Legendary Japanese Chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa Is Opening His First Nobu Restaurant in Sydney This Year

Known mononymously as Nobu, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa oversees a restaurant and hotel empire that spans more than 40 cities, including Los Angles, Moscow and, come the end of 2020, Sydney.

The legendary sushi chef's third Australian restaurant — and third inside a Crown resort, with Nobu outposts already located in Melbourne and Perth's Crown Towers — Nobu Sydney is set to open inside the controversial multibillion-dollar Crown Sydney this December.

The restaurant, located on the edge of the harbour, is set to have panoramic views across the city, a modern industrial look and statement lights. Exact details of the food and drink menu are still being finalised, but you can expect to try many of Nobu's signature dishes, showcasing Japanese and South American flavours, that he's perfected at his 42 eponymous restaurants. The yellowtail jalapeño is sure to make an appearance, as will the black cod with miso — a dish that's said to be a favourite of Nobu's business partner, the actor Robert De Niro.

Nobu opened his first restaurant in Peru back in the 70s, before eventually moving to Los Angeles and launching Matsuhisa, where he met Robert De Niro. Together with co-founders restaurateur Drew Nieporent and producer Meir Tepar, they opened the first Nobu in New York in 1994. The rest, they say, is history.

An artist's impression of Nobu in Crown Sydney

Nobu won't be the only high-profile chef making an appearance inside the Barangaroo casino and hotel, either. It'll be home to 14 bars and restaurants, including one by Clare Smyth, who's worked at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Alain Ducasse's Le Louis XV (both three Michelin starred-restaurants), which is slated to open in February 2021. The rest are under wraps for now, but, if the first two announcements are anything to go by, expect some more legendary chefs from across the globe to announce Sydney openings imminently.

Nobu is slates to open inside Crown Sydney, Barangaroo in December 2020.