Chef Nobu visits namesake hotel and restaurant in Buckhead

ATLANTA - For the first time since Nobu Hotel and Restaurant opened its doors in Buckhead last November, the man whose name is on the building stopped by for a visit.

Chef Nobu Matsuhisa visited Atlanta last week to host a special tasting event at the hotel’s rooftop pool. But a few hours before the event, the world-famous chef sat down exclusively with Good Day Atlanta in the hotel’s luxury villa.

Our first question: what’s the secret to his phenomenal success?

"I am a chef," he says. "I am always looking for the best product, then cooking very simple."

Matsuhisa opened the first Nobu restaurant in New York in 1994, and the first hotel followed in Las Vegas in 2013. Chef Nobu, as he’s known around the world, says the choice to add Atlanta to the growing list of cities with Nobu hotels and restaurants was an easy one; after all, one of his business partners is Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro.

"This city’s got a film industry," he says. "So, our customers are a lot of entertainment people."

Nobu is part of the rebirth of Buckhead’s Phipps Plaza; the hotel stands nine stories tall with more than 150 rooms and suites, and the restaurant downstairs seats more than 270 guests. As for that famous Nobu menu, even its creator can’t choose just one favorite.

"I love the sushi, of course. I love sashimi, of course. I love Japanese beef, also, and sometimes vegetables."

With 54 current restaurants and 17 hotels, it’s safe to say Chef Nobu will log a lot of miles this year. But there is something special here in Georgia — aside from his restaurant and hotel — that might lure him back to the Peach State sooner rather than later.

"I love to play golf. I’ve never played Augusta," he laughs. "One day, my dream, I’d like to play Augusta."