Heart of Nobu

We think the Bay Area has just about everything a person could want, but there’s something missing: a Nobu Matsuhisa restaurant.

By Dianne Boate and Robert Meyer
Published: May, 2006

We think the Bay Area has just about everything a person could want, but there’s something missing: a Nobu Matsuhisa restaurant.

Nobu was mentioned in an article we wrote about the growing trend of sake and sushi restaurants (Bay Crossings Sept. 2003). At that time, the Nobu restaurants were the sole source of the famous Hokusetsu sake made on the island of Sado.

The story behind the man who created a series of wildly popular restaurants in the United States and Europe is very engaging, one we think of as a very American, pioneer, rags-to-riches in the Horatio Alger-style (translation: hard work and self help). Nobu Matsuhisa made the best of some serious problems and has come out winning. It didn’t happen over night.

Born in Japan, Nobu was fatherless at 7 years old. His love affair with food began when an older brother took him to a sushi restaurant. The sights, smells and atmosphere enchanted him and he decided he was going to be a sushi chef. After finishing high school he began to work at a well-known restaurant in Tokyo, where he apprenticed 3 years before being allowed to make sushi. He was on his way to becoming a master sushi chef when an offer came to open a restaurant in Peru, South America.

Having few traditional Japanese ingredients available to him in Peru, Nobu experimented with local goods, which proved to be beginning of a repertoire of novel recipes and signature dishes.

Nobu would later relocate to Argentina, back to Japan, then on to Alaska to open his own restaurant. Fifty days after the opening, the restaurant burned to the ground. This is where the measure of the man shines. Nobu moved to Los Angeles, and worked nine years in a sushi bar to pay off all his debts. By being able to secure a loan, life could begin again. Nobu opened his restaurant, Matsuhisa, which quickly became a great success. His years of training and invention helped to fashion a unique menu using the highest quality ingredients.

Another reason for Nobu’s success may be coincidence. And one of the definitions of a coincidence is God’s way of being anonymous.

A friend of Nobu’s came to the restaurant and brought a bottle of sake from Japan’s Sado Island. Nobu thought it so smooth and so excellent that he decided to specialize in products from the brewery named Hokusetsu, which means Northern Snow. A harsh winter climate is an asset, and important for the best brewing.

Another important characteristic of quality sake and spirits is its smoothness. In the old days, wine casks were used for ballast in ships and people attributed special qualities to these wines. If you visit Nobu’s Web site www.nobumatsuhisa.com you’ll find: One of the most famous Hokusetsu products is Ongaku-shu, literally translated as musical saké. Connoisseurs claim that saké that have been shipped by boat have a deep taste, since the saké is smoothened by the undulating motions of the waves. To recreate the wave-effects, Hokusetsu plays the New Age music of Japanese composer Kitaro to the bottles of Ongaku-shu for three years in a special cellar.

And with regard to cooking and culinary arts, Nobu says, I always put something special in my food -- my heart, or kokora, as we say in Japanese; and you must put your own heart into your own cooking. For me, cooking is about giving my customers little surprises that will lead them to make discoveries about their own latent tastes. It’s about communicating my kokora through every single dish I make.