THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Saturday/Sunday, August 17 - 18, 2019 |D5
THE TEAM behind the growing band of Nobu
Hotels, which launched in 2013, are like the
Traveling Wilburys of hospitality. Chef Nobu
Matsuhisa figures he’s on the road 10 months
out of the year and is sometimes joined by his
sundry partners Robert De Niro, film producer
Meir Teper and CEO of the enterprise, Trevor
Horwell. “It’s not easy, but this is my life,” said
Mr. Matsuhisa, with an impish smile. Fairly
persuasive as an actor, Mr. De Niro convinced
him to bring his trailblazing Japanese cuisine,
which he first tasted in California in the 1980s,
to Manhattan in 1994. “That type of food
didn’t exist anywhere—not in London, not inNew York,” said Mr. De Niro. “So I said [to chef
Nobu], ‘If you ever want to open in New York,
let me know.’ It was simple.” They are now
partners in 42 Nobu restaurants around the
globe. Mr. De Niro reckoned they had nothing
to lose by tacking hotels onto their dining
rooms. The first Nobu Hotel opened in Las Ve-
gas six years ago, and they’re on track to have
20 hotels, from Malibu to Warsaw, by 2020.
Mr. De Niro and Mr. Matsuhisa spoke to us—
when they weren’t cracking each other up—in
Midtown Manhattan about flying commer-
cially, rare downtime and the film that in-
spired a trip (no, not “Taxi Driver”).20 ODD QUESTIONS
Robert De Niro and
Nobu Matsuhisa
The actor and chef, cofounders of Nobu Hotels, on great food
cities, stolen bathrobes and the places they love returning toFood Lovers Guides: Paris, Rome
and Tokyo
By Elin Unnes, Peter Loewe, Jonas Cramby
(Hardie Grant Publishing)Elevator Pitch These aren’t guides appealing to
every taste—they’re written by Swedes who are
up-front about their idiosyncrasies: rarely ven-
turing out of the 11th arrondissement in Paris,
say, or plagued with social phobias. But they’re
all food fanatics, with a penchant for atmo-
spheric spots.
Very Brief Excerpt [In Tokyo] It is GOOD to be
a person who hates to make a fool of them-
selves. It’s a city where it’s the extroverted, loud,
aggressive people that are odd. Maybe that’s
why I love it so much. Or maybe it’s the
tonkatsu.
Surprising Factoid Oysters were once a poor
man’s food: In Charles Dickens’ “The Pickwick
Papers,” one character complains that “poverty
and oysters always seem to go together.” Not
so much anymore. But cheaper oysters can be
found in Paris’ street markets. And did you
know oysters are intersexual?Food of the Italian South
By Katie Parla (Clarkson Potter)Elevator Pitch While most Italian-American
food is derived from southern Italy, many of the
regions’ recipes never left their villages. Thiscookbook highlights some of the staples of the
area as well as endangered and extinct dishes,
while recommending remote restaurants keep-
ing alive culinary traditions.
Very Brief Excerpt Minestra maritata refers, in-
stead, to “wedded broths,” nuanced flavors be-
trothed to one another as they are blended and
simmered, achieving a liquidy, meaty, vegetal po-
lygamy.
Surprising Factoid Italy imports more horse
meat than any other country in the European
Union, and most of it goes to Salento in Puglia
and southeastern Basilicata.Black Sea
By Caroline Eden (Quadrille)Elevator Pitch Traversing the coast of the
Black Sea from Odessa, Ukraine, to Trabzon,
Turkey, this travelogue weaves recipes, histories
of migrations and vignettes of fishermen and
farmers of these mysterious coastal communi-
ties. The stories are as moody as the Black Sea,
the sunny recipes like light on the ocean.
Very Brief Excerpt In Odessa, a city built on
grain and trade, it became obvious that food
was the perfect lens for understanding the
city’s history, psyche and longings.
Surprising Factoid Bulgaria is considered salad
country. In the early 1990s, Bulgaria exported
more fruit and vegetables to Western Europe
than any other country. —Martha ChengWords to Pig Out By
For food-focused travelers, new cookbooks and culinary guides
reveal the quirks and character of a destination, dish by dishF. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
land—I was making a movie
in northern Italy—and I took
one of the robes. We got to
the Italian border, and they
called and said we had to
bring it back.
Usually, I look for things for
the kids. I bought a sculpture
of a hawk for them in a mar-
ket in the Middle East and had
it for years in my apartment in
New York. Then I was remod-
eling the place, so I brought in
the interior designer. He picked
up the sculpture, turned it up-
side down and it said, “Made
in China.”My favorite place to golf is:
NMBel-Air Country Club.
I like to teach my grandkids
how to play golf, [so] I’m tak-
ing my family to Los Cabos.My favorite hotels include:
RDThe Hotel du Cap [Hotel
du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes,
France]. It’s very elegant and
has a style. Another is a little
hotel in Paris called L’Hotel onrue des Beaux-Arts. Villa
d’Este on Lake Como I like a
lot. It’s got an old-world thing.
It’s not trendy, it’s chic, with an
elegance and formality to it.When ordering from room
service, I always get:
NMBreakfast. Greek yogurt,
with honey and fruits, a cou-
ple of eggs and toast, and
coffee. I don’t eat late night.An anxious travel moment
occurred in:
RDMoscow. We were in the
airport and I couldn’t find my
passport. And I was openingmy bags, and everyone was
freaking out. Then we finally
found it. I just couldn’t re-
member where I put it.A great food city is:
RDBarcelona. There are great
restaurants in Spain, [for ex-
ample] Cal Pep, in one of the
old parts of Barcelona.
NMIn Monaco, there’s a res-
taurant called Marco. The
chef knows me, so we don’t
order. It’s Italian cooking,
amazing seafood.A trip inspired by a film:
RDBali. My friend B.S. Ongowns Four Seasons Sayan. He
showed me the suite where
Julia Roberts stayed while
filming “Eat Pray Love.” I
thought it was kind of nice.A good travel companion is:
RDLike a road manager. When
I travel with Meir [Teper, one
of his partners], I say, How
do I look? And he helps me.
NMIt’s teamwork. It’s fun to
travel [together], eat good
food, and Bob, he has a good
sense of humor.—Edited from an interview by
Christian L. WrightSome essentials for airplane
travel are :
Nobu MatsuhisaBose noise-
canceling headphones. The
earbud type. And ”Magic Eye,”
an eye-exercise book. It’s very
colorful and like in 3-D. I do
five minutes exercise, then
eye drops, then close my eyes
for five minutes, and [my vi-
sion] becomes very clear. I do
that almost every day. And I
don’t have any eyeglasses yet.
Except the sunglass.The difference between flying
privately and commercially is:
Robert De NiroI carry more
things on a private plane.
Don’t have to think about it, I
just take every-
thing. But travel-
ing commercially, I
economize. And I
wear slip ons.A place I return
to is:
NMJapan. I was
born in Japan,grew up in Japan. Now I live in
the U.S. but still, Japan is my
country. I have a house in Ha-
kone, outside of Tokyo. It’s
very quiet. There’s a hot
spring. I like to go after travel-
ing, to switch off.
RDBarbuda in the Caribbean.
We’re building—at this point,
we’re calling it the Nobu
Beach Club. I’ll show you, I
happen to have a picture.
Four-hundred acres, very spe-
cial place. Been working on it
forfiveyearsormore.My most memorable
souvenirs are:
RDOther than the towels you
steal from the hotel? Heh heh
heh. Forty years
ago my wife and I
were staying in a
hotel in Switzer-Mr. De Niro
counts a purloined
hotel robe among
his most memora-
ble souvenirs.BOOKSHELF
NOBU HOSPITALITY (DE NIRO AND MATSUHISA); ALAMY (HAKONE); BOSE (EARBUDS); VILLA D’ESTE (HOTEL); ISTOCKPHOTO (ROBE)THE DYNAMIC DUO Clockwise from
top: Nobu Matsuhisa and Robert De Niro,
Lake Como’s Villa d’Este, Bose earbuds;
Hakone Detached Palace Garden in Japan.ADVENTURE & TRAVEL
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