Nobu Matsuhisa Japanese celebrity chef and restauranteur Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa is renowned for his signature Peruvian-influenced modern Japanese cuisine. He has nearly 40 eateries and 15 hotels bearing his name around the world, as well as seven books, including a memoir published in 2014. Known as Nobu, he was a 1989 Food & Wine Best New Chef. Experience Nobu Matsuhisa began his culinary career at the age of 15 as a dishwasher in a Tokyo sushi restaurant. There he trained for seven years as a sushi master, before accepting an offer to open a Japanese restaurant in Peru. Matsuhisa developed his style of fusion cuisine during his time in Lima, adapting traditional Japanese dishes to available local ingredients. After encountering a false start in Alaska, he settled in Los Angeles where he eventually opened the first in a long line of successful namesake restaurants, many fueled by his business partnership with Robert De Niro. Nobu has been a James Beard Award nominee numerous times, winning for Best New Restaurant in 1995 and Who’s Who in Food & Beverage in America in 2002. Nobu has also appeared in three movies: Casino (1995), Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). About Food & Wine Food & Wine, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is an award-winning online resource for anyone passionate about the culinary world. With rigorously tested recipes and the most trusted restaurant, drinks, culinary travel and home coverage, we inspire and empower people everywhere to discover, create, and devour the best in food and wine. Learn more about us and our editorial process.