Quotes from Nobu Matsuhisa

I feel like I owe something to America, as it is where I found success.

Of course the Japanese and Peruvian fish are different, but it's the same Pacific Ocean. They are different, but I know fish.

Napa cabbage is very beautiful, all those long, pale leaves with ruffled edges.

It's not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night and not know where I am. I take sleep medication to deal with all the flights. But I find it helps to eat at the same time every day.

What I relish most is when a member of my staff, who has worked with passion and patience towards achieving their dream of owning a restaurant, walks up to me and says, 'Nobu! I have done it!'

If I am at home in L.A. on a Saturday or Sunday, I like to start the day with a hot bath and then do an hour of stretching.

Have you ever been to Mexico City and haggled with the locals over souvenirs? Well, in Peru, you had to negotiate like that to get the freshest fish at the market.

Peru was the Incas; it has 3,000 to 4,000 years of history.

One of my great loves is golf. When I am in L.A., I like to play with a few close friends: no phones, no distractions, the great outdoors and the chance to bet some money to keep it interesting.

I like to keep healthy physically and mentally, too.

I can live without a computer. My assistant checks my e-mails.

When I'm in L.A., I go to Spago because the chef is a friend of mine.

People who make mistakes but try their best, other people will support. But people who make mistakes because they're lazy, nobody supports.

I remember watching steak being cooked on TV and wanting to try it. As a special treat, my mother cooked it for me, and I thought this would be the time I would eat with a knife and fork. Alas, I ate it with chopsticks!

Eating a lot on the plane is not good for jet lag.

My cooking is simply ingredients plus umami.

I am very lucky to consider many of my business associates friends. Some are closer than others, but I respect and value all of them.

A sushi chef has to spot the best-quality fresh fish instantly.

The fine art of preparing sushi is something that you watch and learn.

I love big shrimp, like Japanese botan shrimp and the meaty ones from Santa Barbara, Calif. In classic Japanese cooking, shrimp like these would be dropped into a broth or boiled as served with sushi. But I think boiling dilutes their great flavor, and they are better when stir-fried.

You know how kids dream of being soccer players or actors? Well, my dream was to be a sushi chef.

Sushi is something very exclusive. It is not like a McDonald's, not like a hot dog, not like a French fry. It's very high-class cooking in Japan.

Every year, I do a New Year's day party at my home. I invite my staff and my friends and their kids. Around 40-50 people come by, and I do a barbecue and salads, steak and sushi, and also lots of cheese.

When I was 11 or 12 - a young boy in Japan - one of my older brothers took me to a sushi restaurant. I had never been to one, and it was very memorable. Back then, sushi was expensive and hard to come by, not like today, when there's a sushi restaurant on every street corner and you can buy it in supermarkets.