Nobu Matsuhisa: ‘Unlike Robert De Niro, I don't think about being famous'

Telegraph

17 hours ago

How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Nobu Matsuhisa
5am
I wake up and go straight to the gym at my house in Los Angeles. I travel for 10 months of the year, so I get concerned about my
body and have to be careful to maintain it. I sweat and stretch and do some weights, then I have a steam. I'll be there for a good three hours.
8am
Shower, then breakfast. Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, two boiled eggs and some steamed vegetables. This is my routine. When I was younger, I had a Japanese breakfast of steamed rice, miso soup and grilled fish, but now I like a more American or European breakfast.
10am
If I'm at home, my wife Yoko and I sit, drink tea and talk about the family – no serious talk. When I'm away, I miss my bed, my wife and my routine. I always have jet lag and am dealing with time differences, different beds, everything is different. I like my routines every day, and when travelling, that is very difficult.
1pm
I never cook at home. My wife is a very good cook as well – I like to call her my private chef. We've been married a long time [more than 50 years], so she knows what I want to eat. I like nothing too heavy, simple, clean dishes, not just Japanese, but Italian and Greek food, too. People tell me they're very nervous to cook for me, but they shouldn't be. I like to watch others cook – and I like eating.
3pm
When I'm travelling, I like to see the markets, find new produce and bring it to my restaurants. Recently, I was in London at our hotel in Shoreditch to open our summer bar and terrace. Wherever I am, I'll go to the kitchen and say hi to the chefs, check the menu and the presentation and taste the food. I never say no to a dish or say it's not good, but I may say, 'How about this? This way is better.' The chefs understand my philosophy, my cooking, my style – it's a collaboration around refining a dish.
6pm
A lot of people come to talk to me and want to take pictures, so it's impossible to stay in the kitchen. I never think about being famous, not like Robert De Niro – he is famous. He's been my business partner for more than 30 years and if new Nobu locations are opening, we go together, most recently to Thailand. He likes a Martini and we'll drink a nice wine together. He loves my black cod and, except for oysters, he can eat anything; he's very easy to please and has a good palate. Mostly, I see him in New York, go to his office and talk about new projects. I'm the chef, he's the ideas man – opening hotels was his idea.
7pm
I don't go to other restaurants much but if I'm in Los Angeles, I like to eat at Spago in Beverly Hills. If I'm travelling with the team, we sit down together in our restaurant for dinner, starting with wine and salad, then sashimi, then sushi or meat, anything the chefs make for us.
9pm
I like to see the guests and make them smile. I don't want to say they're all friends but since 1987, the first year of my first restaurant, a lot of famous people have come to my restaurant, and they trust our food. Famous people don't get special treatment, or come through the kitchen to avoid the photographers – everyone is the same. I'm friends with a few famous people, though, like musicians Kenny G and Charlie Puth. The Weeknd is my next-door neighbour; he's dating a friend of mine's daughter.
12am
I like to take a hot bath, where I get to be on my own, nobody bothers me. I kiss my wife, and I sleep well. Exercise makes for good sleep. Then maybe I will lie in until 6am on Sunday.