The Nobu Concept

Nobuyuki Matsuhisa says that opening a beautifully designed restaurant isn't all that hard if you have the right financial backing. But maintaining and improving a restaurant's reputation - its fine food, service and atmosphere - is something else entirely.

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So how to maintain a restaurant's fine food, service and atmosphere? "Upholding these three things constantly and at exceptional levels can only be done through the people - and people cannot simply be bought with money," he says.

Matsuhisa, whose name and restaurants are known internationally as "Nobu", certainly had the right financial backing in his first foray into Australia. No lesser lights than American acting legend Robert De Niro and Australian business tycoon James Packer helped to open the Nobu restaurant in Melbourne's Crown Entertainment Complex recently.

His backers know Nobu's track record in restaurant success, though many Australians wouldn't. This is no surprise - 9 of Nobu's 15 restaurants are in the US with other locations including Tokyo, London and Hong Kong. In such cities he is an admired restaurant owner, chef and entrepreneur, and winner of numerous stars and awards since the first Nobu restaurant opened in New York in 1994.

Since then, Nobu has been nominated "Outstanding Chef" by America's James Beard Foundation no less than 9 times in 10 years. He has authored four cookbooks and made film appearances in Casino (1995), Austin Powers (2002) and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).

Fame and fortune, however, do not deliver his stated successful restaurant ingredients of fine food, service and atmosphere. For that, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa says he worked to develop, instil and maintain a "Nobu concept" among his staff.

This explains why Nobu has brought experienced staff from his existing restaurants to Melbourne, a pattern he has followed in new restaurant openings to uphold the concept with or without his direct involvement.

"When a new restaurant opens, new staff will be hired but experienced staff from an earlier location form the backbone of the team," he says.

"When Nobu opened in New York, staff that were trained at my first restaurant 'Matsuhisa' in Beverly Hills were sent over. When the London Nobu opened, those from New York were called over to form the team.

"In the same way, the backbone of the Melbourne team is now formed by the people who used to work in London. As the number of restaurants increase, so does the number of people who 'grow' as professionals and understand the Nobu quality and concept."

Nobu says that upholding his concept is important for delivering his restaurant essentials - excellent food and impeccable service and atmosphere.

There are, of course, other tricks to the restaurant trade. Whatever country he may be in, Nobu says he has a strict business practice of developing "a good, clean and reliable relationship" with his suppliers.

"Forging good ties with the suppliers naturally leads to their understanding of what I am looking for and they will start to supply me with only the finest of ingredients," he says. "In the beginning, they may not trust me much and ask for everything to be paid in cash but eventually the relationship will become one of reliance, mutual dependence and consistency.

"This in turn translates to the quality of our dishes."

On that subject, Nobu says his restaurants come back to the people - not just customers but his staff. He says he focuses on creating a business that gives his staff hope, ambition and opportunity because they will in turn generate the superb atmosphere and quality his restaurants are noted for.

Scott, one of the Melbourne chefs, has a career path in accordance with the "Nobu concept". He worked at Nobu London for seven years before he was invited to Nobu Melbourne in time for its recent opening.

In most establishments, experience often means a valued employee will move on to a better restaurant for improved status and pay. However at Nobu's restaurants, hardworking and loyal staff are often offered other opportunities to further their career - including working overseas.

Apart from the initial business partners maintained from the beginning of his restaurant development, Nobu says the business partners taken on in countries outside the US have been integral to his success.

"For me, it's very important to find a business partner who I can trust - and that usually means that they trust me. Nobu restaurants require time and finance to cement its foundations - and getting this right is very important for me. Unless my business partner understands that this means profit is not likely to be generated straight away, I would not open a new restaurant even if there was an opportunity to do so."

Nobu says there was an intuitive "feeling" of respect and trust with James Packer, his local business partner in the Melbourne venture. Nobu became acquainted with James Packer when he was initially introduced to his late father Kerry by one of his other business partners. The relationship resulted in James Packer providing a prime spot in his Crown Entertainment Complex for Nobu Melbourne.

Nobu has set a high standard when it comes to choosing business partners. The catalyst to the entire Nobu project was a single loyal customer at his Beverly Hills Matsuhisa restaurant, none other than Robert De Niro. Story has it that De Niro had to repeatedly approach Nobu with the proposition of opening a restaurant in New York before he finally agreed. It was De Niro's perseverance that won Nobu's trust.

Given the growth of his business, these days Nobu spends less time in the kitchen than he used to. He says that after the initial few days of a new restaurant opening, he will entrust the cooking to the chefs. He sees value in acting as a quiet observer, allowing his chefs to use their own initiative.

"Obviously I would intervene if something is being done completely wrong, but these days I find myself learning new things from my own staff," he says.

"Chefs are creators. If you tell creators to do everything how you want it done, it takes away from the enjoyment of being a creator - creative passion. If the chefs are not motivated to 'create' their dishes based on their passion, then that will reflect on the dishes served to the customers. That's why I try to leave my chefs some room to foster their creative passion towards cooking."

For this reason, Nobu encourages chefs at all of his restaurants to develop and share new recipes. While Nobu restaurants are famous for their signature dishes - like Black Cod with Miso, New Style Sashimi and Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno - he says he is open to improvement.

"A fresh produce unique to the London region is obviously not going to be so if it was packaged and delivered to New York," he says. "The same can be said of what is available in New York when transported to Melbourne. So the fresh produce become potential dishes unique to that area."

Many of Nobu's signature dishes have traces of Peruvian influences - picked up largely in the three years he spent working at a restaurant in Lima. These signature dishes appear at all Nobu restaurants.
"When a restaurant newly opens, we stick to the basic Nobu signature dishes. This is so the chefs and customers don't get confused about what 'Nobu cuisine' is about. Once this has been established, you will start to see the dishes unique to that region."

Although Nobu can speak of his business philosophy with great authority today, the lessons were not easily learnt. Years before his international success, Nobu's business was based in Alaska - where his restaurant burnt to the ground.

"The two most important things I learnt from the fire in Alaska were perseverance and love from my family," he says. "That period was undoubtedly the hardest time in my life and I was only able to overcome it because of the support my family had for me."

"When I pulled through those dark times, I realised that the quickest way to actually getting anywhere was by approaching things step by step.

"When I was young I would feel compelled to 'show' myself to the world - whether through my business by becoming rich or cooking by presenting extravagantly," he says.

"But after the fire, I stopped feeling any sense of 'urgency' towards life. I guess I really had no choice but to let go. But as a consequence, I learned working towards something step by step actually makes life a lot easier than when you're rushing to get to the end."

It is out of this experience that his "Nobu concept", which relies so much on his staff, was born.

"I think one of the most important things in life is how you build relationships with the people around you. I feel that it is my turn to support those around me to achieve their life goals just as I was supported on my way," he says.

"I want people in my life to be happy and a large part of my happiness comes from the happiness of those I am connected to. I think that's what relationships should be about."