Matsuhisa - Nobu: a memoir

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To See My Guests Smile

I entered the world of cooking as an apprentice chef at a sushi bar in Shinjuku when I was just seventeen. At the time, I never imagined that one day I would run over thirty restaurants and hotels on five continents.

People often ask me for the secret of my success or my method for succeeding globally, but I have never thought of myself as succeeding. Quite frankly, Im still learning, and I dont believe that there is any golden rule that guarantees success. I simply threw myself into my work and did my best to do the right thing.

In my business, that means choosing the best ingredients, caring about my guests, putting my heart into my cooking because I want to please them, and offering dishes at a price that matches the quality of the food. If you consistently offer good food and good service, your guests will always come back. To me, the right thing means constantly repeating this process.

The restaurants that bear my name, Nobu, are considered high end, but theyre not exclusive. Families with small children are welcome at all Nobu locations except those in luxury hotels. I want Nobu to bring smiles to our guests faces with the first bite of food, to give them a place to relax, enjoy good conversation over a great meal, and leave happy. And I constantly encourage our team to strive for this goal.

Nobu originated with Matsuhisa in Los Angeles, my very first restaurant. It was nothing specialjust a little thirty-eight-seat establishment that was later expanded to sixty-five seats. Nobus roots can be traced back even further to Matsuei-sushi, the sushi bar in Shinjuku where I spent my years as an apprentice.

Sushi is a simple dish that is prepared right before the guest. The ingredients are just fish and rice; the tools, a knife and ten fingers. The heart of the sushi chef communicates directly to the guest. Its impossible to fake it. Or to cut corners. Even the smallest of actions must never become routine. I must put my heart and soul into everything I do. This dedication, this passion, is the essence of Nobu. Size makes no difference. Whether its a restaurant that seats 38 or 374, I treat every guest as though each meal is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

Collecting Michelin stars is not my aim. All I want is to see my guests smile. For me, the greatest happiness, the highest honor, is to please my guests. So I try to imagine what I might want if I were them and spare no effort to provide it. If there is any key to global success in what I do, perhaps it is this simple approach. And Ill keep on going this way, moving forward little by little, without pausing or rushing, always mindful of my roots.

Along the way, I have faced some major stumbling blocks. But each time, I have managed to overcome them. Whenever I hit an obstacle, I search for a solution and carry on. Gradually, the hurdles that appear before me have become smaller. I find that if I plow ahead, no matter how impossible that may seem, and just do my best, someone is bound to lend a hand. Keep moving forward, even if its just a millimeter a day. Thats my motto.

I went through a lot before I reached this place: the death of my father, getting expelled from high school, years spent working my way up from the bottom rung, anger and frustration in Peru, discouragement in Argentina, and a setback in Alaska that was so severe I contemplated suicide... I hope that the lessons I have learned through these experiences will inspire those who long to pursue their dreams.

Thanks to my years as an apprentice

LONGING TO TRAVEL LIKE MY FATHER

I dont remember my childhood in much detail. Instead, fragmented images flash through my mind.

My father ran a lumber business in Sugito, a town in Saitama Prefecture. Sometimes he went overseas to buy lumber. He must have been a busy man. The last of his four children, I have almost no memories of playing with him. What I do remember is the warmth of his back when I rode behind him on his motorcycle. He often took me with him when he went places for work. It was the 1950s, and much of Saitama remained undeveloped. I loved speeding through the beautiful countryside, slicing through the wind while clinging to the back of this man whom I admired so much.

One day, I returned home from school to find my father about to leave. I held on to the back of his motorcycle and insisted that he take me, too. I must have really pestered him, because I remember that someone finally took a photo of us together, my father astride the bike and me standing on the back with my hands on his shoulders. But my father said he was going too far to take me with him and left alone. I can still see his back receding into the distance... It was a June afternoon, just two months after I began elementary school.

The next image is of my father in a hospital bed, covered in blood and groaning in pain. Hed been in an accident. This scene is followed by one of his funeral. Many relatives were there.

My memories jump like this from one scene to another.

Never again would I cling to my fathers back and ride through the wind. Never again would he hoist me onto his shoulders. Never again would we play catch together. I think it took some time for this to sink in.

I was so jealous when I saw my friends riding on their fathers shoulders or playing catch together. Sometimes I felt lonely, wondering why my father had to die. At those times, I would look at his photo. In it, hes standing in front of what looks like a palm tree. Beside him is a local man dressed only in a loincloth. Later, I learned that this photo was taken during the Second World War when my father went to Palau to buy lauan wood. In those days, few Japanese civilians traveled overseas on business. I was very proud of him for traveling all alone to unexplored territory. And I felt the pull of distant lands myself. When I grow up, I want to go overseas just like my father, I thought. That was my first dream.

INHERITING MY GRANDMOTHERS FIGHTING SPIRIT

The Matsuhisa family had lost its main breadwinner. My mother must have been at a complete loss when my father died so suddenly. Although she had helped him with his work, she didnt even know the price of the companys products. Once I remember her saying, Your father came to see me last night. Perhaps she had dreamed of him.

The customers demanded to know what she was going to do. She consulted my eldest brother, Noboru, who was then in grade twelve, but my second-eldest brother, Keiichi, intervened. Let him graduate from high school, he said. Ill take a year off. He helped my mother until Noboru graduated the following spring and then reenrolled in grade ten while Noboru took over the company.