My first time at Nobu and my first time in Vegas were similar experiences. I couldn’t decide if I’d died and gone to heaven – the swimming pools, the weather, the miso cod, the sashimi salad – or to some strange pre-planned, waterfall-accented outdoor mall hell, with its sterility of service and exactness of standards. And it wasn’t until repeated visits to both that I learned to appreciate each for what they are: extremely well-oiled, sensory-stroking machines.
Each time I go to any Nobu, I am impressed by the precision – and by that I mean the precise sumptuousness of each dish. I know what to expect and it does not disappoint.
As for Vegas, every time I go, I hone my trip: sleep, spa, swim, nap, dinner, dancing, roulette. It is what it is in all its weird, overly oxygenized, clockless transience. So for Chef Nobu Matsuhisa to open his first hotel in Vegas – it seems perfect. The hotel is formulaic yet held to the highest degree of excellence not generally associated with chains. Our recipes here reflect that: The ingredients come together like a science, yet each dish exudes the lusciousness and hype that both Nobu and Vegas always live up to.
