‘Nobu’ Is a Fascinating Portrait of the Celebrity Chef — and Robert De Niro
Chef Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa transformed American palates in the late ’80s with his brilliant fusion of Japanese and Peruvian cuisine. His business partnership with Hollywood icon Robert De Niro propelled sushi to the forefront of fine dining, as a cuisine once derided in the West as “raw fish” became a celebrated delicacy and status symbol. Almost 40 years later, Nobu is now a global luxury brand valued at $1.3 billion dollars, with dozens of Michelin-starred restaurants and hotels around the world.
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer (Valentino: The Last Emperor, Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, The Reagans) spent a year chronicling Nobu’s business empire and personal life. His unfiltered access paints a complex portrait that vacillates between a hardscrabble upbringing, incredible food, searing emotional retrospectives and the lifestyles of the rich and famous with a liberal sprinkling of cutthroat business tactics. It’s a fascinating journey that shows how fame and fortune don’t come easily, chronicling the intense dedication of partners who hold quality as a fixed standard that must be upheld in every regard.
