Hospitality Design - August 2010 - 60

perspectives

interview: nobu hospitality

RD: Yes. I always like to get other ideas and bring them in. He’s very good at that. NM: Since 1994 and Nobu downtown, we have worked with him. Before that, any Japanese restaurant had shoji screens, waiters with kimonos, all the Japanese decorations. We changed the Japanese restaurant image. Maybe we started this kind of concept. Ten years later, [we opened] Nobu 57, same designer, but more new ideas, more new materials, and that’s why we are still working with David. It’s a credit, because Japanese restaurants have an image of Nobu, and Nobu restaurants have an image of David Rockwell.

NM: Even me, I started when I was 18 years old. For the ﬁrst three years, I was a dishwasher, did deliveries, cleaned the tables. I have that experience. People never have success from the beginning. It has to be one by one. It’s all about the team—reception, busboys, prep guy, chef. HD: Is that the secret to success? TH: Success of any company is the creativity behind it. There’s already a creativity that exists with Nobu. Now you build on the hotel and it’s about doing the right execution. SM: And there are so many people that go into brands and it becomes

From left: Rockwell Group’s renderings of a Nobu urban resort’s lobby and pool deck at dusk.

HD: What’s the secret to maintaining quality with so many restaurants now? NM: Passion. HD: But you can’t always be there. NM: Well it’s like Santiago [Rodriguez], he was a busboy and now he is corporate [director of bars and lounges]. Thirteen years, he is growing from us. It’s like a family, I can trust in him. This kind of relationship is very important. SM: In London, when Trevor and I were involved in the Metropolitan hotel, the hotel brought in all retail workers to be our front ofﬁce people, because they understand a lifestyle brand. You can never be afraid to go out of your realms, as long as you bring in people who have passion, everything else comes in tow. There’s no point taking the best-qualiﬁed person who doesn’t ﬁt into your organization.

very formulaic. You have to manage the left side of the brain and the right side of the brain. If anyone comes in and says it has to be formulaic they will stiﬂe creativity. If you stiﬂe creativity, you lose the heart and essence of the brand. It has to go hand in hand. NM: Any kind of visionary—designer, chef, actor, painter, it comes from passion. Passion makes it feel good for the people, good food, good designs, beautiful fashion. I don’t want to say I have passion myself, but I am always cooking with my heart, so it means people understand my passion. TH: If you look at all of these lifestyle hotels, they are all design led. They come up with a great design, but then they say, ‘what are we going to do with these public spaces?’ They have to bring in outside creativity to give the hotel a heart. The great thing is there is already that in-house creativity. There is a heart already in Nobu.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - August 2010