LATEST RELEASE: De Niro with Anne Hathaway in The Intern, his most recent film, released in September.
For most fans, Robert De Niro can’t do anything wrong as an actor. It seems neither
can he as a restaurateur. He tells Anand Holla how he combined with Chef Nobu
to build an empire of 32 restaurants across five continents in two decades
At the super-swanky dining area the size of two tennis courts, suffused golden lights swept through a sea of excited chatter and upbeat music. Men in expensive suits and women in exquisite dresses were in attendance at a very special night. Most of them gathered around the mouth of the elevator, just in time.
As Robert De Niro stepped out with a posse of men on the first level of Nobu Doha — dressed rather casually in a navy jacket, black collared tee and grey trousers — he was comprehensively mobbed.
For one of the most unanimously admired actors in the world, being swarmed by fans would be a matter of inescapable monotony. However, the celebratory event — billed as A Night with Nobu and De Niro — that drew close to 450 guests, who paid QR1,500 each to eat and drink to their hearts’ fill and get a chance to meet the screen legend, seemed to have caught him by surprise even as he managed to put on his practiced nonchalance while the guests thronged him for selfies, autographs, a handshake or a fleeting half-hug.
At the far end of the floor, in the large open and closed kitchens, a battery of chefs raced through the restaurant’s signature fusion cuisine delights that meld traditional Japanese dishes with a Peruvian twist, with the clinical efficacy of a gourmet gastronomy machine — if there ever was to be one.
All seven dining and lounge areas of the 26,000 square-foot chic restaurant that open out to refreshing panoramic water or city views are abuzz, but the action tracks the star. Seated alongside his buddy and business partner-top Chef Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa and indulging the endless bevy of fans through the night, the two-time Academy Award winning actor knows just how to commemorate the debut of Nobu in Doha.
The crowd would have loved a cool speech but the man kept his note brief: “It’s great to be here tonight. This is a great restaurant. Thank you all. Have a good time.” On an outstretched arm of the Four Seasons Hotel Doha’s private marina by the Arabian Sea, the world’s largest Nobu glistened in a circular tri-level structure that resembles an ornate coiled shell, as the party swayed into the night.
As the co-founder of Nobu, De Niro’s teaming up with the master sushi chef Nobuyuki has led to the building of an empire of 32 restaurants across five continents in two decades — Nobu New York, the chain’s first restaurant, celebrated its 20th anniversary last September.
“I was in Los Angeles, 25 years ago. A British director took me to Matsuhisa restaurant in Beverly Hills (where Nobu was the chef). By that time, I had opened the Tribeca Grill restaurant and the Tribeca Film Centre in New York,” De Niro recalls, sitting on the upper level of the restaurant, in a conversation with Community.
“After having that one meal there, I knew that this food would be great in New York.”
De Niro throws a glance at chef Nobuyuki, who sits beside him smiling, and says, “I had told him that if he ever wants to open a restaurant in New York, he should just let me know.”
But Nobu didn’t feel ready as yet. The Godfather made him the offer again, an offer he couldn’t refuse, and yet he did. Nobu wanted to finetune his creations, bolster his reputation.
De Niro says, “So finally, around four years later, in 1994, (he came to New York) and we opened Nobu after a lot of back and forth.”
But how did he figure Nobu would work wonders?
“That’s because Japanese restaurants, in general, as good as they were, were more traditional. They didn’t have what chef Nobu can create,” De Niro explains, “So it was just a totally different thing. I knew it would be very successful in New York.”
While the triumph of brand Nobu is driven by Chef Nobuyuki’s exceptional culinary creations and top-notch service, De Niro has been a stellar force in pulling in actors, musicians, socialites and business magnates alike. Regarded as one of the finest actors of all time, the 72-year-old’s silver screen credibility, star power and aura has held him in good stead in whatever he has initiated — The Tribeca Film Festival, or restaurants Locanda Verde and Tribeca Grill.
In a career spanning four-and-a-half decades, the pick of De Niro’s filmography has been partial to characters who revel in much violence or are borderline psychotics. But to name De Niro’s top 10 films is an onerous task, and also one that would inadvertently pull in at least 15: Mean Streets, The Godfather: Part II, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables, Midnight Run, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Night and the City, Casino, Heat, Meet the Parents, and Silver Linings Playbook.
Known for his meticulously devised method acting — he set the shifty movement of his character Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver on that of a crab — De Niro seems to have channelled some of that method into his role as a restaurateur as well.
Is the satisfaction of being a savvy entrepreneur nearly similar to that of nailing a difficult character?
“Well, it’s all great,” says De Niro, “It (being a restaurateur) is just another thing that I have been doing. And yes, I am very happy that it’s successful. I am very fortunate.”
He certainly means that. Once, he had jested, “Nobody has moved me from my seat yet. But, just in case, I have bought my own restaurants.” De Niro has also maintained that despite his various pursuits, his main interest has always been films: “Making them, directing them, being involved. I have never lost the passion for that.”
While the star is “disappointed” over the end of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, he says he wants to weigh in all aspects before opening a film school or centre in Qatar or the region. “I have been so busy,” he says, “Stopping by and talking is one thing, but to open a whole new thing and making sure that it’s run right with teachers is another.”
“Someone asked me about what’s common between acting and cooking, and I think it’s realised the way you want it realised,” De Niro continues, “When Chef Nobu wants (a dish) to be done in a way, he has to tell so to his other chefs, because he knows from the taste how it’s got to be. If it’s off, then he adjusts it. It’s the same thing with opening a new place; you have to make sure that what you believe is what is being taught. At the same time, there are things that I am not a 100 per cent about. So I see someone being taught something and I think okay, that’s a valid way too.”
Looking back, De Niro likes to savour the success. “It’s very hard to get to the point where we are at with Nobu. Chef Nobu has done a great job and so have all the chefs, and the whole team. I think the bottom-line of our success is good food and good service.”
As for the changes he now sees in Doha, after returning to the city six years later, De Niro says, “There’s a lot more construction. A lot more things are being built; there’s a new airport, more landscapes. It’s beautiful.”
Even when he prefers to talk about something other than his films, De Niro, the actor, can’t really leave the room. It’s all there to be spotted; all his trademark expressions, shrugs, the frown-smile, and the slightly open mouth, raised eyebrows in the style of his most famous dialogue — You talkin’ to me?
As if on cue, that face flashes forth when a publicist steps forth and signals the end of the interview. Visibly tired, De Niro looks up and smiles. “I like her,” he says and chuckles.
