Nobu: A Memoir by Nobu Matsuhisa

Not many people have lead a life like that of Nobu Matsuhisa. Born in Saitama, Japan, he and his brother were raised solely by their mother, their father dying in a traffic accident when Matsuhisa was just seven years old. After graduating high school, he worked at a restaurant for seven years, in Tokyo, before moving to Peru at the age of 24, at the urging of a regular customer-turned-sponsor, to open a Japanese restaurant. What followed has created history: unable to find the Japanese ingredients he has used for so long, Nobu was forced to improvise, using local Peruvian ingredients to create Japanese dishes, which would ultimately become Nobu’s signature flare.

With more than a dozen restaurants open under his name all over the world, a list of celebrity clientele, and a reputation as one of the greatest chefs of all time, Nobu Matsuhisa is notoriously private about his life, but now, in his new book Nobu: A Memoir, he has finally shared his thoughts of his life, and experiences.

Just because his current restaurants are a success, does not mean that they always were: his first restaurant burned down, and when they were up and running, they made no money during the first three years. But the support and love of his wife and family ensured that he kept and trying – and eventually succeeded.

If there is an element or aspect that becomes clear to readers, it is that Nobu Matsuhisa cares about the environment he creates: hospitality is vital to every single restaurant he opens, and his own outlook on life takes that a step farther: the idea that there is pride to be found in doing a job well, no matter what the job is, from making sure that the busboy is just as highly valued as the head chef himself.

Eloquent, honest, and even poignant, the writing style is very straight-forward, but not so abrupt that no emotion comes across; on the contrary, each passage is filled with feeling. While we can’t imagine why some people wouldn’t want to read about food and cooking, it’s worth picking up this memoir for the wisdom that Nobu imparts to the readers.