Oftentimes in life, there are pivotal moments that change everything. Your perspective changes, views get reshaped, and sometimes your entire trajectory is recalibrated. For chef Nobu Matsuhisa, that moment came when he was just 12 years old.
Simply titled Nobu, produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer, the famed chef and restaurateur shares how his entire life changed after his older brother took him to a sushi restaurant in his youth. The documentary humanizes the name that’s synonymous with upscale dining and luxury lodging. His humble beginnings include work at restaurants around the world (like Peru) and a restaurant fire in Alaska that drove him to consider suicide. He credits his wife, Yoko, with saving his life.
A combination of first-person commentary and archival content tells an amazing story of a humble chef who, to this day, cares more about his customers’ experience than profit or personal gain. The contributions for the film poured in from all sides. We hear from another big name in restaurants, chef and restaurateur Wolfgang Puck, food critic Ruth Reichl, restaurant critic Jay Weston, actor and business partner Robert De Niro, business partner Meir Teper, and a handful of Nobu Corporate Chefs. Not to mention personal accounts from his wife, brother, and daughters.
The famed chef exudes a level of kindness that’s commensurate with his craftsmanship. Even through personal hardships (the death of his father at a young age, his best friend’s suicide), he has long believed in embracing everyone he meets as family. In the film, he says, “In this life, I want to make everybody around me as happy as I possibly can.” We hear cliches every day, but when you see his interactions with people, you can see it’s a stance he takes to heart. This can be seen in his approach to putting his personal imprint on everything in-person, which is why, at 77 years old, he’s traveling 10 months out of the year.
He brought the sushi revolution to New York.”
Food critic Ruth Reichl
Even with 55 restaurants around the world, he travels to each one to train his chefs. To say he’s meticulous would be the understatement of the century. There’s a sequence where he’s analyzing a chef’s meals, and the poor guy couldn’t get anything right. The food was separated by too much space, the ingredients were too dense or too fine, and the taste tests were gutwrenching. This isn’t to say Nobu is cruel by any means, because he’s very much the opposite, treating everyone he meets like family. His true love for serving the perfect dish is extraordinary.
The Nobu documentary tells the story of the meteoric rise of the chef-turned-luxury businessman, boasting both high-end restaurants and luxury hotels. The stories shared by both family and friends show the entrepreneur’s kindness, ingenuity, and dedication to the craft. His personal stories span from the humble brag of the century (involving Peru and saltwater eel) and how he named a dish after his friend, former model and actress Cindy Crawford. My only note of criticism for the film is the subtitles. There were countless times when people would be speaking in Japanese without an English translation onscreen. After about the fifth time, it went from annoying to frustrating. Thankfully, it’s not frustrating enough to affect the quality of the film.
Nobu gets a 9 out of 10. For foodies, it’s a must-see doc. For lovers of documentaries, it’s a peek behind the curtain of one of the most interesting men on the planet. Allowing himself to be vulnerable and to see how much he loves his people only adds to his intrigue. With a name imprint that’s so well known, it’s about time the man behind the name gets the same familiarity.
Nobu will be available on digital platforms on May 18.
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment
Genre: Documentary
Rating: N/A
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Trailer: Watch
U.S. Release Date on Digital: May 18, 2026