Matsuhisa Marks a Decade of Fine Japanese Dining in Cherry Creek

The most famous Japanese chef in the world has his name on restaurants across the globe: Nobu Matsuhisa. There are 56 Nobu restaurants, some as part of Nobu luxury hotels, and 14 Matsuhisa locations, including three in Colorado. The first restaurant bearing his name started serving sushi in 1987, at a time when sushi was still not a common or mainstream dish. That restaurant in Beverly Hills became a hotspot for Hollywood celebrities, including Robert Deniro, who became Matsuhisa’s partner and helped open the first Nobu-branded restaurant in New York City in 1994.

The Matsuhisa in Aspen was the second with the chef’s family name; it opened in 1998. His company expanded into Vail in 2011 and then to Denver, with a high-profile Cherry Creek spot in 2016.

This week, the Cherry Creek Matsuhisa celebrated its tenth birthday with a private party attended by chef Nobu himself and about 250 guests — including Mayor Mike Johnston — enjoying an evening of drink and food ranging from sushi to some of the chef’s famous fusion dishes as well as Japanese specialties not often served at typical eateries.

Those famous foods include miso black cod, a dish invented by Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills, using a traditional Japanese technique to marinate fish but using sweetened miso instead of sake mash on cod — an underrated, cheap fish that hadn’t been considered for “fine dining” at the time. The cod became one of Nobu’s best-sellers in New York.

At the anniversary party, staff cooked up sample servings of wagyu sukiyaki and handed out portions of Matsusaka wagyu steak sandwiches on shokupan milk bread. Partiers also had their fill of traditional Japanese sushi and examples of chef Nobu’s penchant for fusion mashups – something he began when he first cooked in Peru, where he found he didn’t have access to some of the ingredients he’d used in Japan. A platter of oysters was topped with options such as Maui onion salsa, Japanese salsa and tiradito, a Peruvian citrus-chile sauce. The staff made hundreds of bite-sized caviar tacos in shells made from formed nori seaweed.

That open-minded approach to global foods is what keeps chef Nobu excited about his craft at age 77. “While working at a sushi restaurant in Tokyo, an opportunity came up to go to Peru, which became my first experience encountering cuisine outside of Japan,” he says. “The impact of Peruvian cuisine on me was profound, and it inspired me to develop my own style of cooking that incorporates Peruvian influences. Since then, my restaurants have expanded to various locations, and even now, discovering new ingredients and dishes in different countries continues to fuel the passion at the heart of my cooking.”

Looking back at his childhood in Saitama, a rural area that’s now a part of metropolitan Tokyo, he doesn’t remember dreaming of becoming a chef, but “I can still recall the smell of the miso soup my mother made every morning, and the sound of her cutting ingredients with a knife,” he recalls. “Saitama also had many rice cracker shops, and the smell of senbei rice crackers being grilled is another nostalgic memory. Looking back now, I find it curious that perhaps my desire to become a chef was already within me even back then.”

Matsuhisa’s father, who was an architect and traveled outside Japan, died in a motorcycle accident when Nobu was a young boy. “Although my father often traveled abroad and I had always wanted to go as well, it wasn’t until I decided to pursue becoming a sushi chef that I actually went overseas,” he notes.

Once he realized he wanted to serve sushi, Matsuhisa says there was no hesitation, and he started at the bottom rung, as a dishwasher in a Tokyo shop. “Of course,” he says matter-of-factly. “After deciding to become a sushi chef, I began my training.”

He immersed himself in traditional sushi, but when he went to Peru, he admits he wasn’t prepared for making sushi in a different culture. “I didn’t make any preparations right away because I didn’t know what to expect,” he admits. “After arriving, I realized that it was difficult to obtain many Japanese ingredients, so I began creating my own unique style by finding ways to use local ingredients. As a result, the local people were able to enjoy my cooking. The foundation of my cuisine is always to create dishes with the goal of making people enjoy their meals.”

Since opening the first Matsuhisa in 1987, he’s continued to offer food that diners everywhere could enjoy. “From the very start, I never imagined that my cuisine would spread across the globe; I had no such plan. However, I feel that my personal motto — to create dishes that bring smiles to the faces of many customers — naturally led to my cuisine expanding out into the world.”

Through his brand recognition (having pals like Robert DeNiro doesn’t hurt either), chef Nobu has appeared in some notable movies (nope, not as a chef), including Casino, Austin Powers in Goldmember and Memoirs of a Geisha.

“Currently, my primary focus is visiting my restaurants around the world as often as possible, dedicating myself entirely to creating even higher-quality, delicious dishes for the sake of the food itself and the guests who enjoy it. I am a chef, not an actor,” he concludes. “That said, if I ever find myself with some free time, I would love to explore acting again.”

Matsuhisa Denver is located at 98 Steele Street, and is open from 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit matsuhisarestaurants.com/denver-menu.