BY TISHIN DONKERSLEY, M.A.
With 29 restaurants around the world, spanning across five continents, Chef Nobu Matsuhisa is considered one of the most influential chefs in the world. Inducted in 2002 into Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America by the James Beard Foundation, Nobu maintains his trademark on the simplicity and energy of the dish. Yes, each dish has “energy” Chef Nobu explains—“It’s the feel of the dish, the taste of it. And is cooked from the heart.”
To learn that there is, as Nobu puts it, “energy of the dish,” will excite any foodie. Nobu explains that from kitchen to plate there is energy in the food, meaning it is filled with passion and cooked from the heart. Chef Nobu believes that his customers can taste a difference when there are energies and heart put into a dish.
“Energy you can just feel and makes the taste of the food, and cooking has to be from your heart. People have technique and experience and can put the food on the plate, easy—but like mother’s food, the mother cooks for the kids and cooks from the heart. When I taste the food, I can feel the chef’s heart and that is energy. Cooking is not 1+1=2, sometimes, 1+1=100 and it means how much passion and how much heart is in the food and this is energy—one part food and 99 percent means energy,” Nobu explains.
But is there such thing as a lack of energy? “Sometimes with no passion, energy can be 1+1= -100.What is this? Maybe you have an experience, and go out to get good food, and you are disappointed. To me, that means maybe it’s not your palate for the taste, but also that can mean that you can’t feel the energies from the food.”
Even as a young boy in Japan, Nobu knew he wanted to be a sushi chef. “I knew at 12 years old that I wanted to be a sushi chef, and at 18 years old I started because it was my dream. At the time, sushi was not as popular as it is today. It was very high-end food and special for kids,” Nobu said. “To be a sushi chef there was so much testing and tasting to learn…so after I graduated high school I started looking for work to become a sushi chef. For the first three years I was a busboy, dishwasher and could not make sushi, and had to be very patient during this time.”
Patience
“Patience” is a word Nobu used repeatedly. He explains that without patience it is difficult to continue to pursue your dream.
“I loved making sushi. If I didn’t like it and just wanted to make money and try to survive, there would not be patience to learn. With patience, I can do anything,” Nobu said with a smile. Now a world-renowned successful sushi chef, Nobu proved that patience really is a virtue, and today his patience takes on a new face. “Today is a different patience. We have 29 restaurants around the world and traveling takes a lot of patience and [managing] the stress. Stress means I have to be patient as well.”
Being a perfectionist and an international icon doesn’t mean he hasn’t made mistakes; on the contrary, he admittedly has made a lot of them, but he views every one as a growth opportunity. “Nobody is perfect and I have made many mistakes; making mistakes is a good sign because smart people learn from their mistakes—and a mistake can be a good sign to go the extra step. But if you make mistakes two to three or four times, then that is kind of stupid,” Nobu adds with a laugh. Nobu equates his growth and developed patience to his years of experience. “Experience is helpful. Experience means to understand more and not only the technique of cooking—it’s how to talk to people, how to understand the business and communications. The experience is helpful with my patience. I’m 62 and I’m still learning,” Nobu says proudly with a smile.
The Signature Dish
When Nobu was 24 years old, he accepted an offer from one of his customers to open a restaurant in Lima, Peru. It was that experience that shaped him and developed his appreciation for different flavors paired with fish, ultimately inspiring him to develop his signature dishes such as the Black Cod with Miso Seafood Ceviche Nobu Style and Yellowtail Jalapeno, found at Nobu restaurants today.
“After working in Japan I went to Peru, and it was a shock because the country is different and the food is different—even the fish. Traditional Japanese sushi uses soy sauce and wasabi. In Peru, they make sushi with lemon juice, coriander, onions, chili spice…even the fresh fish is served in a different way, like ceviche. This is one experience that opened my eyes,” Nobu said. “For sashimi it is not necessary to use the same Japanese ingredients. People love this kind of food and now I can enjoy both flavors. One by one, little by little, I learned from Peru.”
From Los Angeles to Melbourne, Nobu’s signature and standard dishes are experienced around the world. In order to blend each restaurant into the fabric of the culture, Nobu develops dishes that cater to the local cultures and palates—by country, and by city— and takes time to listen to the local feedback. “My basis is in Japanese cooking, but I use the local foods in each country as much as I can. In Italy there is the white truffle olive oil and tomatoes, China there is dry abalone, and Australia has a lot of different seafood like the Tasmanian salmon; versus here (in Los Angeles) the Alaskan salmon—the fish tastes different,” Nobu explains. “I like to see customers smiling and laughing and enjoying the food. I receive communication from the customers, which lead us to make a new dish for the culture.”
Nobu restaurants have a reputation for outstanding fish and are considered some of the finest places to experience sushi. Chef Nobu takes pride in seeking out the finest fish and conducts tastings with his chefs to offer the best. He explains that developing a palate for fish doesn’t happen overnight and through experience, one will be able to identify the minute differences in taste, similar to a vintner. Salmon, for example, though appearing the same on the outside, tastes differently depending on from which part of the world it originates, Nobu explains.“When I go to the restaurant, we will have a tasting and I’ll communicate to the chefs that this fish is better,” Nobu says.
A memorable meal isn’t just about engaging the four senses of the taste buds. When talking chemistry with Chef Nobu, he focuses on the fifth sense—the delicious, the umami. According to umamiinfo.com, Dr. Kiknunae Ikeda, a Japanese scientist, discovered glutamate, a type of amino acid found in most living things including meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products. Glutamate breaks down in food when exposed to heat, like a broth, or overtime, like parmesan cheese, and makes food taste delicious—thus he coined the term “umami.” Nobu explains that Japanese people seek the umami and find the balance in the food.
“Japanese cooking has the basis of umami and it’s all a balance—how much salt or sugar you put into the food. And umami food is low-calorie, easy to eat and easy for the diet,” he said.
The Teacher
Even with success, worldwide fame and cameo parts in movies with his business partner Robert De Niro, Chef Nobu’s heart resides in the kitchen and he considers himself more of an educator. His style of teaching is one of togetherness, working with his chefs, offering suggestions and encouraging them to find their passion, and create new dishes.
“Last month I went to Dubai, Australia and Tokyo, and I stay in the kitchen, but not the whole time—it’s more about communication with the chef; it’s exciting and it creates high motivation. I like to give homework to the chef and communicate with my chef. I give suggestions and then they have to try new things through their eyes. It’s a time to try new passions, new energies, and motivations.”
When selecting chefs to run his kitchens, and grooming them to potentially open or take over Nobu restaurants, Chef Nobu is clear about the skills he seeks in an apprentice.
“Passion, being hungry and ambition…and I look for the ambitious ones first – one who is trying to learn more and has the patience.” For a young chef wanting a career in the food industry, he gives this advice – advice that even we could meditate on for our passions. “Hungry means to try to learn more, always try to work hard, try to understand more from others, don’t be afraid to ask questions, make mistakes and learn from your mistakes, and take it one by one step.”
For young chefs, Nobu suggests taking it slowly, progressing step-by-step. He sees many who try to rush their expertise, missing out on valuable experiences. Nobu’s advice is to fine-tune each skill before taking on another and, above all, remember those who support you along the way. “One step has to fit perfectly before you take the next step. Some people want to rush the steps and something will go wrong, and it feels slow—but it’s about patience. Also, if somebody teaches you and somebody supports you, then have appreciation. As Nobu sipped green tea, the discussion turned into a talk about life—he equated the simplicity, and difficulty, of life to cooking.
“Cooking is simple. It’s not necessary to try and make it complicated—complicated makes it more difficult. The basis has to be simple. Even the food, all the different ingredients—it looks gorgeous, but complicated. It’s best when it’s simple,” Nobu said. “Unlike my dishes, like the black cod, my signature dish, we marinade the fish, put miso dots and ginger on a white plate—very simple. I find young chefs want to put the garnish, more sauce or vegetables, and it makes it complicated and takes it away from the dish—and takes away from the energy of the dish.”
The Future
Chef Nobu’s desire to teach and groom ambitious chefs continues to be part of his overall vision for the future. “It’s my dream to make a Nobu Academy, a cooking school. The teaching is very difficult and the people need to be hungry to learn. If you are not interested in cooking, then it’s difficult to teach.” In addition, he wants to support and invest in the people who have worked for him and give them a chance to run a new or current restaurant. “People work with me because they want to learn from me—they already have technique and experience.”
In 2012 Chef Nobu will open a Nobu Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas including a Nobu restaurant.
The Experience
After the interview, Chef Nobu invited my photographer and me to watch him make sushi—a rare opportunity. In the Matsuhisa restaurant in Beverly Hills there is a private sushi bar, a small nook off the entrance with only a few chairs. It was there that we witnessed years of skill and expertise, as Chef Nobu took charge of the elements. With precision, intention and focus, Chef Nobu mesmerized us with his talent as he began meticulously carving fish, and molding rice to perfection. Finally, he placed a dab of wasabi on top and blended all the elements together. One by one, each piece of sushi was placed ever so carefully on the plate, at a particular angle and picture-perfect. He tipped the plate to the camera with a smile, revealing his artistry—a display of simple perfection. He placed the dish on the counter in front of us and said “enjoy.” The sushi was beyond amazing and melted in the mouth. “Oh my – yum,” I think was the undisputed consensus. An experience filled with passion, heart and energies that I will never forget. Thank you, Chef Nobu.
Special thanks to Chef Nobu Matsuhisa, Yukari Hirata-Elston, staff at Matsuhisa, Beverly Hills, CA and Ali Dugaw.
Nobu (Los Angeles)
903 N. La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90069
noburestaurants.com
Matsuhisa Restaurant
129 N. Cienega Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
nobumatsuhisa.com
How Nobu restaurants go green
“My cooking concept is that I don’t want to waste anything. For example, when I buy the fish I try to use the whole fish. Even the vegetables, the part you would put in the trash, like the stems—I always save it or use it for something, like a paste, or a broth, or to marinade the beef or chicken with it. We also use bamboo chopsticks. We recycle our grease for biofuel,” Nobu said.
