Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S14 Ep 5: Robert De Niro, Nobu Matsuhisa and Meir Teper

Episode Date: October 26, 2022

Yes, we are talkin’ to you!!! It’s only Robert De Niro, Mr Nobu and Meir Teper on the podcast this week. We were invited over to the new fabulous Nobu Portman Square Hotel for some sushi where we sipped Sake & challenged the three of them on their best Table Manners. We heard all about De Niros’ famous martinis, Nobu’s experience of cooking for Princess Diana and how he became a chef. A surreal experience, especially when you had just got back from Glastonbury.… if you love Japanese food you will love this episode, chopsticks at the ready! Thank you to Nobu for a delicious chat x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners. Well, this is a first, Mum. Are you sure we're not in Japan? No, we're not, but I do feel like we're dreaming. This is a biggie. This is bigger than big. We have the three shareholders, the founding members, the stars of Nobu. This includes Chef Nobu himself, Robert De Niro, that one, and Mayor Tepper. So we have the three of them to celebrate the opening, the official opening of the Nobu Hotel in London Port in Square. And they've decided to share some sushi with us and chew the fat

over the dining table. I don't know whether they really know what they've let themselves in for. Darling do you think Mr Nobu had black miso cod at his table when he was growing up? I don't know these are all the things that we're about to ask mum you know does Robert De Niro have pasta on his days off when he's not promoting a new... I mean, how many Nobu hotels are there? There's like 13. This is the 13th one. It's gorgeous.

And I think they have 57 restaurants all over the world. It's an empire. It's a huge empire. You know how much I love Nobu. It's your favourite. My favourite, My last birthday. Yeah, it was your last. Before lockdown. Yeah, no, you just...

Was it... No, it was during lockdown. It was just when we had an opening. We went to Nobu in Park Lane. What's your favourite dish at Nobu? I really love the salad with the truffle and the ponzu, I think it is. I love the popcorn prawns. Yeah.

And I love those little cubes of rice with tuna on top oh the fried rice delicious I think we're going to have it all I hope so we're about to have a dinner with Nobu Matsuhisa

Robert De Niro and Mare Tepper on Table Manners yeah it's quite an unusual Tuesday morning to be honest yeah how do you say welcome in Japanese? Thank you for being on Table Manners. Can I start with well congratulating you on this hotel and being here and I hear you're doing a sake ceremony that you do for all the openings.

Can you tell us a bit about that? Sake ceremony is like a tradition. It's an opening ceremony. So each restaurant, each hotel like Bob, Meyers, me and all the partners come to

the ceremony. Sake is big barrels to put sake inside's a big barrels. Yeah, they put sake inside and top the cover then Each partner has like a hammer for the hammer. Yeah and hit to the top. Okay. I'm presuming it's cold sake Cold yeah, right. Yeah, right hit up and open the top. Yeah, then after And the share to the sake inside the barrels, then drink everyone toast,

means good luck, and thank you for coming, and congratulations opening. So this is Japanese traditions. Also, all of the Nobu restaurants so far, and almost 50 restaurants, every restaurant with a second ceremony. And would you do this kind of ceremony when there's a birth or a wedding?

Is that kind of something that happens? Kind of. Yeah? Kind of. This is a very Japanese tradition, ceremony. So growing up, we're going to ask you about a really memorable dish from your childhood. Mayor, would you go first? Something that was really memorable, that was on the dinner table.

Where were you born, Mayor? I was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. Good food. And I'm just thinking which memorable dish that my mother used to make. Chulant.

Chulant? Chulant. Yeah. It's a Cholent Cholent Cholent Yeah It's a It's a You make it on It's a Kind of a Jewish

Yeah With Jewish Dish Yeah So That came from The fact that you cannot cook on Saturday So they put

The dish was That they put meat and potatoes and vegetables and eggs in one pot, put it in the oven, and it was baking for 24 hours. you took it out and that's what you ate as your lunch meal because it was not cooked at the time it was just in the oven for 24 hours. And it was delicious? Yeah, it was very good. Yeah, it depends how you do it. My mother was a good cook. Where was she from originally?

Poland. Poland. Yeah. So that was a dish and who was eating around the dinner table? Who was there? It was my family. I had my father, my mother, and I had two sisters. And are you a good cook?

I cook a few dishes. I like to do pastas. I like pastas. And I think I do it pastas. Yeah. I like pastas, and I think I do it pretty good. Yeah. I also know how to, because my mother was a good baker, and I can do a few strudels. Oh, nice.

To make, yeah. Robert, where did you grow up? I grew up in Manhattan, but I didn't have... My breakfasts were very simple. Nothing to reminisce about that would be, oh, gee, this time. So... So were your family cooking a lot? Not a lot.

My childhood was different in that way. So I didn't have what you, the perception is that I had a big Italian family and that we all cooked and it just wasn't, that wasn't my childhood. So, but. Who did cook then?

My mother. Yeah. But it wasn't a big deal. No, nothing. Do you like Italian food? I love Italian food, yeah. What's your best dish? Oh, God.

Rigatoni, albognese, whatever. There's a million dishes, you know. And Nobu, you grew up in Japan, and I know you have a brother. Do you have a brother? No. Okay. My father passed away when I was a kid. Right.

No, okay. My father passed away when I was a kid. Then I grew up with my grandma, and of course his mother cooked every morning. My room was just next to the kitchens, because in Japan I was born in Saitama, a little bit north of Tokyo. So in the morning, you know, mother and the grandmas go into the kitchen, like a chopping wall. You can hear that. And also, like, I start taking the stock, start the smells. And so wake up every morning, it's like sounds and the smell.

So this is my, in the morning, every morning. So that's a nostalgic thing for you the smell of stock yeah curry more the stock this is like my wake-up call that's your alarm clock i love that and uh they make the you know japanese uh traditional food like a steamed rice miso soup and some in the morning, like a grilled fish, you know. You eat grilled fish in the morning? In Japanese traditional foods, it's like a salmon. You know, just cook the salt and bake and steam rice and miso soup, some pickles.

And that's your breakfast? Breakfast, yeah. I love that. It's gorgeous. So when did you start helping in the kitchen? Well, I started in my 18s, but my dream was I was a kid. I liked to be the sushi chef. Right. So were you eating a lot of sushi at home? My generation, I was a kid. Sushi is a very high-end food.

Yeah, right, okay. So now it's even in London, any country, in the supermarket by the parking lot, they eat sushi. But my generation, the sushi cannot eat every day. So when you first tasted sushi and you went to the restaurant to eat it, how old were you? I was like 9, 10 years old old yeah and um first time we went to sushi restaurants yeah you know not the fancy like this one very small yeah maybe like um eight

ten people's just capacity like this then sliding the world you know then immediately so irishana says it means like just we do here so welcome and uh sit on the counters chefs makes one by one omakase yeah yeah then stop showing oh stop it i went on my honeymoon to japan let's give me that mother ate the eggs for 100 years of fertility or whatever it is yeah yeah yeah mount for yeah. Anyway, carry on, sorry. Yeah, the print of the mouth, wow. So kids is easy to like, oh, I love sushi. I want to be chefs immediately. Then my dream never changed from this moment. Wow, from nine years old.

Then I meet Bob and the mayors. Yeah, where did you meet? How did this happen? Bob and the Mayors. Yeah, where did you meet? How did this happen? I went to Matsuhisa, Nobu's original restaurant in L.A. about, what, 38?

88, 89, yeah. Yeah, and with Roland Joffe, he took me. And I said, if you ever want to, after being there not even 15, 20 minutes, I said, eating the food, I said, do you ever want to open a being there not even 15, 20 minutes, I said, eating the food, I said, do you ever want to open a restaurant in New York, just let me know. And I had opened the Tribeca Grill in Tribeca in the film center, so had some experience, and so offered Nobu,

and then over the next couple of years it finally came to being and how did you get involved? I was the only one who would invest Bob we were friends before he met Nobu was that through working together in film?

you also invested in the Tribeca Grill. Okay, so you'd worked together before. We worked together. Yeah, but we knew each other, and we traveled together in different places. And he said, why don't you come and let's have dinner?

Because I discovered this great Japanese restaurant. And so we went for dinner. Then I met Nobu, and we kept going there. Every time Bob came into town, we went to Nobu because only he could get a table. The problem is getting a table. I imagine that works with your name. If you ring up any restaurant and you say,

Hi, it's Robert De Niro here. Could I have a table? You always get in. Yeah, that's one of the perks of success. Fabulous, yeah. I cook the Jewish food the first time. That's why he likes it. You're a Jewish food.

Joke, joke. I mean, it's famously a really hard industry to be in, being restauranteurs. It's supposed to be a nightmare. But you seem to do it quite effortlessly. This is your 13th hotel. How many restaurants are you on now with Nobu? How many?

We have 50. I mean, it's amazing. I'm sure it has some ups and downs. It looks effortless. Yes. But there's a lot of hard work behind it, yeah. We like to make it easy, but we put in a lot of work. But it's enjoyable work.

We're not suffering and you're eating well whilst doing that I guess so we ask all our guests what their last supper would be their last supper, so their dream their dream meal I wonder whether you're all going to say

the same things mine of course, is sushi. Okay, so would you, we have the option of starter, main course, pudding, which kind of doesn't really work with sushi, I feel. So what would be your dream meal? Jewish food and appetizers, Italian salad, and main course sushi. Diplomatic. And would the drink be sake I like wine

yeah what's your favourite wine I like the French Burgundy French Burgundy a white or a red Burgundy my doctor recommend better drink red wine better than white wine do you listen to your doctor then yeah same doctors

oh my god you don't and he tells you to drink red wine Better than white wine. Yeah. Do you listen to your doctor then? Yeah, same doctors. Oh, my God. You don't. We have the same doctor. And he tells you to drink red wine. I'm going to... He sounds great. He believes that one... I mean, not to drink a lot,

but one red wine a day with your dinner... Keeps the doctor away. Keeps the doctor away. And what happens if you have two? If you have two, it's okay. Okay, three or four is too much. Okay, so Robert, last supper, you've got a starter, a main,

a dessert, pudding, and drink of choice. I would have the best that Noba would make. Yeah, what's your favourite dish at the moment? Well, the cod, of course. There's so many things that come up that I can't even, I don't even know the names. I don't even know that I have a bunch of little dogs. I don't even know all their names.

They're all there. I love them, but I just... How many dogs do you have? Do you know? A few, more than ten. But I... But they... Whatever it is, it's great.

And whatever he interprets of another dish from, say, whatever country that would be, would be also terrific, so I'm happy. He makes a black card. I mean, we all do. It's fabulous.

How many days does it take to marinate it? Is it three? Three days. You know, he's a godfather, pray. I'm a cutfather. Godfather. So, okay, so dessert, have you got a sweet tooth, Robert? I do, but I don't like to indulge it too much because,

excuse me, it's just, by the time I have the regular meal, I've had enough. You've got to know when to stop. I find that quite hard. We find that very difficult, yeah. I know, I know. Sometimes, I mean, the Nobu desserts are great. The little much, I remember having... Oh, my gosh.

I'm saying it wrong. Is it much? Oh, my gosh. I love them more than anything. Drink of choice? Just white wine. White wine. Okay.

Mayor, are you taking us to Israel for any of this? Or is it all going to be Japanese? No, I would stay with Nobu's menu. I would probably have Saki, YK35. What's YK? It's one of the Nobu Sake that is created by our... Do you make your own sake then? You have someone doing it for you.

It's a special Nobu one. Actually, the sake makers in the northwest. Yeah. Yeah. And some Sado Island. So everyone they visit, you know, they're going to make especially for us all of the nobu around the world have the same sake

only this sake company, sake we use okay I wanted to ask you, I read in an article about you because you worked in Lima and about and forgive me if i'm getting this wrong please and and tell me but about how you fused peruvian food with japanese food and that was kind of like the birth of of nobu the first restaurant i mean your first restaurant

is that right i mean and how what peruvian elements did you take into your food? My basic cooking style is Japanese, 100%. I went to Peru, so see different food cultures. You know, the chefs always create something. So basically the Japanese style of cooking plus influence, Peruvian influence, but combined. Then I create a novel style of food. So example, ceviches. Yeah, ceviches. So ceviches is like all the fish, onions, garlic, and chilies.

And, you know, it used to be that Peru ceviche is marinated a long time, like five, six, seven hours. Then all with a cooked lemon juice, minced like a squeezed lemon juice, marinated. It's not lime. Is it always lemon in Peru? Okay. But everything comes, the fishes are white because acid. Yeah.

But I don't like too much marinade. Then just before it, mix with the lemon juice. But one day, customer came to me, oh, Nobu, can you make without onions? Because I'm onion allergist. Okay. So then, people doesn't like onion, so we have the Japanese technique.

You know, a sandwich is just slice, cut, and throw it in the bowl, and mix it together. But people doesn't like onions. slice, cut, and throw it in the bowl to mix it together. But people don't like onions. I slice very thin and put it in the plate. And the sauce is not every mix, you know, like the chili, top of the fish. It's like a dots.

So visually, it looks nice. Sauce is very simple. And with that onions, of course. You know, it's called the tiraditos. And I was a Peru, just a ceviche, no tiradito. We create for the tiradito dish. Now the Peru, they have the cevicheria, the tiraditos. It's like, you know, this is my style. Like always looking for the local ingredients.

I like to combine to Japanese food. This is my style. Like, always looking for the local ingredients. I like to combine to Japanese food. So what would you be using? I'm just trying to think. London, UK. What's a quintessential ingredient that you're going to be using? Cod, Jesse. Yeah, I like to use the local product. Yeah.

And London, it's very fresh, the Dover sole. Yeah, yeah. Gorgeous. London, England, France. And America, it's used for the Chilean seabass, the steams with the black bean. But the Londons, you know, Scottish salmons, scallops, lobsters, a lot of fresh product.

Actually, it was. And one day, we find a beautiful Dover sole, make the steam, black bean steam with Dover sole. This is a noble London signature dish. Lovely. So today you celebrate being here together. I mean, you must have had a lot of fun times together over the years. It's nearly been how many years since the first restaurant opened in 98, was it?

94. 94. It was 94 in New York and then 97 in London. Am I right? Yes. Are there any, which you'll be happy to tell me about, very memorable nights in Nobu? Where you drank too much sake. Or, you know, you ate food with fabulous people

or people got kicked out. I need a bit of gossip from you. You know, I have the very serious and very emotional memory in the Northern London. Yeah. Park Lane. Yeah. So my business partner's wife invited the Princess Diana and I cooked for her. Then I said hi and so I pledged to meet the Princess. Then after I say hi, she said to me, Oh, Nobu, Chef Nobu, I read about book for your story.

I was so surprised. Then, you know, I cooked the lunch and thank you. And, you know, then after a couple of months, so she got the accident that I passed away. You know, I was so sad. Just fly back to New York. That day I got the accident that I passed away you know I was so sad just to fly back to New York that day I got the news and this is my most memorable memory in the Nobu London's Wow I mean that's quite a memory well whereabouts in New York is Nobu? It's in Lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center

and on West 57th Street, Midtown. Thanks. And if you were eating sushi anywhere else apart from, obviously, the wonderful Nobu, where would you go? Or is it just too hard to go anywhere else when you've got restaurants all over the world now? Would you choose... go or is it just too hard to go anywhere else when you've got restaurants all over the world now? I mean obviously Nobu is your

baby, your favourite but if you were going to go to another Japanese restaurant where would you go? I don't know I don't know would you ever go to another one? No, why? They've got the best And if you ever heard that I went there

You'd kill him. So when you're not eating Japanese food, what else would you eat? I... You know, Japan, it's maybe different situations in Tokyo. Have you got an open Japan? No, we have Tokyo, yes.

You have. But Tokyo has like only five or six you know small restaurant very difficult to make reservations so somebody had the empty that I can see I be there Japan hey no so we have the one see the can you come to this restaurant because you know they're gonna make one year before reservations yeah so year in advance reservations. So sometimes I go to some sushi restaurant in Tokyo, but LA, New York, almost zero.

Never go there. Because always I walk in, stay in kitchens, and stay in restaurant. I'm most happy. Better go another Japanese restaurant maybe I go some Italian restaurant what Italian restaurants do you like? I'm

same like Nobu I just have no desire to go to another Japanese restaurant to have sushi I live in Los Angeles or when I go to New York but I did go in Kyoto to a sushi restaurant in Japan. It was okay.

It was okay, not as good. I have to say. It was okay. Do you all live in Los Angeles most of the time? Me and the mayor, yes. Where do you live? I live in New York. Oh, right.

So you're not in the sunshine. No. With your ten dogs. Have you ever lived in Los Angeles? I've spent a lot of time there working. Yeah. But you're a New Yorker through and through. Will never be fully in the West Coast. No. Like most people say, with New York, nice place to visit. I wouldn't want to live there. That's what I say about LA. nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I just like the city living. And can you, Robert, tell me a really nostalgic taste from, I don't know, anywhere. It doesn't have to be your childhood, but something that really takes you back to some specific moment, a smell, a taste. There, I mean, I used to go to Italian restaurants that I liked in the village that are no longer there anymore. That's the most... But I like...

I like a place in LA of all... which is kind of like a New York place called The Grill. The Grill? Yeah, in Beverly Hills. We haven't been there. I haven't been there. I haven't been there, no. Just checking out.

Do you go to Carbono? I like Carbono. It used to be a place called Russo's, an old Italian restaurant in the old style. But they've kept the, as I think, they still have kept the neon sign, but it's Carbonbone. Yeah, it's very good. I liked it. And, Meh, a nostalgic taste from your childhood or a smell from Tel Aviv, something that kind of can take you right back there. I used to go to a great falafel place. Yeah? Yeah.

Is it still there? Oh, of course. It's all over. But you know what I... All over the Middle East. But when I visited a friend in Tel Aviv when I was younger, I was so taken back by their version of what we call like a kebab. You know, people get a kebab after a night out.

The Israeli way, it was beautiful. I mean, much better produce, but baba ghanoush, fresh. I mean, it was delightful, and it was kind of, you know, you got it in a second. It was just so much better than our, like, doner kebab. Is there a Nobu in Tel Aviv? We are planning to do a Nobu in Tel Aviv. We already have a location.

It's just in the works of putting it together. Hopefully, maybe two years. Thank you so much. Some food has come in. Hello, everyone. Thank you. Wow, thank you. Thank you.

Have you been cooking all morning, Chef Nobu? I never cook. You don't cook? Because I have the private chefs my own lovely yeah she's my wife that's what i need yeah i do yeah yeah and uh morning it's like easy because you know like avocado toast or some eggs or you know I do steamed vegetables. Lovely. When is the main meal eaten generally in Japan? Is it lunch time or dinner time? Dinner time. So will you tell us what we have here for everyone to be able to listen to? Okay so from left side, yellowtail jalapenos, and middle Scottish scallops.

This is tiradito. Tiradito. Yeah, ceviche like without onions. Yeah, yeah. And this is Scottish salmon with a new style sashimi. What makes it a new style of sashimi? New style sashimi, the beginning, how create? Because serve the raw fish. So send to tables, lady say, send back because I cannot eat raw fish. So beginning, the sliced

raw fish, and I put hot olive oils on top. So it means, you know, change the color, slightly cook, means no raw fish anymore. I send back, lady have to be eat because no raw fish. In America it's not have to be, oh there's no raw fish anymore. So she eat it, then she eat everything. So because she was thinking before eat, the raw fish is fishy flavor, the smell, but the fresh fish is never. No, it doesn't smell the tree. So now the salmon is good for the omega-3, good for the brain, good for the heart. Great.

So now it's a very healthy sashimi. That's perfect. This is the ceviches. I mentioned without onions. And I went to Hawaii and some like a special charity event. After the party, all the chefs and sashimi always cooked sliced fish with soy sauce and wasabi. This is no, we don't use any wasabi. Even the soy sauce with lemon juice too.

It's more light. Yeah. And just a little bit of jalapeños. It's instead of the wasabi, the different spice. Kind of like the Peruvian combine also. Then now it's the most popular dish in all of the noblesse around the world. Even the mayor's daughter, very little, she likes to eat the whole plate. Even my grandkids love this sushi. I need to get my kids into sushi.

They love it, but without the jalapeno. Yeah, kids love it without the sauce and also fish. Thank you so much. So which one I want to... That would be my dish for the last supper. Yeah? It would. The yellowtail jalap supper. Yeah, it would. The yellow tellalapino. Oh, finally.

Finally. I wanted to note, we had hotelier Ian Schrager on the podcast when we did a New York special. He started Studio 54. And he had a ritual whenever he opened anywhere. Obviously, he has lots of hotels, but he had Studio 54. He'd start by playing an Earth, Wind & Fire song called The Way of the World. I didn't know whether you had, of course, you have your Saki ceremony that you do.

Are there any other things that you do as a tradition superstitiously before you open a restaurant or a hotel? Or is there a particular music that you play? Well, it's a kind of drum sometimes. Oh, yeah? Yeah, the drum, yeah. The Japanese drum. I mean, I don't feel like,

I feel like everything's going okay, so I don't feel like you need to start doing it. It's okay. You know, so still, not looks like a 100% Japanese restaurant, but basic Nobu restaurant is basically the Japanese. I like to introduce more Japanese cultures to another country and of course I like to introduce my food. You know it's best combination to so like Jewish, Italian, the Japanese like

like Jewish, Italian, Japanese, like a good family here. And Godfather family here, so yeah. Have you ever cooked for Nobu? Did I ever cook for Nobu? Yeah. You make me coffee. Did I make you pasta for you?

No, never. You never made pasta? No, he makes good pasta. When you're in New York, New Yorkers traditionally use their ovens for storage rather than cooking. Do you go out every night for dinner? Not every night, but I go out a lot. I go to Noble or La Conda Verde, which is my Italian restaurant in the Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca. Oh, so you've got an Italian restaurant as well? Yeah. He makes the best martini oh really shake up how do you do yours like what's your just cucumber and shake it no

vermouth no nothing and and kendrick's oh at gym yeah do you have gin in you i have vodka why because i like a dirty martini. That's just how I do it. Yeah. Is it supposed to be gin or vodka? I think it can be either, can't it? Yeah, it can be either. But you do it with cucumber, yeah? Okay. This is so delicious. Good. This is appetiser. Last meal. I love it.

Last meal appetisers. Delicious. And now, we've just been, thank you very much, we've just been given the salad. Is this the truffle salad? No truffles. Okay, so which one is this salad? This is, we call it soy sauce dressing. Now we call it Matsuhisa dressing.

So since 1987, I opened my first restaurant, Matsuhisa. And lunchtime, a lot of people order salad because America's people are very light, looking for the healthy food. But also I like to introduce more how to eat raw fish. But supposedly this one is come with sealed tuna with a green salad together. Right. Because I like to, I told you I like to introduce

more sashimi and the green salad, but not the soy sauce again. So what's this dressing? Called onion dressing. Matsu is a soy sauce dressing. I made a soy sauce dressing, a shiso dressing, and a saba plum. So three dressings. So two, another dressing, not success.

This was the winner. That's right. This is my, maybe my first signature dish, same time as the black card. How much time do you take developing dishes? I mean, will you spend lots of time in the kitchen developing dishes? Is that a regular thing every week, or do you kind of develop a certain?

Depends a week, depends like 10 seconds. So, you know, depends how we see like a new product, go to the market. And I come from, idea come from, let's try this one. So back to kitchen, sometimes immediately. The one, one try, success. But the one times try, how about this way? How about this way? So many times, finally, done.

So it means, depends. It depends. I cannot say how long. No, fine. But sometimes, when he travels, we just came from Istanbul, and before we came to Istanbul, Nobu was in Bodrum, and he discovered the anchovies,

so he made a dish, a new dish. Anchovy jalapeno. Jalapeno, so tell them how, this was in Crete. So you had the Yerote jalapeno there? Yeah. Instead of Yerote jalapeno. Jalapeno. So tell them how this was created. So you had the yerote jalapeno there? Yeah. Instead of yerote jalapeno, the sardine. Fresh. Fresh. Fresh, fresh. Yeah, it was delicious.

So sometimes he just, when he travels, he sees an idea and he creates it right on the spot. And will you introduce it into your menus then, afterwards? Well... Do you think he should introduce this into the menu?

I wish he could do it, but it's not available. It's only the anchovies or the sardines are only available in certain places. You know, it depends on which fish we can get, the local product of fresh fish. Maybe one day the Dover saw jalapenos maybe, even like a lobster jalapeno too. Thank you. Oh wow, okay so we've been given some sushi, thank you. So tell us what we've got here for everyone that's listening oh this is a Scottish salmon and sea bass

and this is the shrimps delicious now and we can have soy with all of these or i'm going to teach you yeah please do okay this is soy sauce yeah of course yeah great i'm going to learn that i've been doing it wrong for the whole of my life now and I think this yeah good plate yeah so even you can use fingers right and take halfway right turn take this way yeah and soy sauce deep fish you side I thought I've done it wrong for the whole of my life I'm so so sorry. Everybody's doing it the wrong way. Then like this. And then it doesn't disintegrate the... Okay. A life lesson I needed.

Everybody's doing it where they put the soya on the rice. Well, thank you. It tastes the same. So before we finish, I just wanted... This podcast is called Table Manners. Do you think you've got good table manners, all of you? Robert's looking slightly...

Well, I'm not sure. Do you... I suppose I do. I like to eat off other people's plates. Do they like you eating off their plates? Your kids like you eating off their plates? No, they're used to it, so what's the use

of complaining? It's just, you know, it's part of the whole thing. Nobu? So eating the ladies, so lady touch first. Because Nobu said like a family style, right?

Not the individual. I like to watch for the touch for the lady first. And also, you know, sushi is, my example of sushi, don't put too much soy sauce. A lot of details, a lot of, I don't know, it's like,

French foods, Italian foods, Japanese foods, Chinese foods.uniau Cymreig. Felly mae pob diwydiant yn cael eu mannau. Rwy'n credu bod gennych chi mannau da iawn, rwy'n siŵr. Rwy'n hoffi eich bod chi'n gadael i'r ddau dynion eu bwydo yn gyntaf. Mae hynny'n gweithio'n dda iawn i mi. Diolch. Mare?

Nid wyf yn dweud bod gen i lawer o mannau da. Rwy'n gwybod am mannau da. say that I have a lot of table manners. I know about table manners because I, you know, for many years, I think table manners have changed in the years and with Nobu's food, I think table manners, since it's more family styles and you share and you eat with the chopsticks. I think it's very casual. So I wouldn't call it really table manners, you know, because it's so casual. And even Nobu said you can eat with your hands. You can pick up the sushi with your hands.

Well, thank you so much for letting us eat your gorgeous food, letting us be here. Congratulations on this hotel. Thank you very much. And before we leave you, my mum asks everybody this, and it's not food-related. I've got to ask one more thing.

Have you got grandchildren? Yes, I have. How old are they when they start to learn to use chopsticks, or how old are most Japanese children when they're using? Three years old, my grandson start using chopsticks. Not the training ones, because I just got my kids the training. Of course the training ones. Okay, so fine.

We're fine with that. Okay, then. So two? Two, yeah. Even before they can use a spoon, they're using chopsticks? They use both. Okay. All right.

And mum, do you want to ask them... Look, karaoke was born in Japan I believe I think so does anyone like karaoke my kids do some of my kids I've done it very little

anyway can you sing Robert no I wish I could are you sure I feel like you could be a criminal well I could sing if I studied it of course I could you've never had to sing in a film

no nobody knows nobody's seen this really so what would your karaoke If I studied it, of course I could. You've never had to sing in a film? No. Nobody knows anything about this. Really? So what would your karaoke song be? Oh, God. I was on something last summer. I forget. My kids were doing it, and I was singing along.

And I don't remember the song. Some young song, you know, some little, whatever, the kids are singing. Mayor, have you got... I don't sing. I cannot sing. I mean, that's part of the fun of karaoke. You're not meant to sing. That's great. It's fun.

It's boring if you can sing. Just that you don't even like karaoke. I don't like karaoke. I love it. Well, it's not fun if you sing because then you're like, oh, bore off, get off. Like, Nobu, do you have because yeah get off like no boo do you have a song of choice that we'll do in the karaoke booth no i don't guys struck out completely i mean

come on maybe generations too you know like uh our generation doesn't do much for the karaoke but the younger generation people likes karaoke. They have little places, yeah. Yeah, but you know, maybe one day, maybe Alon's and the machine was there and nobody listening to me, I like to try it. Yeah, oh, the black cod has just come out on the table. Thank you very, very much, and it looks glorious.

Mr. De Niro is a favourite to fish. Are you going to partake? I'll have a bite. Yeah, I think I'm going to too. Thank you so much. Thank you. Loved it. Well, Mum, I want to be like Robert De Niro and eat black and cod every day. Oh, I'll start marinating it right now, Mum. Get going.

You'll have it by Thursday. I did want to ask what the recipe was so I could copy it, but I don't think I dared. Well, he seemed... You know, nobody was saying that everyone's copied it around the world and he very much doesn't mind that because nobody can do it like him. So maybe he'll let you do it

because it will never be like nobody's. So delicious. Everything was exquisite. I have to say, although Robert, he didn't have any memories of New York food, when we were just doing the photo... He whispered knish in my ear. He whispered very, very seductively knish in Mum's ear

and said, hey, I used to have them in New York. So just so you know, he does have a memory from New York and it's knishes and he was very good fun. That was, what would you call it? A moment. A what? Oh, don't worry, don't worry. I could just go up to a room and have a little lie down now.

Darling, I could live here. I could too, but I think it's too minimalist and quiet for you and I. No, I think it's all right. Yeah? I like a bit of that. It is so beautiful. Everyone is so lovely. The food was exquisite.

Thank you very much. Got a lovely smiley lady right here just giving green tea and cleaning up. It's lovely. I've had a glass ofy lady right here just giving green tea and cleaning up. It's lovely. I've had a glass of Nobu Sake. It was delicious. That's a very interesting Tuesday morning that's just been had, eating sushi with the three shareholders of Nobu.

Do you know what? I'm interested that he fries everything in sesame oil because you don't get the sesame taste. Just say sesame again. Sesame. Sesame. Just say sesame again. Sesame. Sesame. Sesame. Open sesame.

Sesame. Sesame. Sesame. Sesame. I don't know. Sesame. I should ask Nobu. Thank you so much to Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro,

and Mare Tepper for joining us for a kind of breakfast sushi gathering um japanese i won't forget that no delicious thank you for listening uh the music you've heard on table manners is by peter duffy and pete fraser table manners is produced by alice williams