“Great. Where are you now?” I asked.
“Downstairs,” he answered.
“You know, Ken, when I said call me before you come, I meant . . .” That was such a Ken Takakura thing to do.
It’s the same when he comes to the restaurant. He’ll phone and say, “Nobu, I’m on my way.”
“Where are you?” I’ll ask.
“Out front.”
Ken always tells me, “Nobu, you’re amazing. You’ve done a great job, you know.” When he first talked about me on that radio program, our business had not grown as big as it is now. When Nobu restaurants began spreading around the world, he said to me, “You see, Nobu, I was right about you.” He’s a very kind man. I phone him every month when I visit Japan. Recently, however, I was away for two months instead of one. When I called him, he said, “Oh, I’m so glad you called.” He had been worried because he hadn’t heard from me.
Ken has a good sense of humor. When I first learned how to send emails by cell phone, I sent him one as a joke. He called me up and said, “Sorry. I don’t know how to send emails.” I kept emailing him just for fun, and then one day, he emailed me back with, “Thank you.” He phoned me right after and said, “Emailing’s kind of fun, isn’t it?” Now he sometimes emails me when I leave messages on his phone.
He loves movies and often talks about them. When I call him, he’ll tell me about the movies he’s watched recently and what he thought of them. He thoughtfully sends me DVDs of any movies in which I seem interested. If I happen to be in Tokyo at the time, he’ll drive all the way to my house to deliver them in person. He also sent me many DVDs of the movies he has starred in, and I like to watch these when I have time to relax at home.
He’s a big fan of De Niro. He gave De Niro and me matching watches. In his office, De Niro had a large copy of a photo of himself from a scene in the movie Raging Bull. I asked him if he would let me have it so that I could give it to Ken. De Niro, who also knows Ken, made a copy and even signed it. When I gave this to him, Ken looked very impressed. “Nobu,” he said, “this is amazing. How did he copy such a big photo?”
I really look up to Ken. We’ve had some long talks, and every time we do, I am struck once again by what a great human being he is, and particularly by his humility. I am amazed by how purehearted he remains even though he is over eighty. There is so much I have to learn from him. Just talking with him makes me more sincere and genuine, as if I am returning to the roots of who I am. He’s seventeen years older than me, and when I look at his upright figure, I think that if I do my best, I should be okay for the next seventeen years. I think that very few people demonstrate such qualities as Ken does.
I’m sure that many people flock around him, but the fact that despite this he trusts me enough to share his thoughts on so many things makes me very happy and gives me great confidence. I respect him more than anyone I know. Looking at him makes me want to try harder. It made me so proud when he wrote a comment for the first cookbook I ever published. With a pure and simple heart, I will keep striving to follow his example in my own profession, spreading Nobu Style Japanese cuisine, which makes people around the world happy.
In closing, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my father, who died when I was young, to my family, and to all those who have taught and supported me throughout my life. It is thanks to them that I have become who I am.
Nobuyuki Matsuhisa
May 2014, aboard a plane on the way to prepare for the opening of Matsuhisa Paris
* * *
Ever since my memoir was published in Japanese in 2014, people have been telling me that they’d really like to read it in English. Although it has taken three years, I’m pleased to be able to share with you the English version.
In 2016, a new Matsuhisa restaurant opened in Paris followed by one in Denver and another in Munich, while a Nobu restaurant opened in Newport Beach. Nobu Hotels have opened in Manila in the Philippines as well as in Miami and London with more scheduled to open in Marbella and Ibiza Bay, Spain, and in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The sixteen-room Nobu Ryokan also opened in Malibu Beach. At the end of 2016, the Nobu restaurant in Waikiki moved and reopened as Nobu Honolulu, while the first Nobu in New York just moved to the Financial District in May 2017.
Although our restaurant and hotel businesses continue to expand, what I do hasn’t changed. I continue to travel for ten months of the year visiting Nobu and Matsuhisa restaurants around the world. The number has increased to the point where I can no longer get to all of them once a year, but I love it when chefs and staff that I haven’t seen for over ten months pepper me with questions, as if they are determined not to miss this opportunity. For me, being able to offer support and to witness people’s growth like this is a source of joy and motivation.
On a personal level, the biggest difference between now and three years ago is the fact that Ken Takakura is no longer here in this world. I will never meet or talk with him again. He passed away in November 2014, just three months after this memoir was published in Japanese. Even now when I think of him, my eyes fill with tears. At least I have the comfort of knowing that he read my book. He always told me, “Nobu, you’ve got a great smile,” so I’m glad to see a photo of me smiling on the cover of this book.
It also gives me comfort to know that I was able to bring Ken and De Niro together. I had been friends with Ken for more than ten years and had invited him to come two or three times when De Niro was visiting Japan, but the timing didn’t work out. About a year before Ken died, however, I invited him again when De Niro was visiting. He phoned me back and said, “Nobu, I’ll just drop in for ten minutes.”
De Niro arrived a little early. When Ken appeared, all he ordered was an espresso while De Niro had a meal and sake. The two of them began talking with my daughter Junko interpreting. Neither of them was very talkative, but once they got started on movies, they couldn’t stop. I could see how much they respected each other as movie people. Ken’s ten minutes lasted over an hour and a half. Occasionally, I would ask him if he would like something to eat, but he declined each time because he had said at the beginning, “Just espresso.” That was so like him. He looked really happy that night.
In his tribute for Ken’s memorial service, De Niro wrote about this meeting, and the knowledge that I had managed to bring these two together warmed my heart.
With a prayer for the repose of Ken’s soul, I lay down my pen.
Nobuyuki Matsuhisa
June 2017, aboard a plane on the way to Ibiza Bay, Spain
About the Author
NOBUYUKI MATSUHISA—known to the world simply as Nobu—is the acclaimed and highly influential chef-proprietor of Nobu, Matsuhisa, and Ubon restaurants located across three continents. Nobu now has forty-seven restaurants and six hotels around the world.
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ALSO BY NOBU
Nobu Miami: The Party Cookbook
Nobu: The Cookbook
Nobu’s Vegetarian Cookbook
Nobu West
Nobu Now
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Copyright © 2014 by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa
English language translation copyright © 2
017 by Cathy Hirano
Originally published in Japanese in 2014 by Diamond Inc. as The Smiling Faces of My Guests Mean Everything
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Interior design by Amy Trombat
Jacket design by Donna Cheng
Jacket photograph © Baldomero Fernandez
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Matsuhisa, Nobuyuki, author.
Title: Nobu : a memoir / by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa.
Other titles: Smiling faces of my guests mean everything. English
Description: New York : Atria, [2017] | “Emily Bestler Books.” | “Originally
published in Japanese in 2014 by Diamond Publishing as The Smiling Faces
of My Guests Mean Everything.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2017024524 (print) | LCCN 2017026295 (ebook) |
Subjects: LCSH: Matsuhisa, Nobuyuki. | Restaurateurs—Japan—Biography. | Restaurateurs—United States—Biography.
Classification: LCC TX910.5.M344 (ebook) | LCC TX910.5.M344 A3 2017 (print) | DDC 647.95092 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017024524
ISBN 978-1-5011-2279-8
ISBN 978-1-5011-2281-1 (ebook)
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