month before, Nobu Tokyo had also used yuba in a promotion, and therefore I asked one of the chefs from Tokyo to come. He shared what had gone well, and what had not, with the chefs gathered in New York. This was a priceless opportunity for them to learn about yuba, a Japanese ingredient that American chefs get few chances to experience. At the same time, the Tokyo chef was able to see how our guests in New York responded to the food, and on that basis, to develop the yuba recipes even further and reintroduce them to Japan. Being able to offer this type of dynamic learning space is another strength of our current organization.

  When chefs are given the opportunity to go on a business trip overseas, there is no point in treating it merely as a chance to sightsee. It’s not enough just to come and participate in the promotion, see the Empire State Building, and make friends with the New York staff. What I demand is one or two steps beyond that. I want them to be greedy to learn, to bring back new ideas and knowledge and teach them to the staff back home. By raising the level of their restaurant in this way, they will, in turn, raise the level of their own work. Whatever effort they make will come back to them. Not everyone gets such a precious opportunity, and I always urge those chosen to take full advantage of it.

  HAVING CHEFS WHO ARE TEAM PLAYERS IS YET ANOTHER NOBU STRENGTH

  I often send young chefs undergoing a spurt in development to promotions and other events. Mixing with top chefs motivates and inspires them. It’s a chance to learn directly from the masters and to find role models. This fulfills an important function within the Nobu system for training the next generation.

  While it’s a great honor to be invited to a gathering of international chefs who are stimulating and challenging each other, it is not enough just to participate. I want these young chefs to be hungry for knowledge, to be determined to take home something new. People who are eager to learn from others pick up far more than those who push others aside in their desire to be number one. And they will continue to advance steadily, because with each step forward, they will see the next step they need to take.

 
When young chefs come together and share their knowledge, they always come up with creative solutions, even if the challenge they are given is one rank above their current capacity. They become capable of things that they could not have done on their own. That, I believe, is the power of a team. Our ability to raise up chefs who are team players, rather than mavericks, continues to drive Nobu forward. In that sense, Nobu Hotel is the epitome of Nobu Group teamwork, a thought that makes me even happier.

  MAYBE I DID IT

  At the opening of Nobu Hotel in Las Vegas in April 2013, I had had a little too much to drink and had been showered with congratulations and praise. I got up on stage feeling very good. The crowd greeted me with cheers and applause. I could see the faces of guests from the early days of Matsuhisa and Hollywood celebrities who had come especially for this event. And, of course, our exceptional staff and my family, who have supported me through everything, were there, too. I was filled with emotion. I had been debating what to say in my mind, but braced by the sake, I blurted out, “Maybe I did it.”

  8

  Work Hard with Passion. The Rest Will Come.

  TOWARD OUR NEXT DREAM

  We succeeded in going beyond the framework of Nobu the restaurant to create Nobu Hotel. In 2015, we opened another one in Manila in the Philippines, and plans for others are in the works in such places as Chicago and Miami. We have also opened new restaurants in Malaysia and Mexico.

  Of course, my goal for all of them is to make our guests smile, but for Nobu Hotel, I also have another dream. I want to use it as a venue for a convention or promotional event bigger than anything we’ve done before and invite chefs from Nobu and Matsuhisa restaurants around the world, and maybe other chefs with whom I’m good friends. I see it as a grander version of Nobu United, an event we currently hold regionally to bring chefs together from different places within the same area, such as the United States, and have them collaborate on the creation of a full-course meal. If we hold such an event on a global scale, I am sure it will generate something new. I get excited just thinking about it.

  In my life, I have tended to just go ahead and try things instead of planning them through carefully in advance, and for the most part, the results have been good. More important than calculated plans, I think we need to have the courage to try something that catches our interest and the determination to do it right once we get started. We don’t always need to have a specific reason for doing something. If we just get started, the value of what we’re doing will become clear to us later on.

  COMMUNICATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A MANUAL

  More than twenty-three years have passed since Nobu New York opened. We have thirty-eight restaurants throughout the world. The scale of our business is now so large that I could not possibly oversee the management of all the restaurants on my own. For this reason, in 2012, I appointed Hiro (Fumihiro Tahara) as chief operating officer to handle all those aspects that I can’t see to properly. Hiro started off as a server at Nobu New York where he demonstrated a capacity for leadership. Although he has no experience with cooking, he has a thorough understanding of my approach and of how I feel, as well as an outstanding ability to put plans into action. He’s also quick to respond. Reaction time is very important because, in business, it’s crucial to “strike while the iron is hot.” In addition, he listens to the staff. Like me, he can put himself in the other person’s shoes and act from that perspective.

  Nobu United held in Las Vegas. A total of twenty-seven chefs gathered from all over America. (Photo by Erik Kabik)

  Efficiency has improved in many areas since Hiro began overseeing all our restaurants. When I come up with a new dish, he immediately spreads it to Nobu restaurants worldwide and adds it to the menu. As soon as a decision is made, he conveys it to all our managers and chefs. Thanks to him, we have significantly improved management efficiency without any reduction in the quality of our food or service. Nor does he force things through. Instead, he improves performance through good communication. He is always on Skype or email, communicating with chefs and managers in various parts of the world, so that sometimes I wonder if he ever sleeps.

  This connection to the world means the bigger the business, the more interesting the work. With just a small amount of effort, a huge sum of money moves, and that makes working for a large corporation exciting. At the same time, however, we must never lose sight of the company’s roots or the philosophy of its founder. If we condense that into a manual and assume that just by reading it the staff will understand, the future of our business will be limited. No matter how big a company grows, it is important for those at the top to continue sharing their message directly with their employees. I believe that efforts to build any organization, including a company, must be based on person-to-person communication, and not dependent upon manuals or systems.

  Manuals and systems never change once they have been made, unless someone deliberately revises them. Communication, on the other hand, is constantly evolving in response to circumstances. The best mode of change for any company is for its leaders to guard their philosophy while at the same time adapting it to meet the needs of new situations and to keep communicating this evolving vision directly to the people who work for them.

  I often take Hiro with me when I travel because the best communication is face-to-face. During these trips, I tell him that raising the quality of our existing restaurants is just as important as increasing their number. Without that vision, we will inevitably get off track. We need to keep returning to our founding philosophy. If we don’t, at some point we will deeply regret it.

  I feel extremely blessed to be working closely with so many young people who understand my thinking 100 percent.

  YOU’VE MASTERED YOUR TRADE WHEN YOU CAN RAISE AN APPRENTICE TO YOUR LEVEL

  At Nobu, we also have a system for thoroughly training newer chefs and service staff. People currently working as Nobu chefs and managers who have a gift for teaching are sent as trainers wherever needed to thoroughly develop our employees’ skills. If we are opening a new Nobu somewhere in Europe, for example, we’ll send trainers from London; if we’re opening somewhere in Asia, we’ll send trainers from Australia. In this way, Nobu staff are often on the move, and Hiro is the main person responsible for coordinating their movement.

  Being motivated to learn and paying attention are the most essential keys for personal growth and skill development, but I have come to feel quite strongly that we also need to teach our staff properly rather than just telling them “Watch me and do as I do.” Not long ago, for example, we held a sushi making class at Nobu Dubai. More than ten guests applied, which was too many for me to handle on my own. Before the event, I showed the Nobu Dubai chefs how to teach others to shape the sushi rice. Of course, they all knew how to do it, but they each had their own personal style. To make sure we could teach in a uniform manner, I advised them to break it down into six steps. This advice must have clicked, because the way they manipulated the sushi rice improved immediately, and I realized that things I had been doing as a matter of course for years could provide valuable hints to others. I could also see how much a few words of advice helped the chefs relax and gave them confidence. In Japan, apprentices in most trades were given very little verbal instruction. Instead, they were expected to use their brains and “steal” skills from their master and older coworkers through observation. While this is one approach to training, experiences like the one in Dubai have taught me that appropriate advice given at the right moment can trigger dramatic development.

  Teaching people requires patience. For a chef who works alone, this is not an issue, but if you want to convey a skill to others, you have to keep at it until they have fully grasped what they couldn’t understand before. As long as you are still working from a sense of what feels right, rather than from conscious understanding, you can’t explain a skill to anyone else, because you haven’t truly mastered it. That’s why I think chefs or any other artisans can only be considered full-fled
ged when they are capable of teaching others. I’m sure that this applies to every profession. And when skills and know-how are shared within the unit of a team, it becomes possible to do things that you could never have done on your own.

  YOU CAN COPY MY RECIPES, BUT NOT MY KOKORO (HEART)

  When Nobu began to spread around the world, I was thrilled to see that the dishes I had created at Matsuhisa were identical wherever I went. Not only that, but restaurants that had no connection with Nobu began copying my style and serving similar dishes. I have to admit that, as a chef, I felt pretty pleased with myself. When Black Cod with Miso became a hit in London, a local newspaper headline punned, “De Niro is the Godfather, but Nobu is the Cod Father.” I also came across a London restaurant that boldly proclaimed on its menu “Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing.” They probably got the recipe from my cookbook and included the word Matsuhisa without realizing that it was my name.

  There is a restaurant that is actually called Nobu in Kiev, Ukraine. It’s a small place with a sushi bar and, of course, has no relation to the real Nobu. It made me laugh when I saw that the menu was exactly the same as ours. People often ask me, “Don’t you mind?” but frankly, it makes me happy. Mind you, from a business perspective, it won’t do to have people use the Nobu name without permission.

  In Moscow, there is a sushi restaurant called Osumosan. When I dropped in, I found that one page of the menu was identical to ours. There is a reason for this. When the first chef we hired at Nobu London left, he was in high demand precisely because he had worked at Nobu. He passed on what he had learned at every restaurant he worked in after that.

  At a sushi restaurant in Cape Town, South Africa, I came across soft shell crab rolls. I was very moved to think that this dish, which I had invented at the suggestion of a guest at Osho in Los Angeles, had crossed the seas over to the continent of Africa. When a new restaurant has even the slightest touch of Nobu Style, people will often say, “It’s a bit like Nobu’s.” For me, that is the highest praise.