Nobu. Where To Next?

Whilst I accept that the United States is not perfect, I have always been fascinated by the ideology behind 'The American Dream'. The possibility of someone rising to the top 'against all odds' and being able to achieve success, when starting from the bottom and having seemingly insurmountable obstacles, reads something from Hollywood. This does not only happen in fairytales. This happened to Nobu Matsuhisa, who literally ended up in Hollywood. Nobu Matsuhisa has created a restaurant empire. Having started out as a dishwasher in Tokyo, he now has established restaurants in the world's most glamorous cities. New York, London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Milan, Athen, Mykonos, Cape Town, just to name a few. Nobu attracted such interest with his restaurants, that after repeated attempts, Robert De Niro persuaded him to become his business partner. Nobu has become a 'fashion-symbol' and attracts clientele that range from Sports-icons to Movie-stars. Regardless of it's location, it has become the 'in' place to be in every city that boasts it's presence. I find it incredibly inspiring to read about 'rags to riches' stories. They give people from various different backgrounds and foundations, the belief that 'the sky is the limit'. I also feel that when I hear about these stories, it teaches me to be respectful of everyone I meet. Often in society, people working lower status jobs are looked down upon. There are unlikely to be many people that had faith in Nobu Matsuhisa when he was a dishcleaner in Tokyo. There are also unlikely to be many people that envisioned the future that he was destined to achieve. An entrepreneurial genius. In every sense of the word.

How Chef Nobu Built His Sushi Empire

Although I had known several aspects about Nobu's story and entrepreneurial career path, I learned various details from an article by 'CNNMoney'. The article begun with a few short paragraphs giving a brief introduction and this was followed up with an interview with Nobu Matsuhisa. There is no better way to gain an insight into someone's story, then through a printed interview. I was impressed by the questions that the author chose to ask Nobu. She started out by inquiring into his 'early days' and how he 'started out'. This gave the reader a good foundation of knowledge. The style of questions were 'thought-provoking' and gave the interviewer a chance to elaborate on his responses and provide a great amount of detail. An example of this is, 'When did you first know that you wanted to be a sushi chef?'. This differs greatly from a 'yes' or 'no' type question and due to its 'personal nature' is likely to persuade the interviewee to be thorough in his answer. I also felt it was extremely effective how the questions were revised, based on what the interviewee said. This flexible structure, provides for a much more interesting interview. After reading this interview, I must admit that I have a much higher degree of admiration for his accomplishments. I have always felt that it is never enough to simply have 'the talent' in the Business world. You need to possess an overpowering passion and tenacity to succeed.

Nobu Finds A Recipe To Keep The Hunger of Recession At Bay

Another article that I found quite interesting, was an article by 'The Telegraph'. It puts the success of the Nobu franchise into a current context, by looking at how the empire is being affected by the current economic turmoil. I enjoyed reading the article as it maintained a realistic yet optimistic tone. The author mentions how 'the company has yet to lay off any staff during the economic downturn' but maintains a sense of balance as he also confirms that 'it has not all been smooth sailing, as the company closed down in Canary Wharf.'


The article decides to approach the topic from a different angle and perspective to the previous author. In this article, it is not Nobu Matsuhisa that is interviewed, but instead one of Nobu's Managing Partners, Richard Notar. Whilst obviously not as integral as the primary owner, it was interesting to see the opinions of another important stakeholder in the company. I find that the article written by 'The Telegraph' showed more 'narrative flair'. In some ways this is difficult to compare with the article by 'CNNMoney' as that was predominantly an interview, but I was very impressed with the writting style of 'The Telegraph'. The author inter-weaves together facts as well as his own perspective. I have contemplated which of the two articles did I prefer reading. I think that they each have their attributes and it would be unfair to compare 'apples and oranges'. The 'CNNMoney' article was possibly more informative and interesting from the point-of-view that it was conducted with the 'man behind the vision'. However 'The Telegraph' article was very cleverly written and the style of writing of the author was unique and witty. In this sense, they have a 'collective synergy' and would recommend any interested readers to refer to them both.

The author reflects on how the next stage for Nobu's growth is to find prospective partners. The article refers to the final aspects of this strategy as it is reports that, 'Goldman Sachs was hired to find a buyer for 51% of the business - a deal that would have been worth £270 million'. I was shocked when I read these figures. It is absolutely remarkable how someone can go from the status of 'dishwasher in Tokyo' to 'owning a restaurant empire of nearly double £270 million'. The expose always mentions how the company has been considering on 'launching a range of hotels based on the Nobu concept of high quality individual service.' In my opinion, this move could really work. It is reported that plans to open up a hotel in Israel, were put on hold due to the economic recession, but given the right economic time-frame it could really work. Now that Nobu has established a successful brand-name and has become a 'household product' in the eyes of the celebrities, it really has 'the world at it's feet'. If this venture into the hotel industry proves successful, then there are a host of possibilities and methods of attracting this lucrative clientele base.

I chose to review these two articles for one primary reason. In my previous entries, I have tended to focus on two or more sources with very contrasting angles. This was beneficial from the point of view that the reader was able to get an holistic view on the issue and topic. However, in this instance I decided that I wanted to show how two differing articles could 'work together'. I found that it was almost as if each article was 'one half' of the puzzle and needed the other to be complete.

Websites Read:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/25/smallbusiness/nobu_fish_story.fsb/index.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/5172886/Restaurant-chain-Nobu-finds-a-recipe-to-keep-the-hunger-of-recession-at-bay.html