For me, Nobu {4525 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; 305.695.3232} has always been the epicenter of coolness, beautiful people, and amazing food. A glimmering culinary destination worth aspiring for. What’s amazing is that, with a decade of changing tastes, Nobu still occupies that same idea in my mind. There is something undeniably exhilarating about the entire dining experience. It’s a concept that is difficult to describe, but it’s a feeling that you instantly recognize when you see it. When I’ve dined at their various locations, I almost feel like I’ve wandered into the coolest party in the city and I don’t want to leave.
The story of Chef Nobu is remarkable; an immense talent who cultivated his years of experience as a chef in Tokyo and around the world to build an empire that spans the globe and has collected Michelin stars and universal acclaim. However, the beauty of the experience lies in never feeling that you’re dining in a food empire, rather each restaurant is tailored to the city and tastes that it inhabits.
Perhaps the best example of this aesthetic is Nobu Miami. Since starting over 16 years ago, it is an institution that is largely responsible for transforming the entire food ethos of the city. It allowed Miami to completely reimagine what was possible in fine dining, in relation to service, presentation, and quality. Now located in the Nobu Hotel Miami, the restaurant continues to delight and the chef braintrust they’ve cultivated is looking to lead the future of the city’s dining scene.
We all know that a restaurant can’t merely get by on reputation and memory alone. In order to keep satisfying the lofty expectations of diners and exceeding them, a restaurant must always be innovating. Nobu Miami has been able to achieve this by serving a mix of the classics that made foodies fall in love with the menu originally, as well as serving a rotating mix of dishes that are as creative as they are satisfying. Much of this has to be attributed to the incredible talents of Chef Thomas Buckley, who now is the corporate executive chef of Nobu restaurants around the world. When I spoke with him he was warm and down to earth, as often is the case with exquisitely talented people with nothing to prove, and explained in a delightful British accent why he chooses to live in Miami.
“It’s a feeling of being comfortable when you have that feeling of the salt air. When I was landlocked I missed it. Coming to Miami, being by the ocean felt like home again. I’ve always been seafood oriented in my cooking. Where I grew up in England was a fishing town. I’ve always had a liking for the North Sea and the fish that come out of there. I’ve always been around a lot of seafood.” He goes on to explain that he had several choices of where to set up shop but Miami seemed to be the perfect location for what he wanted to accomplish.
Chef Buckley described the happy coincidence that brought him to Nobu. He had been working for free at the now closed, three-star Michelin molecular gastronomy mecca El Bulli in Spain and decided to take a paying job in Paris. When Chef Buckley was paid with a check rather than cash, he returned to London to set up a bank account and ended up taking a job at Nobu London. It’s one of those incredible strokes of serendipity, a life-changing moment that is almost always unexpected. And in Miami, he was able to find a city that was craving the level of expertly made food that had garnered such international acclaim.
Chef Buckley told me the role that Nobu has played in innovating the city’s dining culture. “When I came to Miami it was still a party town in terms of the restaurants. They would play loud music, and as you would be finishing your meal, the dining space would begin to transform into a nightclub. There really wasn’t much here. So when we opened, we transformed the scene in Miami. We had to educate the diners as well; the sushi rolls in Miami were closer to pancakes. But over the years we’ve seen such amazing changes and new neighborhoods. The explosion of local talent, some of whom went through Nobu, has made me feel so great about this city.”

Cultivating this local talent has vaulted a smaller city to international recognition and a bright future. The direction in Miami seems to also point to move away from the white tablecloth restaurants to a more casual set up that Nobu has spearheaded. “That informal dining trend is going to continue. You’re seeing a move away from these 20-course tasting menus to something that is more comfortable for the diner. It’s the past recreating itself. A lot of chefs are going back to cooking with wood and charcoal. I think that’s what people want. The younger generation wants good quality and a memorable experience.”
Part of the innovation that Chef Buckley is bringing to some of the locations around the world are teppan tables. In Miami, he’s added a single table to create a one of a kind meal. “It’s an exclusive, memorable experience for the guests. It’s a personal interaction with the chef which is cool. It allows me to create a unique experience, with various menus like a white truffle menu or a wagyu tasting. We utilize various techniques that are usually not associated with a teppan table, like quick smoking, desserts, baking with salt or a steamed custard, all on the teppan table. We bring a lot of higher end techniques to something that people usually associate with Benihana.” This is a menu that is so much more than the fried rice you may have grown up eating from these tables. The level of innovation coming from a flat grill is almost jaw-dropping. Fortunately the unforgettable experience of the teppan can be reserved for private parties, which only adds to the sophisticated private party and off site options Nobu Miami already provides.
I ask the chef after opening restaurants all over the world, what makes Miami so special. “I travel all over the world, and what is most important in each city is to listen to what the diners in the city want. Miami is still evolving but I’m so excited to have been able to grow with this city and innovate for the future. I’m looking forward to see where the food scene is heading.” Based on the level of food that Nobu Miami is turning out nightly, they’re well on the way to delighting and shaping what people expect from a restaurant for another 16 years.
Sidebar: NOBU Miami
We were able to catch up with Yoshiko, who is Chef Nobu’s daughter and a wonderfully talented artist. Her design for the sake bottles graces our cover. Her inspiration for the design was actually her dad, and if you look closely at the design you can see an image of Chef Nobu cutting a fish.
What inspires you as an artist?
Family and what makes them happy!
Do you believe cooking is a form of art, and if so why?
Absolutely. It’s edible art. The final piece is inspired by something and it can BE inspiring. The whole thing is an experience—it’s like theatre.
Tell us about how you designed this label. How does it speak to the ‘Nobu’ family of restaurants and how does it represent what they’ve accomplished?
I designed this label because the sake master wanted to express a newer, fresher side of sake. This sake can be paired with food, as wine can, and the opportunity is endless. I wanted to show the connection between the Nobu family and the Hokusetsu family, and how side by side we always are.
By Peter Gietl | Managing Editor
PHOTOS BY ALESSA DELGADO