Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith remain one of Hollywood's most amicable ex-couples, despite divorcing 12 years ago. During one of their latest reunions, the pair met in Los Angeles, the city where Banderas lived throughout their nearly 20-year marriage and where their daughter, Stella del Carmen, now lives with her husband, Alex Gruszynski.
Antonio's visit provided the perfect excuse for a family gathering at one of the city's most renowned restaurants, a favorite spot they had visited together before.
It was Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills, the culinary temple and laboratory founded in 1987, where Chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa began the Nobu gastronomic empire, which today boasts more than 50 hotels and restaurants worldwide, including Barcelona, Ibiza, Marbella, San Sebastián, and very soon, Madrid.
© River CallawayAlthough they are often confused, the restaurant chosen by Antonio and Melanie, the smaller of the two, offers a more intimate and personal experience, unlike the Nobu chain, which features larger spaces.
© IG: Matsuhisa Beverly HillsThis legendary chef's style fuses Japanese techniques with Peruvian ingredients, a gastronomy now present in more than 50 hotels and restaurants worldwide. For those looking to experience this high-end cuisine, the "Omakase" tasting menu ranges from $150 to $250 for premium options like A5 Japanese Wagyu, while the average a la carte check typically falls between $100 and $200 per person.
© IG: Matsuhisa Beverly HillsThe success of this empire follows a journey marked by both tragedy and resilience. After moving from Peru to Argentina and eventually to Alaska in 1977, a devastating fire destroyed Nobu's first restaurant in Anchorage. This loss led him into a deep depression, but he eventually rebuilt his life in Los Angeles. With a $70,000 loan from a friend, he opened the Beverly Hills Matsuhisa, which became the foundation for a global partnership that includes Robert De Niro.
© Dave BenettIn an interview with ¡HOLA! back in 2023, the renowned chef told us, “Peru gave me so much inspiration. Japanese cuisine is sushi: fresh fish, rice, and soy sauce. Spices, extra virgin olive oil, garlic... they aren't used. The first time I went to Peru, I loved ceviche. In Japan, you eat fresh fish as sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi, but in Peru, fish is eaten in a completely different way."
© @matsuhisaaspenAdding, "With more garlic, more chilies, a bit of cilantro, onion, and everything mixed with the raw fish. Fifty years ago, it surprised me greatly that the same fish could be eaten in such a different way. And I realized that cooking is about having more freedom. I make sashimi with jalapeños, sashimi with rocoto chili, and sashimi cooked in olive oil... I began to use ingredients from other countries combined with my cooking and started to create my own 'Nobu style' of cuisine.”
© IG: Matsuhisa Beverly HillsAnd this is how the chef, who now owns more than fifty locations worldwide, told his story, “I opened my first restaurant in the United States in 1987, in Los Angeles. In 1994, we opened in New York, and three years later, we opened Nobu London. Opening these first three restaurants was very hard, a massive amount of work. Months of training the team, the chefs... and when we opened in London, I sent a couple of chefs from the Los Angeles team and two others from New York to train the teams there. That is how the teams and their management began to grow. Now we have teams across five continents.”
© @matsuhisaaspenExpanding his reach to Spain, the chef is set to open the Nobu Hotel Madrid this coming September 1st, 2026. In an interview with El País, Chef Nobu noted that while Madrid lacks a sea, its fish market is world-class and provides the perfect base for his signature dishes, making it an ideal location for his next venture.
