Introduction
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.
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 fireand the restaurant burned down.
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.
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).
Hotels
As of 2019, there are twelve Nobu hotels in several countries, with six more planned.
Criticism
Nobu restaurants sell Atlantic bluefin tuna, an endangered species. 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.
Books
- Nobu West. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7407-6547-6.
- Nobu: The Cookbook. 2001. ISBN 4-7700-2533-5.
- Nobu Now. 2005. ISBN 0-307-23673-0.
- Nobu Miami: The Party Cookbook. 2008. ISBN 978-4-7700-3080-1.
- 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.