Nobu Matsuhisa

I exercise every morning, no matter what. Sometimes it's tough to do right when you get off the plane, but after ten minutes you start sweating, and you always feel better.

Los Angeles is my home - I have my wife and two daughters growing up there.

I feel like I owe something to America, as it is where I found success.

In my generation, there was no sushi school, no cooking school, so people have to learn from working.

People who make mistakes but try their best, other people will support. But people who make mistakes because they're lazy, nobody supports.

Cooking is like fashion. Always, I like to try to change. If I'm traveling in a different country - to Australia, the Bahamas, Budapest, Moscow - and I see a new ingredient, I like to try it in a new dish.

In the morning and the end of every day, I thank that I'm alive.

I learned from my first restaurant: Make customers happy, make sure the customer comes back again. And automatically, success has followed me.

I always eat a meal at home before I leave for the airport, so I only eat the soup and salad on the plane.

My flight time is important to me; I actually prefer a longer flight to a short one. That way I have time to read a book, watch movies, and think about new dishes.

I travel all over the world, usually 10 months out of the year. I stay at a lot of hotels, and the ones I like best are clean and not complicated. You go to bed and say, 'Wow, I feel comfortable.'

Eating a lot on the plane is not good for jet lag.

Many chefs are either technically or artistically better than me, but I know my food has soul.

I don't go out much.

When I'm in L.A., I go to Spago because the chef is a friend of mine.

My business partner Robert De Niro knows a lot about hotels; he opened the Greenwich Hotel in New York City.

I cannot bring myself to wear the Nobu hats, or the Nobu T-shirts. But the chef's jacket, that is mine. And when I wear it, I am very proud of myself.

I enjoy people who have passion, whether it is as a musician or whatever they do. All people who have success keep it very basic. Try your best. But without passion, you will not have success.

I started cooking when I was 18 years old, and now I have restaurants all over the world.

I can live without a computer. My assistant checks my e-mails.

Sushi is something very exclusive. It is not like a McDonald's, not like a hot dog, not like a French fry. It's very high-class cooking in Japan.

It's still my happiest time when I'm eating.

I have a restaurant in Milan, and Paper Moon is five minutes away from my hotel, so I always go there for lunch. It's a casual place that serves good salad, pizza and pasta; the space is tight with tables close together, and it feels buzzy. Food comes out fast, too.

When I set up my first restaurant, I was so inspired by Wolfgang Puck, who is also based in L.A. and is now a good friend of mine, and the way he would engage with his customers and greet them personally.

When I'm dining out privately, I tend to avoid fine-dining venues; I like things to feel casual.

In Tokyo, we have more three-star Michelin restaurants than Paris.

With sushi, it is all about balance. Sometimes they cut the fish too thick, sometimes too thin. Often the rice is overcooked or undercooked. Not enough rice vinegar or too much.

People eat the chicken, people eat the beef, they still say, 'Don't kill the fish.'

A different spice is the most interesting thing to me.

Peru was the Incas; it has 3,000 to 4,000 years of history.

It's not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night and not know where I am. I take sleep medication to deal with all the flights. But I find it helps to eat at the same time every day.

I am very lucky to consider many of my business associates friends. Some are closer than others, but I respect and value all of them.

I like Mercedes because my wife has been in two big accidents and emerged without a scratch, thanks to the safety of these cars.

One of my great loves is golf. When I am in L.A., I like to play with a few close friends: no phones, no distractions, the great outdoors and the chance to bet some money to keep it interesting.

Swimming keeps me fit and flexible, and it helps that I have a large pool at my house in Beverly Hills.

If I am at home in L.A. on a Saturday or Sunday, I like to start the day with a hot bath and then do an hour of stretching.

Some hotels have a lot of mirrors, chairs, you can't find the plugs, the music is complicated. But the Nobu concept is beautiful, simple.

I like to keep healthy physically and mentally, too.

In Japan, I have my own line of dinnerware, but I'm not aggressive about pursuing those projects.

Every year, I do a New Year's day party at my home. I invite my staff and my friends and their kids. Around 40-50 people come by, and I do a barbecue and salads, steak and sushi, and also lots of cheese.

Have you ever been to Mexico City and haggled with the locals over souvenirs? Well, in Peru, you had to negotiate like that to get the freshest fish at the market.

Chefs are artists, and I couldn't be happy with my art if I was forced to use cheap ingredients.

You know how kids dream of being soccer players or actors? Well, my dream was to be a sushi chef.

Once I fell out of a tree and was hit by a motorbike. I still have the scar on my head now.

I was a bit of a wild boy - always swimming and exploring the mountains.

I grew up in the countryside in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo.

Every morning when I woke up, my mother was already in the kitchen making breakfast. It was always the same: steamed rice, pickled vegetables, grilled fish and miso soup. Each day there was something different in the soup such as tofu or potatoes.

I love big shrimp, like Japanese botan shrimp and the meaty ones from Santa Barbara, Calif. In classic Japanese cooking, shrimp like these would be dropped into a broth or boiled as served with sushi. But I think boiling dilutes their great flavor, and they are better when stir-fried.

When I'm home in L.A., I go to La Brea, a bakery which does artisan breads, excellent sourdoughs primarily, but also patisserie and cakes.

Businesses that run well are almost like marriages. Everything has to be up for discussion, or there will be real problems.