nobuyuki-matsuhisa

Eating & Drinking: Friday Edition

cityfile · 06/05/09 05:05PM

Daniel Boulud's DBGB debuts Monday. Grub Street has pics. [GS]
• Also opening on Monday: the least recession-friendly restaurant to come along in months. Have a look around SHO Shaun Hergatt at the Setai in the financial district. [Eater]
Not opening Monday, but will be open soon: Hotel Griffou, which is in "celebrity-preview mode" right now. [GS]
• Six wine auction houses are offering big bargains later this month. [Reuters]
• Sienna Miller, Elle Macpherson, Sting, Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron, and Alicia Silverstone are some of the celebs now lobbying Nobu boss Nobuyuki Matsuhisa to drop bluefin tuna from his menus. [Page Six]

Happy Birthday

cityfile · 03/10/09 06:47AM

Real estate legend Barbara Corcoran turns 60 today. Nobuyuki Matsuhisa is turning 60 today, too. Sharon Stone is 51. Record producer Rick Rubin is turning 46. Model Eva Herzigova is 36. Timbaland is 38. Prince Edward is 45. Edie Brickell is turning 43. Carrie Underwood is 26. Mad Men star Jon Hamm is 38. CNBC's David Faber is turning 45. Actress Olivia Wilde is 25. Chuck Norris is 69. And deep in a cave on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Osama bin Laden is celebrating his 52nd birthday.

In Dubai, the Show Goes On

cityfile · 11/20/08 12:07PM

The recession didn't put a damper on Sol Kerzner's plans to throw one of the most lavish parties in recent memory. The South African casino mogul threw a $25 million fête in Dubai this evening to celebrate the opening of the Atlantis, his $1.5 billion hotel on the man-made island of Palm Jumeirah. (It's modeled on his Bahamas resort by the same name.) A long list of stars put in appearances (Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton, Robert De Niro, Charlize Theron, Mary-Kate Olsen, Albert Hammond Jr., Agyness Deyn), Kylie Minogue was paid in the neighborhood of $4 million to perform a 60-minute set, and a bunch of famous chefs (like Nobu Matsuhisa) were responsible for assembling the menu. Now Kerzner just has to figure out how to get people to rent rooms that begin at $800 a night (and go up to $25,000) and he can start making his money back. [WSJ, Daily Mail]

Nobu Continues to Conquer the Mideast

cityfile · 10/03/08 07:18AM

New York restaurateurs may be panicked about the economy, but all is well in Qatar! This week it was reported that the Four Seasons in Doha will be home to the latest incarnation of Nobu. (A Dubai outpost opened earlier this month.) Gordon Ramsay is supposedly looking at two different sites in town for an eatery he has planned. And when Doha's new W Hotel opens in a couple of months, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market will be located in the lobby. Less exciting news, at least as far as New Yorkers are concerned: "Bollywood legend" Asha Bhosle has also opened a high-profile restaurant in Doha, and a branch of the Hard Rock Café is coming, too. [The Penninsula via Luxist]

Follow the Money: Dubai Edition

cityfile · 07/18/08 10:34AM

If it feels like every week brings news of yet another cash-strapped American company raising money from Abu Dhabi or Dubai or selling itself entirely to one of these emirates, it isn't your imagination. From real estate (the GM building) to finance (Citigroup), cash has been pouring in from the Middle East as of late. But the expressway of money goes in both directions. Today the Times covered many of the banks setting up shop in Dubai. But loads of other prominent New Yorkers are heading East to take advantage of the petro-dollar gravy train. Here's a look at the growing list of prominent restaurateurs, fashion designers, architects, and real estate developers setting up shop in one of the world's fastest-growing—and richest—regions.

Nobuyuki Matsuhisa

cityfile · 02/03/08 09:35PM

The world's most famous sushi chef isn't the white-hot superstar he was a decade ago, but his chain is running smoothly—and making millions—with dozens of locations around the world.