Chef Nobu Matsuhisa rolls into Nobu Newport Beach
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Chef Nobu Matsuhisa arrived to cheers and applause from the Nobu Newport Beach staff on Wednesday when the celebrated sushi chef made an appearance at his upscale Lido Marina Village restaurant to celebrate “Taste of Nobu,” a special culinary event that featured chef stations, cocktails and more.
“Newport Beach loves Nobu,” Matsuhisa said in an interview before the celebration. “Restaurants need good food, good service and a good view. This restaurant has a beautiful view, wide open to the ocean.”
Nobu Newport Beach opened in 2017, with nearly 16,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor dining space overlooking Newport Harbor, which was crammed with yachts this week. But Matsuhisa’s legacy, and his influence on Japanese cuisine, goes back much further.
The famed chef’s first namesake restaurant, Matsuhisa, opened in Beverly Hills in 1987, where actor Robert De Niro became a frequent diner. De Niro eventually partnered with Matsuhisa to bring his Japanese cuisine to New York, opening the first Nobu restaurant in his Tribeca neighborhood in 1994. Today, Nobu is an international restaurant and hotel brand with nearly 60 locations across the globe.
This year, the company is celebrating 32 years of success, a milestone Matsuhisa doesn’t take for granted.
“We are lucky that after 32 years, business is still doing good and we are still looking to upgrade the quality,” Matsuhisa said.
He gives credit for the success to his staff, some of whom have been with him since he opened the first Nobu restaurant.
“Our team has been working together for a long time. When I first opened in New York, I didn’t know anybody,” Matsuhisa said. “Now, over the last 32 years, we have grown into a family. I am way more comfortable than I was 30 years ago.”
Even those who have never dined at a Nobu restaurant have likely tasted his influence. Matsuhisa is credited with globalizing Nikkei cuisine, culturally specific dishes that connect Peru to Japan.
When Japanese immigrants made their way to Peru as farmers in the late 1800s, they brought their cooking techniques with them, using ingredients available in Peru. Matsuhisa went to Peru as a young man in the late 1960s and developed an understanding of Nikkei cuisine and culture that he would carry on in his restaurants.
“Nikkei food inspired me a lot,” he said. “When I started cooking in Japan, I was very traditional. So the first time I went to Peru, I saw ceviches and other Peruvian cuisine. I saw a different way, and I realized that cooking like this meant more freedom. I could use jalapeños, chili sauce, cilantro, garlic …ingredients I never used.”
Today, it isn’t uncommon to find dishes popularized by Nobu at sushi restaurants in Orange County and beyond; yellowtail sashimi dotted with a slice of jalapeño, for example. Or thinly sliced fish or octopus doused in aji amarillo and lime juice.
While Matsuhisa is known for particular dishes, like black cod with miso, that are available at all his restaurants, he also notes that each location has its own special rotating dishes too, using ingredients the region has access to. In Newport Beach, that might mean a dish made with spiny lobster.
“All Nobus use local product as much as possible. When it is in season, we have spiny lobster here,” Matsuhisa said. “And not only as sashimi, but sometimes three or four different ways.”
Spiny lobsters, which don’t have the large front claws like Maine lobsters, have sweet tails, which Matsuhisa said gets made into sashimi and tempura, while the head might be boiled down to make a sauce.
“We don’t waste anything,” he said.
The “Taste of Nobu” was strolling event, with attendees exploring the offerings both inside the restaurant and on the outdoor patio. Locals watched as A5 Waygu from Kyushu, Japan was sliced thin and quickly dunked in a hot pot before being served with sautéed onions and mushrooms. Others grazed at a table continuously being replenished with all manner of nigiri and sashimi. Servers walked around the bar bearing trays of Nobu tacos, filled with lobster and finely diced red onion or cubes of crispy rice topped with spicy tuna.
As the sun set over Newport Harbor, guests continued to line up for the chance to take a photo with Matsuhisa, have him sign a copy of his book, “World of Nobu”, or simply to watch him cook.
Nobu Newport Beach is located at 3450 Via Oporto Suite 101, in Lido Marina Village. For reservations, go to noburestaurants.com.
