[classical music playing]
[music continues]
[Nobu]
Food is not simply something
to fill up your stomach.
With each dish I am creating,
I am thinking,
"How much salt do I add?"
"How much of the sauce?
"Or the size of the fish."
Each and every piece
must be in balance.
Each piece must create
an exciting element.
That is how
I always want to feel.
When I make the dishes
and the customers feel ecstatic,
that is the most enjoyable
moment for me.
[woman]
Nobu is not a fusion chef.
He is a Japanese chef
who embraces
the entire world of ingredients.
It's one of the things
that makes him so unusual.
[shouting in Japanese]
Yamabu Sushi,
Anago, Mirugai, Namatako,
White Fish Arugula,
Baja and Japanese Uni.
Our dinner special tonight are
[SPEAKING JAPANESE]
[low chatter]
[music continues]
[man] In the beginning,
people did not believe
that he would stay in business,
but in the meantime,
the whole world
is copying what he has done.
[woman] When you're thinking
about who the great chefs
in the world are,
you really do have
to think about Nobu
as being really up there
in the Pantheon.
-[wood hits]
-[cheers]
[ambient street sounds]
[Meir] I think the board
meeting is in session.
We're going to start
with the report
of hospitality in restaurant
that we are working on
coming up.
[man] Okay, so we signed
in the Al Marjan Island,
which is a part
of Ras Al Khaimah
within the United
Arab Emirates.
Cairo, this is a hotel
restaurant and residences.
The plan is to do Cairo first,
and then go on to Abu Dhabi.
In Bangkok, they want
to create a Nobu yacht.
You can stay
on the boat overnight,
but also you can stay at
what will be elephant camps,
which will be part of this
exclusive Nobu experience.
It's adventure tourism,
but it's really about trying
to keep the customers
all within the Nobu sphere.
[light music playing]
I just like to add that
obviously we started
with Nobu restaurants,
and then we went
to hospitality hotels.
I think the brand
is so developed now
that it became a luxury brand.
[low chatter]
[music continues]
[sizzles]
[De Niro]
The heart of it is Nobu.
He enables the other things,
but he is the center
of what he does,
the cooking, the food.
If that wasn't there,
we wouldn't have any of this.
[Gregorio] What we go through
behind the scenes
before the doors open,
the customers will never know.
You want to make it
as seamless as possible.
When it comes to detail,
when it comes to quality,
you want to make sure
that those standards
are always upheld.
To this day, he still goes in
and checks everything out.
[Nobu] Very good.
-You got to try it.
-Yeah.
-Like that?
-Thank you.
[utensil rattles]
[speaking Spanish]
[utensil rattles]
[Nobu in Spanish]
[both in Spanish]
How many ounces?
[in Spanish] Eight ounces.
You think eight ounces?
[man] Maybe eight,
eight and a half,
but it's about eight ounces.
-It's a good portion though.
-Yeah, it looks like a ten.
[light laugh]
-So three days marinate, right?
-Yeah.
-Very good, Gregorio.
-It's good. Try the black cod.
Still, this is
my best signature.
-Great.
-[Padilla] Good?
Perfect. Thank you.
-Goodbye.
-Thank you.
-Thank you very much.
-Good job.
-Chef, thank you.
-Yep.
Always think about timing,
how much cook.
No faint of heart.
[Padilla] Thank you.
I'll keep that in mind.
Thank you, chef.
-[sighs and laughs]
-[Nobu] He teach the chef.
[all laugh]
Thank you.
[water rippling]
[guitar music playing]
[indistinct dialogue]
-[speaking in Japanese]
-[laughs]
Start reeling.
Where the... Dond esta fish?
[man]
Wanna make sashimi out of it?
-Sashimi, yeah, I do it.
-Okay, okay.
Oh, I see it. I see it.
It's right there.
[Nobu] I know.
Pull harder. Pull harder.
Hey!
Whoo! You got it!
-Whoa!
-[Nobu] All right.
-Okay, sashimi lunch today.
-[man speaking in Spanish]
-[Nobu speaks in Spanish]
-[man] Okay, there you go.
-Did it!
-[Elena laughs]
[low chatter]
[Elena] Yeah. I haven't been
in the ocean for so long.
[man] I don't have one.
[Nobu] Now, sushi is
all over the world,
even the supermarket.
You know, every corner
has a sushi restaurant.
But my generation,
sushi means very high-end,
very special food.
Very fresh.
[Nobu in Japanese]
I can make any time,
sashimi and sushi.
So fresh, look at it.
So fresh.
Look there. See?
So keep in the fridge.
[man] Do you want to jump in?
[Nobu] Yeah, I want to jump in.
-[woman] Go, go?
-[Nobu] Yeah, go, go.
[woman] Go.
-[laughs]
-[Elena] Did you see that?
-[speaking in Japanese]
-[laughs]
[dramatic music playing]
[laughs]
[Nobu] I grew up 45 minutes away
from the city of Tokyo.
[archival chatter and sound]
[music continues]
[street noises]
[Matsue in Japanese]
[muttering]
[in Japanese]
-[light music playing]
-[rustling]
[archival cooking noises]
[sizzling]
[Nobu]
[Junko] My grandmother
had four children,
and my father was the youngest.
She was a single mother
since he was six years old.
So she was
the heart of the family.
[Keiichi in Japanese]
[music continues]
[archival street noises]
[Nobu]
[waves lapping]
[music continues]
[in English]
[waves lapping]
[music fades out]
[low chatter]
[ambient kitchen noises]
[Nobu] Even the whole fish,
last time we had it,
very difficult to take meat,
-without the bone.
-Yes.
[Gregorio] Yeah?
[Nobu] Grill, then filet,
back to the fish.
-With the vegetable.
-[Gregorio] Yeah.
[Nobu] Then serve like this,
so sauce on the side.
I think it's more like
a Japanese style, too.
[Gregorio] Yeah.
I like that.
Yeah, yeah.
The flavor... No, no, detail.
Yes.
[laughing]
[overlapping chatter]
[ambient music playing]
[waves lapping]
[speaking in Japanese]
[Nobu in Japanese]
[music continues]
[speaking in English]
[archival crowd noises]
[ambient street noises]
[speaking in Japanese]
[music intensifies]
[Nobu]
[emotional music playing]
[Nobu]
[Nobu]
[Yoko] Hmm.
[in English] Then my mentor
started teaching
how to make sushi.
So, six pieces sushi,
one tuna roll.
[speaking in Japanese]
Okay, he says, "Very good."
[speaking in Japanese]
[music continues]
[archival chatter]
[speaking in English]
-[speaking in Japanese]
-[Yoko] Hm.
When I was 23, I got the chance
to go to another country,
a Japanese-Peruvian,
Don Lucho, come to Matsuei,
talk about
the Peru fish cultures.
He asked me to open
a restaurant together.
In Lima, Peru.
I want to catch my dreams.
I decided to go. [laughs]
[guitar music playing]
[archival street noises]
[Yoko in Japanese]
-Hi, how are you?
-Good morning.
-Good morning.
-Good morning, sir.
-Hi, nice to meet you.
-Good morning.
Very nice to meet you.
When was the last time
you were in Peru?
The last time we came here,
-almost five years ago.
-[Yoko] Five, six years ago.
The first time I came to Peru,
almost 50 years ago.
It used to be
more very traditional.
Now, the Peruvian food
is very fashionable.
It'll inspire to the world, too.
So I like to see how it changes
for the food.
[ambient city noises]
[speaking in Japanese]
[string music playing]
[Yoko]
[music continues]
[Nobu]
[ambient restaurant chatter]
Wow, beautiful.
This is a...
-[Gastn] Lenguado. Yes.
-Lenguado? Wow.
We like to say here in Peru
that every fish
is good for a ceviche.
This is the most simple one,
but it's like lime, aj.
-[Nobu] No cilantro?
-It's in the sauce.
It's beautiful, the ceviche.
[Gastn] Takes out
the best texture of the fish.
[Nobu] Ceviche...
[speaking in Japanese]
[low chatter]
[Gastn] Actually,
you were one of the first
to promote Peruvian ingredients
in your cooking.
We call that Nekkei.
-Yeah, yeah.
-For us, it's Peruvian-Japanese.
That make you
the difference between
a Japanese
traditional restaurant...
You start putting aj panca,
you start putting aj amarillo,
you start using
the word anticucho,
tiradito in your restaurant...
[Nobu in Japanese]
Peru is just like
my second country.
Not much stay long,
only three years,
but still, those three years,
-so much... so great.
-It touched you.
Yeah, people are so nice here
and always cooking with heart.
This is most basic
how to keep the quality good.
-Only heart is very important.
-It's great that you said that.
One of the most beautiful
days in my everyday life
is when I find a young chef,
putting her heart on your recipe
and making it delicious
and different.
It's something that makes me
very, very, very happy
because we are leaving something
behind, which is great.
[light music playing]
[overlapping chatter]
[birds calling]
[waves crashing]
[speaking in Spanish]
[Pedro] It's always
when the wave breaks.
If it's calm like this,
-you don't find pejesapo.
-Oh.
Always have to break
really hard.
-They like breaking water.
-Oh...
[speaking in Spanish]
[Pedro]
[Pedro] Yeah?
That's crab. Crab.
-Oh, nice crab.
-[laughs]
[speaking in Spanish]
-[chuckles] Nobusan.
-[surprised grunts]
[Nobu] Wow.
[speaking in Spanish]
You would love to buy here,
Nobusan. [laughs]
[speaking in Spanish]
[overlapping chatter]
[light music fades in]
[Yji]
[chatter continues]
[music continues]
[ambivalent music playing]
I was very regretful,
but my second child
was on the way.
So finally, I made the
decision, go back to Japan.
[archival chatter]
All of my friends know
I went to the Peru.
Everyone said,
"Okay, good luck," something.
But after three years,
I call them,
but nobody accept
my phone call.
They worry about
I'm asking for money.
"I'm sorry, I'm busy.
Call me next time."
Kind of, you know, I was...
Then I feel
lost my friend also.
So that was a lonely feel.
[music continues]
[speaking in Japanese]
[Nobu]
[in English] He helped us
when no one else helped us.
So this is where
our new Japanese life started.
[ambient market noises]
[squeaking]
[low chatter]
[in Japanese]
[chatter continues]
-[bell ringing]
-[shouting in Japanese]
[Nobu laughing]
[speaking in Japanese]
-[hand claps]
-[laughs]
[Nobu in English]
[speaking in Japanese]
[Nobu in English]
[ambient music playing]
Immediately, I like to go.
[ambient boating noises]
[music continues]
After two months
of working constantly,
nonstop, no day off,
he gets a phone call.
[speaking in Japanese]
[music intensifies]
[emotional music playing]
He really, really hit
the lowest of the low,
and I think it was too big of
a thing to overcome alone.
If it weren't for my mother
coping along with him,
I think it would have been
unbearable for both of them.
[music continues]
[Nobu in English]
[ambient restaurant noises]
I have a bunch of knives now,
but my first sushi knife
I bought more than 50 years ago
when I was in Alaska.
So I've seen all
the restaurants, burned out,
but also went to the kitchen.
In the corner,
has something on the top,
but find this knife.
Still, this is the burn.
So, I don't want to
use anymore
because from here to here,
all my memory, all my life
history is here, too.
[suspenseful music playing]
[birds chirping]
[speaking in Japanese]
[piano music playing]
[Junko]
When he's there at the house,
he wakes up,
he goes to the gym,
he swims in the pool,
he has his routine.
That's where he recharges
a lot of his strength and mind,
when he's in LA.
Because he can do what he
wants to do at his own house.
He loves that house.
[music continues]
[grating]
[sizzling]
Sometimes, I make sushi,
sometimes, I make pasta,
sometimes make steak,
Shabu-shabu.
Cannot be every time so...
take the stock.
You know...
Also, canned tomatoes, put
the tomato juice on the dashi.
I adjust for the taste, too.
[boiling]
[Nobu] After Alaska,
I came to Los Angeles
like a runaway,
like I escaped from Japan.
To pay off my debt,
after the fire,
I start to work then,
small Japanese restaurant.
Every day, working, working.
Kind of I got scared because
all my bad experience,
I don't want to be
back to before.
This is the last chance
to catch my dream.
[Yoko in Japanese]
[Junko] That's when
I first met Sakai-san.
Ever since then, he has
been like an uncle to me.
He's my father's best friend.
[Nobu in English]
[indistinct chatter]
[laughs]
[archival street noises]
[ambient music playing]
[Wolfgang] In the '80s,
Los Angeles
was the hotbed of innovation.
California people
always looking for
the good food
and the healthy food.
Los Angeles never really
got the credit
what we actually did here.
[reporter] For starters,
an appetizer at Citrus
in West Hollywood.
[Wolfgang] It's Californian.
It's fresh, exciting, new.
[reporter] We asked Spago's
flamboyant chef,
Wolfgang Puck, to put together
one of his flashy salads.
Then it was a quick trip
to downtown LA
to Rex's,
for a special of the day,
Tortellini and Wine Sauce.
In the old time, you want
to have a great dinner.
You had the matre d'
in a black tie,
the waiters in a black tie,
and they used to come--
It was very formal.
And in the '70s,
when I was at Ma Maison,
there was green astro-tuff
all over the place.
We had plastic garden
chairs in the dining room.
The whole thing
looked very different.
You know, casual luxury
is more important
than luxury by itself.
Spago Hollywood
opened in 1982.
All of a sudden,
you could eat the pizza
in a white tablecloth
restaurant,
but the pizza was maybe
with smoked salmon and caviar.
We tried to really focus
on the food,
and that really changed
when chefs
became the owners
of their restaurant.
[Nobu] First time I went
to the Spago Hollywood,
he go to each table to say hi.
Everyone loved him.
All the celebrity people
go there
because they feel comfortable
and the great quality food.
So this, my restaurant,
the concept, he inspired me.
Matsuhisa opened in 1987,
so five years after you,
Hollywood Spago.
[light music playing]
[Yoko in Japanese]
Before '87, all of this,
La Cienega
was called Restaurant Row.
All the famous restaurants,
closing, closing, closing.
Then I opened this one.
[Yoshiko] In the '80s,
I remember sushi being,
"Oh, it's fish, raw fish,
and sticks," you know?
[Gregorio] When he brought
his experience from Peru,
nobody thought of doing
what he did at the time.
Nobu created his own world,
just like Picasso created
his own style of paintings.
-[laughs] Great comment.
-The Picasso in the kitchen.
[speaking in English]
[laughs]
[Yoko in Japanese]
[ambient restaurant noises]
I trust her 100%.
Maybe she trusts me,
I don't know, 90%,
but we create together.
The cozy family atmosphere
that Matsuhisa has started
because it's a family-run place.
It is "Welcome to Yoko
and Nobu's home."
[Junko]
When they opened Matsuhisa,
it was not
a huge success at first.
[Yoko in Japanese]
We can do the knife.
It's beautiful one.
[Yoshiko] My father is
first and foremost
a chef who wants
to please his customer
right in front of him,
that does it with a precision
and an artistic eye.
He always takes a white plate
because that is his canvas,
and all he wants is the food
to stand out.
[Nobu] Customer have to see
the beautiful, Nobu style.
[classical music playing]
One day, a customer of mine,
she never eat raw fish.
I served her table.
"Today is a beautiful white fish
called the Halibut Sashimi."
She saw this one,
"Oh, no, but I'm sorry,
I cannot eat raw fish."
So I slightly cooked
with olive oil.
[sizzling]
This time, she eat all.
"Great!" And "Wonderful."
So idea come from her,
for my new style sashimi
signature dish.
[speaking in Japanese]
[speaking in English]
[low chatter]
[Junko] I think he did change
a lot of the Japanese cuisine.
When it first came out,
I don't think people knew
the word "Black Cod Miso."
Right? Or like Shishito
peppers, or crispy rice.
[Ruth] I wandered in one day,
and he was doing this
absolutely extraordinary sushi
that galvanized me and then
everybody else in the city.
At Matsuhisa, you got food
with different flavors,
which I never had before
in Japan or in Los Angeles.
Nobu changed the world
of Japanese cuisine
to let outside influences come
in and marry them together.
This is black cod,
my most famous signature dish.
This black cod,
it's a frozen fish from Alaska.
Alaska has very famous
black cod.
Means, idea come from the
Japanese traditional style.
It's marinated with a miso,
soy, and salt.
I created my own style miso,
more sweet.
Marinated one day, next day,
taste it, not enough.
So second day after,
taste it, not enough.
Then three days marinate,
then try it.
It came out perfect.
Robert De Niro came here.
I served this one.
He loved it.
Then every he come here,
always black cod, black cod.
Restaurant getting popular.
So then came out
my signature dish.
When Bob De Niro took me
the first time to Matsuhisa,
each dish
was an overwhelming taste.
Nothing tasted the same.
So that was like something
I could not believe,
food, which was incredible.
[De Niro] I had opened the
Tribeca Grill around that time,
and so I had some history
of being involved
with the restaurant,
and his food
was just so special
that I said,
"This is an easy one."
I told Nobu,
if you ever want to open
a restaurant in New York,
let me know.
This actor
named Robert De Niro,
that my father at that time
did not know who he was,
approached him and said,
"Hi, my name is Robert De Niro."
"May I do
a restaurant with you?"
And he said, "No. Who are you?"
[laughs] "I'm busy."
[ambient music playing]
[Yoko in Japanese]
I start to use the cilantro
like 36 years ago here.
Nobody accept that it's used
cilantro with a sashimi dish.
Now, yellowtail jalapeno
is the most popular dish
in the Matsuhisa restaurant.
There's something in there,
it's not just soy,
it's not just some acid.
There's a phantom flavor that,
for ten years,
I tried to figure it out.
When I ask him, I say,
"Listen, I want to know
what's in that sauce."
He said, "Very simple."
"I brush the plate
with a pure of garlic."
I say, "Oh, my God."
"Who comes up
with an idea like this?"
Matsuhisa from here, to here.
Only this space,
and separate, share to
two different restaurants.
Here, it's called
a pita house,
like a Greek restaurant.
So after this restaurant,
left,
I break wall,
makes whole one restaurant.
Nothing fancy,
but a lot of magazines,
include The New York Times,
choose a top ten "Best
Restaurant in the World."
I started calling
every journalist I know
in Los Angeles and said,
"There's a world-class
food experience happening
on La Cienega Boulevard.
You must go."
[speaking in Japanese]
[Junko] He had an interview
in a really famous magazine,
and I remember him
calling my mom
and asking her to go
to the bookstore
to get these magazines.
Television crews
will start coming in.
So gradually, I did realize
that it was
becoming a success.
I remember the sort of
first "ooh" moment
was when I think
they upgraded their car.
They got
their first black Mercedes.
I remember it being a very,
very exciting moment.
In 1993, I think it was
when Nobu said to Bob,
"I think I'm ready now."
I put him in touch
with Drew Nieporent,
because Drew and I were
partners in the Tribeca Grill.
-Nobu!
-Hey, Drew.
You look good, man.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
[Drew]
We were here for 22 years,
22 glorious years.
This is where
we made our reputation.
The rest is history.
The greatest single
restaurant concept
ever in America, Nobu.
[David]
So I first spoke to Drew,
and then I had a meeting
with Nobu and Bob De Niro.
Bob was mostly interested
in comfort and creating
something that felt
like it belonged
in the neighborhood.
Nobu was super involved
in a couple of elements,
and one of them
was the detailing
of the sushi bar,
and we designed it as a stage.
So the sushi chef is
the star of the restaurant.
[Nobu in English]
[ambient kitchen noises]
When we opened
the restaurant in '94,
people used to say,
"I'm going down to Tribeca
to Robert De Niro's restaurant."
[man] Your new restaurant is
a Japanese restaurant, right?
-[De Niro] Yeah.
-And what's it called?
-[De Niro] It's called Nobu.
-What does that mean?
[De Niro] It's the first name of
the Chef, Nobu Matsuhisa.
[man] It seems that the chef
doesn't have any talent
because what does it take
to make raw fish?
[De Niro] Well, he would
be upset if you said that.
You couldn't say that.
He's really great.
Just the sauces and everything.
[overlapping chatter]
The Nobu system of service
is that the food comes out
when it comes out,
and it's put in the middle
of the table.
At the beginning,
nobody could get that.
"What do you mean? I ordered
this, they ordered that."
"How come
it didn't come together?"
"That's the way
it works in a restaurant."
No, the Nobu system
is different,
and in a way,
it's more efficient
because you don't have to
serve everyone
exactly at the same time.
You're serving the table.
[people chattering]
Nobu made Tribeca
much more recognized
and made it a dining
destination in a way
it definitely was not before.
He brought the sushi
revolution to New York.
He made sushi chic,
and he made it the thing
that everybody wanted to eat.
If you get three stars
from The New York Times
like we did,
you're immediately
going to be full.
[Meir] Not only we filled up
the restaurant,
but we had like 300 people
on the waiting list every day.
There was not even
a moment in my mind
that we will have more than
this one restaurant
we invested in.
And then people
start calling us.
[energetic music playing]
[Matt] Nobu-san
was in the kitchen in London
on my first day in 1998.
London has a great variety
of other cultures of food,
Indian food,
there is great Chinese food,
but not in
the fine dining arena.
Nobu, London
helped really smash that.
-[wood hits]
-[cheers]
[Nobu]
Is one of the secrets
a designer chef's jacket?
Yeah, you know, Mr. Armani,
it's a design for me.
-This is an Armani?
-Finally, Mr. Armani.
-Nobu... [laughs]
-[laughs]
Next time, his fashion show,
I'll be there.
That's right.
[woman] His restaurants
are famous for their style
and their sushi,
a fusion of Japanese
and Peruvian flavors
that you can enjoy
in 21 of the world's
most cosmopolitan cities.
That is,
if you can get a table.
From London to New York
to Beverly Hills,
his restaurants
are always booked,
often months in advance.
He's become extremely
well known for serving
some of the most famous people
on the planet.
[dramatic music playing]
[man] Bringing a restaurant
of that caliber
and with the reputation
of Nobu,
will add even more
to Hong Kong.
[music continues]
-[wood hits]
-[cheers]
Up high!
[speaking in Japanese]
There are a handful of people
who have changed the way
the world eats.
Nobu is certainly there
in that pantheon
of game changers.
[music fades out]
People are asking Nobu
to go into a place,
to give it a certain cachet
and so on.
That's why I started
thinking about hotels.
Why are we not
doing that ourselves?
At least trying it.
[classical music playing]
-[Nobu] How are you?
-[Alisa] Opa! Alisa.
-Alisa, how are you doing?
-Good to see you.
Nice to see you.
How are you?
How's it going?
How's it going?
How are you doing?
Welcome home.
No. It's so fun.
[splutters] Oh, it's mine. Okay.
How are you?
Yeah, it's all right.
[Nobu]
[Warly]
Yeah. [laughs]
[overlapping chatter]
[Trevor] When we first started
the hotel here,
it was something very new.
Some of our restaurants have
been around ten, 15, 20 years.
So we said we have to do that
with the hotel as well
to maintain that customer
as a repeat customer to Nobu.
On our last count, we had
three million customers
coming to Caesars
in the last ten years.
So that's a huge number.
What's that must-have
Nobu experience
that you have to have here?
There's a certain level
of customer
that goes to Nobu,
and the first thing
that they sell here
is the suites.
And the villa in itself is
the best villa in Las Vegas.
I mean, we know that the villa
was sold for $5 million
for the Formula One
for five nights,
and that says something
for what the brand stands for.
But at the end of the day,
it's the service,
it's the touch points
of Nobu that matter.
[low chatter]
You know, 36 years ago,
Japanese restaurant
never serve caviar,
but I love caviar, but caviar
image has very expensive,
always more fancy.
But I like to more
introduce caviar
to much more eat comfortable
to the guests.
Now, caviar is more reasonable
because maybe last 25 years,
that caviar farm growing.
Now, a lot of people
start using caviar.
Even me,
like I start toro tartar,
I have a sushi with caviar,
caviar tacos,
and I use a lot of caviar now.
How much caviar today?
We're going to go
through four kilos of caviar.
-Four kilo caviar?
-Yes.
Any leftover?
Can I take mine home?
Yeah, make it breakfast,
you can have it for breakfast.
[ambient music playing]
[low chatter]
Nobu has now
expanded globally.
And as we look
at the location in Maui,
or at the new restaurant
that opened in Dubai,
the interesting thing
is to find some local element,
local artisans, which Nobu
does with his food as well,
and find a way
to continue to make it feel
fresh and relevant
and luxurious.
Did you walk through
the Plaza Athne, yesterday?
Going to today,
this afternoon, after this.
Yeah.
-How does it look like?
-It needs work.
Amazing location.
[Nobu] Do you know
how long that takes?
I'm guessing
two and a half years.
[dramatic music playing]
You know, I came first time?
No, no, no, no, no,
this is not working.
-Sorry. [chuckles]
-[laughs]
It was very much a bustling
hotel prior to the pandemic,
but unfortunately, like all
other hotels in New York,
it did shut down,
and it has not reopened since.
Yeah.
So how many years
of the history for this hotel?
So this hotel was built in 1924.
[Meir] You see over there,
this is the Omakase Sushi bar,
and the kitchen is behind it.
You want to go
and take a look?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, it's nice
that they're connected.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Oh, this is great.
-I like this space.
-Yeah, yeah.
Maybe there's a kitchen
in the basement, too.
-I'm not sure.
-Can I come down?
Yeah, yeah.
Let's go, you and me.
[Susie] And then engineering
offices are down that way,
-plus mechanical space.
-Garbage.
[Susie] Security offices here,
waste room,
and then inventory store rooms.
[Meir] They have walk-ins here.
[De Niro] Meir, Nobu.
-What?
-What do you want to see, Bob?
[De Niro] Down here.
If you go down here
and look in there
and look into the left,
you'll see.
Oh, this is all the equipment
for the heating,
air condition.
It looks like a yacht.
It's like a boat.
[De Niro] Like a boat, yeah.
This is a whole other...
I don't know.
I don't know where that goes.
Office.
Bob opened each door.
[laughing]
[Meir] The plan is to gut out
the whole place,
completely gut it,
then build from fresh.
You discover things.
Then you see what you can do.
All right, so see you.
Thank you, Bob. So see ya.
-Say hi to your...
-Yeah, I will.
I'll see you...
I'll talk to you.
[ambient music playing]
[Nobu]
[water pouring]
[speaking in Japanese]
[Nobu in English]
[emotional music playing]
[sighs]
[crying]
[sniffling]
[music fades out]
[sniffles]
And, um...
Come more close, please.
So... Gracias, todos.
You guys are great,
great team.
Please grow you guys,
each person, with the hotel,
it makes good teams.
Work the team like a family,
all right?
Don't fight.
Somebody fighting,
somebody between.
Then, makes
a shake of hand right?
So my way, I never fight.
Always,
I like to keep the smiling.
Don't forget, you have
beautiful smile, everyone.
-[chuckles]
-Even you.
[laughing]
All right, so make happy,
happy back to you.
Don't forget about this, okay?
[clapping]
[Nobu] Thanks again.
Thank you, thank you.
Come, everyone.
Come, come.
He loves to be there.
He loves to be
in his restaurants.
He loves... He loves the people.
All right. All right!
-Bravo!
-Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
-The best team.
-The best team.
All right. All right.
[Nobu] There are people
in the global teams
from many different countries,
cultures, religions.
They have the chance to go to
various countries
all over the world
to learn about the different
cultures for themselves.
I hope I can give them
lots of these experiences.
Thank you so much.
[indistinct dialogue]
[Wolfgang]
If you want to expand,
you have to create a culture.
And that's
the most difficult part,
to create a culture
that people always
look for what you really
wanted to do. You know?
What would Nobu do?
[ambient kitchen noises]
[De Niro] It's important that
he holds the people together,
this extended family,
if you will.
[Gregorio] The core of
the kitchen has been here
for almost 20 years now.
The culture started
from day one.
We had many discussion
many years ago
that company's growing.
Some part we need to organize
it as a corporation,
accounting and all those
kinds of stuff.
But the culture,
that moms and pops restaurants
feeling of it,
we said, "We got to keep it."
This is very important
things for us.
Our success in keeping
that culture
is that we promote people
within.
Not only the chefs,
we're talking about
the servers, bus service,
even like the dishwasher has
been working about 25 years.
It's many of them like that.
Even at
the international locations,
we just transfer
those people to go,
and then they create the same
culture in each location.
I started as a waiter,
I was a student. [chuckles]
First, I didn't plan
to stay that long, but then...
Yeah. [laughing
I don't think anybody plans
to stay here that long,
and we all do, because of
the culture that he's...
[Nobu] Even I say,
"Get out of here,"
but they stay.
[laughter]
We keep coming back. [laughs]
His personality reflects to
the way the restaurant is run,
from the greeting
as you come in,
the attention that people get.
It all comes from him.
[dramatic music playing]
Take rice.
[speaking Japanese]
Fish is here. Rice.
One, two, three, four,
turn, five, six. Six steps.
Takes time
to make the perfect sushi.
[dramatic music continues]
[speaking in Japanese]
[Meir] We have 55 restaurants
around the world.
It's very difficult for him
to be in every restaurant
and train, but he goes around,
and if he sees
something wrong there,
they're correcting.
No, I would do three.
-Okay?
-Okay, chef.
Okay.
-Yes, chef.
-And...
[ambient restaurant noises]
-Thank you very much, chef.
-Yep. Then...
Cilantro.
Okay.
Of course, chef.
[speaking in Japanese]
-Me, chef.
-Okay.
Okay.
Ozuma, one more slice.
-White fish?
-Yes, same thing...
[indistinct dialogue]
The... With the...
-Okay, okay.
-[chuckles]
It's inconsistent, yeah, yeah.
This is a little more.
-Uh...
-Same amount.
Okay.
Okay, okay.
[man] Like the way
the chives and everything...
[man] Okay, cool. Okay.
Yes, chef.
-You're welcome, chef.
-Yeah.
Thank you very much
for everything.
[Matt] Now, we added more
locations, more restaurants.
We have a couple chefs
who funnel what Nobu-san wants
through all the other chefs.
We've all
worked together so long,
cooking the food
together so long.
There's a definite
understanding between us.
And so that gives
the consistency
in all the restaurants.
[dramatic music playing]
Hey, Matt.
You know, I like to do
like a cold noodle,
like a lot of vegetables
on top.
[Matt] Okay.
In Japan, this is summer times,
cold noodle.
But I like to put some
different vegetables on top,
and eggs, and king crab.
This is a brand new recipe.
Very unique dish.
How about onion?
The green onion, not the red?
-Yeah, yeah.
-Yeah, it's going.
-What onions?
-Scallions...
-[yells]
-[surprised grunts]
[laughs]
Mistake.
Okay.
-Let's take the...
-Yeah.
-We'll clean it. It's okay.
-Yeah.
Okay, we got it.
[light music playing]
Cold.
In Japan,
this cold noodle use hams
and cucumber, tomatoes.
But I like to more like...
it looks like a Nobu.
It's all the detail,
the chopped vegetables...
and king crab on top.
Yeah.
We make the recipes.
We always take photos,
but we write down
and then make it again
and then make it again.
We'll work out
how much of each is on,
and then how many noodles,
weighing out the noodles before,
so we know it's 60 grams.
The recipe for here, um...
Then we'll have the recipe,
and then we'll send it out
to all the different
restaurants,
all the chefs have that.
I'm traveling, so I go there.
Then I ask the chef,
"Can you make noodles,
cold noodles?"
So they can make
exactly the same.
I think the perfect
Nobu summer dish, right?
Okay.
Okay, let's taste it.
Mm! It's good.
All the people
who travel around
and eat at Nobu
feel very at home,
even though it's their
first time in that city
because the basic menus
are always the same,
and he tries to stick with
the recipes.
[ambient restaurant noises]
[birds chirping]
[yelling indistinctly]
[sizzling]
This is the two scallops.
Called "Cindy Rice."
You know Cindy Crawford?
She came to the Matsuhisa
in 1988.
She asked me, make me
something. So I made her this.
Japanese name is called
the Kakiage normally,
but I put the name
"Cindy Rice."
[upbeat ambient music playing]
Excuse me, ladies.
-Where are they?
-They're right here.
-Okay. Over there.
-Let's go this way.
Do you remember this one?
-Of course.
-Cindy Rice?
So they did it a little
bit bigger, but still...
Made by Nobu himself.
I have so much
to talk about this.
When I used to do photo shoots
in LA all the time,
and I wanted Nobu,
or Matsuhisa for lunch,
but sometimes the sushi,
if I didn't have a chance
to eat right away,
it would-- you know,
I wanted to be able to
get something that could
maybe sit
for one hour or two hour,
and then you design
Cindy Rice, and it's so good.
I think the real name
is Kakiage, right?
Kakiage, yeah. [laughs]
-We call it Cindy Rice.
-Cindy Rice, yeah.
Then week after Cindy
went to the New York,
so she ordered,
"Can I have Cindy Rice?"
My manager doesn't know,
but they call,
"No, what is Cindy Rice?"
They explain the Kakiage.
I have my own dish at Nobu.
I feel very...
Thank you so much, Cindy.
You have fed us
and our family,
and you're just such an artist
and such a friend
and a nice person.
[speaking Japanese]
How was that?
How was my accent?
Thank you.
-Rande, thank you so much.
-You're the best.
Thank you so much.
So we're going to sit at
the next table.
-Perfect.
-All right.
-Enjoy. Thank you.
-Thank you.
-[Nobu] Hi.
-[woman] Hi.
-How are you?
-[Nobu] How are you?
-[woman] It was amazing tonight.
-[Nobu] Thank you so much.
[Yoshiko] When my father says,
"I do everything
to make my customers happy,"
it's absolutely genuine.
This is what drives him.
His love language is creating
this experience
for them to feel fulfilled.
And I think the...
"Thank you today,
it was a really good dinner,"
keeps him going.
[speaking in Japanese]
[Yji]
[David] I can't think of
another culinary influence
that was so fully original
and has become so ubiquitous.
[De Niro]
Things that Nobu has done
are imitated by others,
but it's not Nobu.
[man]
Sashimi Jalapeno.
New style sashimi,
everybody's doing now,
the tiradito,
with pure yuzu juice,
rock shrimp tempura,
toasted and creamy,
when you deep in a ponzu...
[exclaims] Nobu style.
The onion dressing for me
is-- that's copied
everywhere in the world,
but it was all
invented by Nobu.
Sorry, Nobu, but the only
thing I stole from you
was the crispy rice
with the toro tartar.
But I had to do it.
How many chefs got influenced
by Nobu?
I don't think anybody can count.
The only problem is,
I think we should get royalties
just like they do in the movies.
I said, "Okay, you put the black
cod miso on the menu,
I get 10%."
[laughs]
[classical music playing]
[Meir] Okay, I'm going to go
into other Nobu restaurants
that are not part of a hotel.
Ah, so the first one we have in
development, and it's working,
and I think Nobu saw the plans,
is in Lake Tahoe.
The restaurant, Nobu, right,
will be on the lake.
Okay, the next one is Oxford,
which, you know, I apologize.
[Nobu] Do you know
about this project?
He mentioned it to me.
He told me.
[Nobu] He never mentioned
before to me. [laughs]
-He mentioned it not very much.
-I apologize, Nobu.
-[De Niro] Nothing much, Nobu.
-[Meir] I forgot.
-[De Niro]
We spoke for five minutes.
-Okay, tell me.
When are they going to start
the project?
It's under construction now.
-Already?
-[Meir] Yes.
All right, so that's it.
Uh, we have a project in Maui.
Blackstone owns a hotel
called the Blackstone.
It's Blackstone hotel
called Waldorf Astoria.
Okay? We are planning to do
a Nobu restaurant first,
and hopefully,
we will convert 100
or maybe 200 rooms
into a Nobu hotel.
[man on phone]
We could take a wing
and make it a hotel
within a hotel,
like you did at Caesar's.
I worry that I don't see
the specialness of it
-unless I'm missing something.
-[Meir] It's a great location.
[man] And the views are more
spectacular than Malibu.
-This is Maui?
-[Meir] Maui, yeah.
You think
that this is beautiful?
[Meir] That's when you look
at it from the ocean side.
Continue.
Del Coronado, which is
a Blackstone hotel.
We're going to put in
a Nobu restaurant.
-[De Niro] Just a restaurant?
-Just a restaurant.
Can I be honest here?
These are Blackstone properties.
-Right.
-They're enhancing
the properties that they have.
What does it do for us?
Money.
Money, but it's also
giving them a lot,
and we're spreading ourselves--
We got to be careful
in some ways.
No, but I think it's okay.
No, but I'm asking
this question.
I could take you aside
and ask it.
-I'm asking everybody.
-Okay, okay.
I want to find
something special.
[Meir] No, I know.
And not just do something
for their property,
but at the end of the day...
Yeah, we are doing something
for ourselves
because they are
paying us a fee.
It's a management deal,
so we get--
But they're not hotels.
-No.
-That's a difference.
If they were not our partner,
Blackstone,
with all due respect,
would we be considering this?
-[Meir] Maybe not.
-Maybe not.
That's a good-- I'd like to
put a hold on those things,
if you don't mind, and talk
about them more seriously.
We can't do it. We signed
already a contract there.
Well, I'm sorry you did.
-I'm sorry that you did.
-Why...
That I want to be careful about.
We have to devote our time
to doing projects
that are worthy of what
we can do
-and what is expected of us.
-[Meir] Okay.
-I'm sorry.
-Okay.
-[man on phone] It's about fees.
-We're talking bigger picture.
At this age and stage
of our lives, what we've done,
what we've accomplished,
we're going to have
our 30-year anniversary.
It's not about fees.
It's more than that.
And we need your help
in that way,
not where we fill
in little places that you own
or have a big part of
or whatever.
We should have
a bigger picture in mind,
and we're not going
to waste our time
in small things unless they
really have a strategic value.
Maybe one of
those places does
as far as the view and all.
But I don't see it.
I feel I have pretty good
taste in this stuff
and a pretty good sense
of what it is.
It's bothering me, frankly.
I want us to do something,
but I want to find
something special.
[dramatic music playing]
We have to choose
the best of partners.
That's what
we did so far, right?
Why are we success--
I always say,
why are we so successful?
Because we have chosen
the right partners.
Very important.
We even-- When Saul Kershner
was a great partner. [mutters]
Anybody that choose
the wrong partner so far?
-We did.
-[laughs]
-So that's why...
-Hubert Boukobza in Paris.
Maybe 20 years ago, a guy
I knew in Paris that had run
a very famous club there
called Bains Douches.
I knew him because always
when we went to Paris,
we used to go to the club,
and I went with De Niro
and so many other models
and famous people,
and actors used to go there.
It was like
the Studio 54 of Paris.
He came to see me, and he said,
"I would like to open
a Nobu restaurant."
I asked Bob,
"What do you think?"
He liked the idea, Nobu liked
the idea, and I said, "Fine."
We find out later, of course,
that he was taking money
out of the cash register,
giving away wine and things
to benefit his own needs.
About a year and a half later,
we had to close it because
they went into bankruptcy,
and Nobu was very hurt,
very upset and angry
about the failure.
Besides being Nobu,
the Japanese take
very hard failures, I think.
We didn't actually
talk for two years.
About two years later,
we got over
the bad experience in Paris.
We all learned a lot, and we
became stronger than ever
as partners since that moment.
I want to run an idea
by you, Nobu.
Hiro, the team.
-I know it's too early to--
-Go ahead.
-Okay, okay.
-[laughs]
We're just starting on
a new project for Nobu,
next to Nobu, 57th Street,
that will be much more
influenced by meat and steak.
And so it's not going
to look at all the same,
but the same strategy
and approach to Nobu style,
I think, is what it's going to
make it feel like
it belongs there.
At the moment, as a working
title, it's Nobu Steak.
[Nobu]
How do you think Nobu Steak?
What's the word for steak
in Japanese?
-Sutki.
-[man] Yeah, yeah.
-Really? "Steaky"?
-Sutki. Yeah.
-No.
-[laughs]
[Nobu] Don't ask me! [laughs]
What's the word that
you're expressing in Japanese?
That you're saying,
it's more all...
Beef or something like beef?
[De Niro]
We don't have to understand it.
It's just a nice sounding
Japanese word.
-Meat.
-Niku.
-Niku. Niku.
-Not sutki.
-[laughs]
-So "niku" means meat.
Niku, Nobu Niku.
Unless, Bob,
you have some idea, maybe.
No, I'm thinking
it's a special name
that people will
get used to right away.
They'll identify it
as this place
-as opposed to somewhere else.
-Correct.
Nobu Niku is simple.
It's two syllables.
I mean, it's kind of nice.
Nobu Niku, it ends with a "U."
Nobu Niku.
It's kind of simple.
Niku means the beef,
the chicken, the pork.
-Perfect.
-[De Niro] Great.
-Perfect.
-Nobu Niku.
Great. I love it.
-You did it. [laughs]
-[Meir] I knew it, Bob.
You know, 30 years ago,
when we opened Nobu,
the first one,
we were sitting and thinking,
what we're going to call
the restaurant.
I said, "Why don't we call
them Matsuhisa?"
Bob said, "It's too complicated.
Why don't we just call it Nobu?"
"His name is Nobu."
All right, we have a name!
Great.
Fantastic.
The beginning of a new concept.
Okay.
[piano music playing]
[Nobu]
[speaking in Japanese]
[sniffles]
[crying]
[classical music playing]
[speaking in Japanese]
[light drumming]
[speaking in Japanese]
[Nobu]
Yeah.
[music continues]
[light chuckle]
[Nobu] I have a sushi bar
in all of my houses.
[speaking in Japanese]
-Cheers.
-[woman] Cheers.
[all] Cheers!
[speaking in Japanese]
[laughing]
[all laughing]
[laughs]
[surprised exclamations]
[ambient music playing]
[low chatter]
[man in Japanese]
[clapping]
[laughs]
[overlapping chatter]
[music continues]
[Nobu speaks Japanese]
Nobu has created this amazing
global luxury brand
that hasn't lost
the kind of intimacy
of that initial experience.
[Gregorio] Even his standards
that he's been doing
for 35 years,
you still go back to
that same dish,
and it's as good now as
when he first came up with it.
Like anything that's original,
you can imitate it all you want,
but you can never really
duplicate that.
[Wolfgang] I know if you would
ask people today,
nobody will know who is
the Emperor of Japan,
they won't know his name,
but everybody knows Nobu.
[laughs]
-Cheese.
-Hello, cheese.
[photographer laughs] Okay.
-Meir.
-Then one with Meir.
-Then we bring Hiro.
-Cheese.
Hello, cheese.
-Hiro, come in for one.
-Okay.
-All right.
-Cheese.
Should we bring...
-You guys come in for one?
-Yeah, yeah.
-[laughs]
-Come on.
Why not? Why not?
-See everybody.
-Okay.
Hello.
-Ready? One, two, three.
-[clicks]
-[all] Thank you.
-Thank you, guys.
-Thank you.
-How about you guys?
[laughter]
[ambient street noises]
[Meir] Yeah, we stay overnight.
In the morning,
we fly to Abu Dhabi.
It's only about two hours.
-Still overnight, Cairo?
-Cairo.
One night. Okay.
-To Abu Dhabi, two-hour flight.
-Mm-hmm.
We arrive there,
we check into the hotel,
we probably stay
at the Emirate Palace.
-Okay.
-Go to, in the afternoon,
do a ground-breaking ceremony
in Abu Dhabi.
Okay.
Again, the ground-breaking.
In the morning, we are going
to have a meeting
with the Crown Prince
of Abu Dhabi.
-Okay.
-Right after that,
we will have a helicopter
taking us to Ras Al Khaimah.
Okay. How long it takes?
-I think half an hour.
-Yeah, or less.
With the helicopter,
half an hour.
Ras Al Khaimah, okay.
We land in...
We go and visit the ruler
of Ras Al Khaimah,
and probably have lunch
with him.
[Nobu] Okay.
[Meir] That's it. We're done.
-Yeah.
-[Nobu] Sounds great.
[Meir] Yeah.
[lively music playing]
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Nobu (2024)
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