Chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa built Nobu through three stages: a distinctive Japanese cuisine shaped by his years in Peru, a New York restaurant venture with Robert De Niro and Meir Teper, and an expansion from restaurants into luxury hotels. The sequence matters: Matsuhisa had established a restaurant in Beverly Hills before the first Nobu opened in 1994.
Before Nobu, Matsuhisa built a following in Beverly Hills
Matsuhisa opened his namesake restaurant, Matsuhisa, in Beverly Hills in 1987, giving his cooking a platform before the Nobu name existed. Nobu Hotels’ retrospective traces the brand’s beginnings to that restaurant. Nobu Hotels’ anniversary account
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The food drew on more than a single culinary tradition. The Associated Press describes Matsuhisa’s style as combining traditional Japanese dishes with ingredients he encountered while living in Peru. Nobu Hotels likewise presents Japanese tradition combined with local influence as a cornerstone of the brand. The first is a description by the AP; the second is the company’s own account of its culinary identity. Associated Press, June 2025 Nobu Hotels
One dish in that early story is black cod with miso. In an excerpt from his memoir, Matsuhisa recalled that De Niro particularly liked the dish and Japanese sake Hokusetsu. That anecdote shows what one repeat diner enjoyed; it does not establish that the dish alone made the restaurant famous.
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How Robert De Niro became part of the story
Matsuhisa’s memoir, excerpted by Eater, places De Niro’s first visit to Matsuhisa in 1988. Director Roland Joffé brought him to the restaurant. Matsuhisa recalled that he did not initially recognize De Niro and served him as he would any other guest. De Niro returned, and the two eventually discussed opening a restaurant in New York. Eater’s excerpt from Nobu: A Memoir
Nobu Hotels says De Niro persuaded Matsuhisa, after four years, to bring his cooking to Manhattan. The first Nobu opened in TriBeCa in 1994. The company describes the restaurant as a 150-seat space designed by Rockwell Group and calls its approach to Japanese cuisine pioneering—an assessment that belongs to the brand’s retrospective, rather than an independent measure of its influence. Nobu Hotels’ anniversary account
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The partnership joined Matsuhisa’s cooking and restaurant experience with De Niro’s involvement and the New York venture. Nobu Hospitality names Matsuhisa, De Niro, and Meir Teper as co-founders. The sources establish that history, but do not specify how much each person invested or how ownership and operations were divided. Nobu Hospitality’s founders and story
Three forces behind Nobu’s growth
- A culinary identity: Matsuhisa’s Japanese cooking, shaped by ingredients and experience from Peru, gave the restaurants a recognizable point of view.
- A restaurant partnership: The move from the established Beverly Hills restaurant to the TriBeCa opening brought Matsuhisa’s cooking to a new city and connected the venture with De Niro and Teper.
- A broader hospitality brand: Nobu Hospitality says its hotel concept grew naturally from the restaurant experience, extending the identity beyond dining.
These forces played different roles. The food was the core offering; the New York partnership helped establish the Nobu restaurant; and hotels extended the brand into another part of hospitality. The available accounts do not show that any one factor alone caused the company’s later scale.
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From restaurants to hotels—and the scale reported in 2025
Nobu Hospitality’s account describes the move into hotels as a natural extension of the restaurant experience. It is the company’s explanation of the brand’s development, not a detailed account of the hotel business’s financing or operating arrangements. Nobu Hospitality’s story
In June 2025, the Associated Press reported that the business included more than 50 upscale restaurants and several luxury hotels. That is a dated report, not an audited count or a verified total for October 2026. It indicates the scale reported at that time without establishing revenue, profit, valuation, customer numbers, or the number of company-operated versus licensed locations. Associated Press, June 2025
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