Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/101712
ON THE TOWN 58 "It's a special experience, so it's a good date place." —ROBERT DE NIRO What are your favorite restaurants here in Vegas? MATSUHISA I went to the Italian restaurant that's MARTINI also in East Harlem in New York, Rao's. Nobu's signature cocktail. It was good. And Aureole, the restaurant with all that wine? I went there 1 1⁄2 oz. vodka once. That was one of the first that I 2 1⁄2 oz. Hokusetsu remember from years ago. I used to eat Junmai sake at Spago; it was the only one over there! 1 pinch of ginger Where do you prefer to sit when you dine out? Shake all ingredients with It depends: Sometimes I like to see everyice and strain into a thing, and sometimes I like privacy. martini glass. Garnish What makes Nobu romantic? with cucumber slices. It's a special experience, so it's a good date place. The food is good, and the feeling is good. I can't even get in on Valentine's Day… just kidding. Nobu, Caesars Palace, 702-731-7110; caesarspalace.com V PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT JELONEK/GETTY IMAGES (MATSUHISA), STEVEN FREEMAN (SHRIMP) continued from page 56 I was the one who wanted to start the hotel part of it. If everyone's always asking the restaurant to be in their hotels to give it a certain cache or credibility, then why aren't we trying to do a hotel ourselves? It has a little bit of naïveté, but so what? That's how people start things. You believe in it, take chances, and do it. What's the worst Nobu's spicy rock shrimp that can happen? We put it out there to investors and intertempura. ested people around the world. And then you landed in Vegas. I think it's perfect for here. Perfect. How did you meet chef Nobu? At his first restaurant, Matsuhisa. I said that if you ever want to open a Japanese restaurant in New York, let me know. And he did. He texted me a couple months later, and a couple years later we opened one up. I knew it would do well. It was unique and so special. Two years later, you gave Nobu a cameo in Casino, the Vegas classic. Yeah. He played a whale, a high-roller from Japan. Now high-rollers can order 24-hour Nobu room service. There has to be room service if we're having the Nobu hotel and the restaurant—that's the whole point. What is your favorite dish? The cod and the artichoke salad. There are so many great dishes, and many that I haven't had. I keep going back to the same thing. You're a creature of habit. I should probably go every day for five days, or however long it takes, until I've eaten everything on the menu. Tell me about your involvement with what is now a 26-restaurant empire. I don't cook the meals, and at the end of the day, it's all about the food. I could help bring attention to the restaurant and all of that stuff, but if the food doesn't work, nobody cares. It seems like you've taken a lot of chances in your foray into the food business. People more or less invite us in: "Do you want to open a restaurant here in our city?" So it's not like you're going in as a stranger. Our [local] partners know the place and know what people would like, and feel strongly that it's going to work. They are from there, so that's the anchor right there. So it doesn't feel like a gamble. No, it's not like we just come in and open up and hope people come or something. The whole thing is connected with somebody there, so they know what people are going to like. How would you describe Nobu's food to someone who has never eaten there? I would just tell someone, "Go there—you're going to like it," like a salesman. What made you realize that your restaurant idea might be more successful than you bargained for? When they were starting to open in different cities. The first one was in London, and then we did Nobu Next Door next to Nobu downtown. When we did Nobu 57, that was really a breakthrough. I never expected it to go where it was going, and everything started happening. VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 056-058_V_SC_FoodnBooze_OnTheTown_Win13.indd 58 1/2/13 1:40 PM