Nobu Matsuhisa

Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa (松久 信幸 Matsuhisa Nobuyuki; born March 10, 1949) is a Japanese celebrity chef and restaurateur known for his fusion cuisine blending traditional Japanese dishes with Peruvian ingredients. His signature dish is black cod in miso. He has restaurants bearing his name in several countries. He has also played small parts in three major films.

Nobuyuki Matsuhisa
Born (1949-03-10) March 10, 1949
Saitama, Japan
Culinary career
Cooking styleJapanese

Biography

Nobu was born in Saitama, Japan. When he was seven years old, his father died in a traffic crash, and he and his two older brothers were raised by his mother. After graduating from high school, he worked at the restaurant Matsue Sushi in Shinjuku, Tokyo, for seven years and was invited by a regular customer, who was a Peruvian of Japanese descent, to open a Japanese restaurant in Peru. In 1973 at age 24, he moved to Lima, Peru and opened a restaurant with the same name of Matsue in partnership with his sponsor. Nobu was unable to find many of the ingredients he took for granted in Japan and had to improvise, and it was here that he developed his unique style of cuisine that incorporated Peruvian ingredients into Japanese dishes.

He later moved to Alaska, and opened his own restaurant, but about two weeks after the grand opening there was an electrical fire and the restaurant burned down.[1]

In 1977, he moved to Los Angeles and worked at Japanese restaurants "Mitsuwa" and "Oshou." In 1987, he opened his own restaurant "Matsuhisa" on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.[2]

Acting

Nobu has had small roles in three major films: in Casino (1995) alongside his business partner Robert De Niro, in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).[3][4]

Hotels

As of 2019, there are twelve Nobu hotels in several countries, with six more planned.[5]

Criticism

Nobu restaurants sell Atlantic bluefin tuna, an endangered species.[6][7] As a result, from press and campaigning pressure, they offered to add a warning on their menu, but this was considered inadequate by conservationists to help the spiral of demand and market price that leads to overfishing.[8][9][10]

Books
  • Nobu West. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7407-6547-6.
  • Nobu: The Cookbook. 2001. ISBN 4-7700-2533-5.[11]
  • Nobu Now. 2005. ISBN 0-307-23673-0.
  • Nobu Miami: The Party Cookbook. 2008. ISBN 978-4-7700-3080-1.[12]
  • Nobu's Vegetarian Cookbook. 2012. ISBN 978-4-89444-9053.
  • World of Nobu. 2019. ISBN 978-4-7562-5147-3.
  • Nobu: A Memoir. 2014. ISBN 978-1-5011-2279-8.

See also

References
  1. Nobu's Matsuhisa Turns 30: An Oral History of the Sushi Restaurant Where Tom Cruise Couldn't Get In Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, June 2, 2017
  2. Michael O'Connell (June 2, 2017). "Nobu's Matsuhisa Turns 30: An Oral History of the Sushi Restaurant Where Tom Cruise Couldn't Get In". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  3. "Japan's culinary king takes on the world". CNN. March 8, 2007. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  4. "Nobu Matsuhisa Filmography". British Film Institute. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  5. "Nobu Hotel Collection". Nobu Hotels. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  6. "Failure to act will push bluefin tuna fishery to extinction". Iucn.org. November 26, 2008. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  7. "The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas". Iccat.int. November 9, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  8. "Greenpeace Article on Nobu". Greenpeace.org.uk. April 12, 2011. Archived from the original on January 15, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  9. Clover, Charles (September 6, 2008). "Robert De Niro's restaurant chain sells endangered tuna". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  10. Hickman, Martin (May 27, 2009). "Bluefin tuna – with a guilt trip thrown in". The Independent. UK. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  11. "Nobu The Cookbook , Kodansha International". Kodansha-intl.com. July 19, 2001. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  12. "NOBU Miami , Kodansha International". Kodansha-intl.com. November 1, 2008. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
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