Japanese Chef Nobu Refused Robet De Niro’s Offer

While Robert De Niro may have a lot of fans, Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa wasn’t one of them when he was asked to open a restaurant with the Taxi Driver actor.

Matsuhisa initially said no to the offer. He explained the situation to CNBC’s Tania Bryer for an episode of “Trailblazers.”

While the chef was flattered by De Niro’s offer, it was too early for him to start anything with the actor.
It was when De Niro dined in his Los Angeles restaurant that opened in 1987 that he made the offer.

“He said ‘Nobu, I’d like to open a restaurant in New York together with you’ and he invited me to New York, and I stayed four days,” Matsuhisa said.

“Also, Bob didn’t explain too much. So, you know he invited me to open a restaurant, (and) I so appreciated that he likes my food (and I said): ‘Bob, thank you so much but it’s still too early to open it because my first restaurant was not organized yet.’ So, he said ‘OK’.”

“After, like, four years, he called me. ‘Nobu, maybe time to come again to New York?’ I was so surprised but now I can trust him because he was waiting for me for four years. I so much appreciated (it) and he trusts me, he was a big support to me, he wants to open a restaurant in New York, and with me, we did it.”

“Celebrities are also people, of course they are famous … My restaurant at the beginning had only 38 seats, (so) we cannot save a table for a special guest, you know, first come, first served. I don’t mind (if it’s) celebrities or young kids or regular people, (people were treated on) all the same levels,” he said to CNBC.