Nobu Matsuhisa: ‘I’d watch my mentor making sushi and copy him under the table’ | Life and style

My father died In a car accident when I was seven years old. Whenever I missed, I was looking at the family photo album in this picture when he went to Palau. He was an architect and went to the source of the wood for his work. He made me dream of going out one day and made it proud.

My older brother He took me to sushi restaurants as a child. It was very expensive. It is not the types of places that children will go. The sushi chefs card, scents, and selection of fish have been greatly affected. Since then, I knew that this is what I wanted to be. After graduating from high school at the age of 18, I trained to be a sushi chef in Tokyo.

I take my training Seven years. I did not learn how to make sushi during the first three years. I got a two -day vacation, and slept on the restaurant floor. But I liked the job. I will go to the fish market every morning. I got the restaurant opening and vision of customers. I was watching my teacher making sushi and I would copy it under the table, and practiced with my fingers.

After training, One of my ordinary customers, who originally came from Peru, asked me if I wanted to open a restaurant with him in Lima. I worked there for three years.

I moved to Argentina, Then he returned to Tokyo and then to Anchorage, in Alaska, where I managed a restaurant. After 50 days, the restaurant is burned – an electric fire. I lost my dream. I lost my money. I lost my passion. I thought about suicide, but thinking about my family and children made me realize that I had to wake up.

I never gave up. I moved to Los Angeles to work in a small restaurant. Finally, in 1987, I opened my first restaurant, Matsuhisa, in Beverly Hills. My dreams were fulfilled.

British director Roland Joffee came once to Matsuhisa with Robert De Niro. Every time De Niro came to Los Angeles, he always stopped and said how he loved food. One day he asked if I wanted to open a restaurant in New York. I told him no. After four years, he asked again. I had almost forgotten what he was talking about, but this time I decided to trust him, and the first Nobo in New York in 1994.

I don’t like anything better From watching people enjoy my food. I am happy when I can carry my eyes on all tables, so that I can see people smile and laugh. We now have 55 restaurants and 18 Nobo hotels. I am in a very happy place now.

All you did at all It is Cook. I can choose my job. I appreciate the people who support my restaurant. I don’t want to do things in an easy way. I always love to do my best.

Nobo Hotel, London Square, Portman nobuhotels.com/london-Portman