Thoughts on Nobu (Documentary)
By Sergio C. Munoz at Intelatin, LLC
According to a Pew Research Center data analysis, 12% of all restaurants in the United States serve Asian food. Today, sushi is widely available from coast to coast but restaurants that serve Japanese food account for 28% of Asian restaurants in the U.S. According to Caroline Price at Toast, here are some relevant restaurant datapoints:
There are more than 700,000 restaurants in the United States
150,100 single-location, full-service restaurants (independent)
16,900 sushi restaurants in the US
41% of restaurant firms are minority-owned; 19% of restaurant firms are Asian-owned, 14% are Hispanic-owned
Business formations in the restaurant industry in May 2025: 24,682
According to Lauren Fernandez, CEO at Full Course, “As an investor in restaurants, what I see happening in 2025 is the emergence of a new wave of culinary entrepreneurship shaped by tech, capital, and community, where cultural resonance and scalability finally coexist. In comparing what Nobu must have had in front of him to open a single independent location in Los Angeles in 1987 to what a talented chef has in front of them in 2025, I believe the modern chef is walking into an ecosystem rich with incubators, AI, digital loyalty, and delivery platforms, but also navigating higher barriers to differentiation and financial sustainability.”
On July 2, Vertical will release a documentary called, Nobu.
Nobu examines culinary legend Nobuyuki Matsuhisa's empire, offering an intimate portrait of a man who has redefined global gastronomy. The film grants unprecedented access into Nobu's world, revealing the alchemy and precision behind his signature dishes, and the inspirations behind his innovations that revolutionized tradition-bound Japanese cuisine.
I have eaten at Nobu in Malibu once and my overall recollection of that meal was that it felt like a very expensive tourist trap for barneys posing for Instagram. And, despite eating sushi regularly at low-end Japanese-owned spots with my family near our home in California, the range of sushi that I order remains limited. Typically, I order ebi, sake and unagi nigiri. My favorite dish currently is the shrimp boat with the quail egg. I also have fond memories of getting katsudon when I was in college at a small spot on State Street in Santa Barbara. The best meal of my adult life was at a Japanese restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico, called Izanami, at Ten Thousand Waves, but what I remember most from that evening was the gindara saikyozuke (black cod), not the sushi. However, upon seeing this documentary, it is possible that the black cod at Izanami was inspired by Nobu.
As a Mexican raised in California, my culinary journey intersected with Japanese food at a young age starting with early experiences at teppan-style places like Shogun and Benihana. Then, the nouveau California cuisine movement which typically featured a small sampling of sashimi, sushi and rolls. Then, deeper immersion with a hapa friend's family up until the ten omakase experiences I've had in adult life thanks to my hapa boss.
As a published author of two cookbooks, primarily featuring Mexican and Latin American chefs, I am interviewing chefs and friends that I know to get their insights on sushi ahead of this release. [15:44]
+ Rick Najera (Author, Filmmaker, Entrepreneur; Latino Thought Makers; Najera in America)
+ Drew Deckman (Chef at Deckman’s en el Mogor, Valle de Guadalupe; Conchas de Piedra; Enso Omakase; 31ThirtyOne by Deckmans San Diego)
+ Jimmy Shaw (Chef at Lotería Grill)
+ Aricia Alvarado (Chef/Mixologist at Alchemy Kitchen; Genovese's Italian Kitchen)
+ Flor Franco (Chef at Casa de Flor San Diego; Chef Flor Franco Sustainable Dining and Events; Rancho de Ostiones de Baja; Land and Sea)
+ Loreta Ruiz (Chef at La Vegana Mexicana; Executive at Latino Health Access)
Upon watching the Nobu documentary myself, I have a long running criticism about the structure of documentaries. This is especially true when the subject of the doc is a legend in their industry. The structure goes like this:
Humble Origin > Adversity > Pop in the Mainstream > The High Life with Ultra Validation
Nobu follows this structure. It tells the story of a young boy in Saitama, Japan, that suffers a tragedy, is offered an opportunity to train with a mentor, gets offered an opportunity to travel to Lima, fails in Lima, fails again in Alaska, lands on his feet in Los Angeles and begins his flight into the pantheon of celebrity chefs. His culinary thesis is realized after his first economic failure in Lima when he is presented with the opportunity to open a restaurant in Anchorage. He asks himself two critical questions:
What kind of restaurant do you want to create?
What kind of chef do you want to become?
Nobu answers this question upon opening a 38-seat restaurant called Matsuhisa in 1987 on La Cienega in Los Angeles. A few years into the success of Matsuhisa, he feeds Robert DeNiro a piece of miso-glazed black cod that opens up a world of opportunity for the young chef. This dish popped in the mainstream and created a hospitality luxury brand that has endured until present-day with a global footprint that is presently branching out into what they call “Adventure Tourism: The Nobu Sphere.” Nobu himself, now elderly, travels throughout his empire for eleven months of the year. It is, admittedly, an incredible story of superación that should impress everybody. Still, this is not what moved me most about the film.
Halfway through the film, the audience gets the sense that Nobu travels extensively ultra-first-class with an entourage that includes a select group of underchefs plus Robert DeNiro, Meir Tepir, Trevor Horwell and David Rockwell. I know successful men who live like this. As I watch them from a distance, I admire them but I would dread to want to live like them. This lifestyle is exemplified in the last scene of the film. Nobu is in a chauffeured limousine style SUV with his entourage and they are on their way to a private jet/helicopter to meet with a certain royal from a certain place I’ve never heard of. What are they going to talk about? The multi-billions that they are going to raise and spend to feed people kilos of Caviar Tacos!
This last scene is contrasted in the middle of the film when Nobu travels to one of his many homes for New Years. He makes it a point to spend some time in the solitude of Hakone, Japan. In this scene and the scenes around it dealing with a very specific and poignant trauma, he becomes normal again. He shows his humanity. He shows his spirituality. He shows his original state of being. In this scene, his presence gave me the sense that all the effort to be this level of successful might just be worth it. The price being that he has to spend eleven months of the year measuring the weight of the ingredients in his dishes at all of his locations. He has to deal with extreme levels of celebrity sycophancy at the highest levels of celebrity. In the film, the highest caliber of celebrity is played by Cindy Crawford. He has to sweat his under-chefs all over the world so that they live up to his high-quality standards without fail. All of this, to be able to spend one month in his ofuru alone overlooking the beautiful nature of Hakone. This documentary made me think about mitasareru, the act of being fulfilled; Is it worth it?
#Nobu #Doc #Film #Vertical
PRODUCER & DIRECTOR: Matt Tyrnauer
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Toby Thiermann
MUSIC BY: Fragmented Music
SCORE PRODUCED BY: Lorne Balfe
BASED ON THE BOOK: Nobu: A Memoir by Nobu Matsuhisa
PRODUCERS: Gianni Nunnari, Corey Reeser, p.g.a., Jeffrey Soros, Simon Horsman, Len Blavatnik, Charlie Cohen, Graham High, p.g.a.
EDITOR & PRODUCER: Andrea Lewis
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Stuart Ford, Ally Gipps, Luke Rodgers, Andrew Blau
Special thanks to Nancy Willen & Zachary Thomson
Sergio's work has been featured in the US Hispanic Business Council; Caló, the Los Angeles Times, the OC Register, PBS, NPR, WNYC, Revista - Harvard Review of Latin America, Studio 360, Latino Leaders Magazine, Poder Hispanic, Animal Político & ¿México Cómo Vamos?
Sergio has interviewed: Cesar Ramirez at Brooklyn Faire; Ricardo Diaz at Bizarra Capital; Blair Salisbury at El Cholo Café; Armando de la Torre at Guisdaos; Pati Zarate at Homegirl Cafe; Jaime Martin del Campo & Ramiro Arvizu at La Casita Mexicana; Jimmy Shaw at Loteria Grill; Robert Luna at Mas Malo; John Sedlar at Rivera; Betty Porto at Porto's Bakery; Hugo Molina & Aricia Alvarado at Alchemy Kitchen; Teresa Campos Hernandez at Teresita's; Jesse Gomez at Mercado; Juan Muñoz Oca at Columbia Crest; Gary Horner at Erath Winery; Ferran Adria at Harvard College; Leo Razo at Villa Roma; Beto Ygei at 930 Sushi; Eric Samaniego at Little Sparrow Cafe; Gabbi Patrick at Gabbis Mexican Kitchen; Carlos Calderon at Felix's Continental Cafe; Carlos Salgado at Taco Maria; Izumi Hamagaki at Radical Botanicals; Daniel Godinez at Anepalco's; Agustin Romo at Eqekos; Ada Canales at Regina Restaurant; Ricardo Beas at Ricardo's Place; Martin San Roman at La Terrasse San Roman; Drew Deckman at Deckmans en el Mogor; Nancy Leon Alvarez at Chan's Bistro; Mario Medina at Berninis Bistro; Priscilla Curiel at Talavera Azul; Esdras Ochoa at Mexicali Taco Inc; Adria Montaño; Ana Juncal; Bianca Castro; Claudette Zepeda; Daniela Santana; Daniella de la Puente; Denise Roa; Denisse Zamudio; Dulce Romo; Esthela Martinez; Flor Franco; Giannina Gavaldón; Ismene Venegas; Krista Velasco; Maribel Villareal; Mariela Manzano; Monserrat Andrade; Sabina Bandera; Sandra Vázquez; Sheyla Alvarado; Solange Muris; Tania Ceballos; Tania Livier Garcia; Abigail Wald and Betty Liu.
