Nobu Grand Wailea recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. The globally celebrated Maui eatery officially opened last April; this is the brand’s second Hawaiʻi location (Nobu Lānaʻi opened in 2012).
Located at Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, the eatery features more than 13,000 square feet of outdoor and indoor dining spaces. Besides its sushi and seafood, Nobu Grand Wailea is recognized for its scenic ocean views and relaxed ambiance.
While this location still offers Nobu restaurant signature dishes — including black cod with miso, crispy rice spicy tuna and rock shrimp tempura — featuring locally sourced seafood is essential to chef Nobu Matsuhisa.
“We use local fish as much as possible,” says Matsuhisa. “We still have the same dishes, like tiradito (Nobu-style), but the fish is local fish.
“The heart of palm (used for the heart of palm salad) is not grown on Maui, but is grown on the Big Island,” he adds. “Heart of palm is easy to get here, but sometimes difficult (to get) in New York, LA or Japan.”
Matsuhisa is known for blending Peruvian ingredients with traditional Japanese dishes. He explains his Japanese culinary background emphasizes the importance of premium ingredients.
“We always use high-quality, fresh products, whether it’s fish or vegetables,” says Matsuhisa, upon describing his cooking style. “It’s (about) quality cooking, simple, clean-tasting, and visually beautiful.
“People say simple cooking sounds easy, but simple cooking, for me, is the most difficult,” he adds. “Simple is best; simple food you can eat every day. Sometimes, with heavy food and too many ingredients together — once is OK, but you cannot eat it the next day.”
He explains that dashi and miso are ingredients he uses regularly for dishes on his menus.
“My dishes always have umami,” he says. “We use dashi, konbu (sea kelp), and miso.”
Matsuhisa now has more than 50 restaurants globally; recent new locations include Nobu Hotel and Restaurant Roma, which opened last fall in Rome, Italy, and Nobu Madrid, which opened earlier this month in Spain. He recalls a journalist asked him, “Which one is your favorite restaurant?” at a press conference.
“I asked the journalist, ‘Do you have kids?’” Matsuhisa says. “He said, ‘Yes, two.’ I asked him, ‘Which one do you like best?’ It was kind of my joke. My first Matsuhisa (restaurant) opened in Beverly Hills; my first Nobu (restaurant) was in New York. Those are like my first ‘kids;’ there’s always lots of memories for their opening.
“I appreciate my customers (and their support),” he adds. “Our business cannot make it without the customers; I also appreciate my teams.”
To commemorate its first-year anniversary, Nobu Grand Wailea featured “An Evening with Chef Nobu” event. The evening included a five-course omakase tasting menu, passed canapes — including the eatery’s popular spicy tuna on crispy rice — and a welcome beverage.
The dining experience began with zensai — a small appetizer dish — of Nobu caviar tacos. Often highlighted as a luxury bite at Nobu restaurants, this savory starter featured a crispy nori taco filled with guacamole and caviar.
The first and second courses featured sashimi — yellowtail jalapeno, white fish tiradito and new-style salmon — and Big Island heart of palm salad. The latter featured a citrus truffle dressing, crispy leeks, shaved black truffles and grilled Kauaʻi shrimp.
The yellowtail jalapeno sashimi is one of the most popular dishes on the Nobu menu. It features yuzu and soy cilantro; meanwhile, the new-style salmon featured seared salmon with garlic, ginger and citrus soy.
We’re told the white fish tiradito is Matsuhisa’s personal favorite; it featured housemade Sriracha and cilantro.
The third course comprised a selection of toro, tai (sea bream) and kinmedai (golden eye snapper) nigiri, tamago (egg) and an ikura sushi cup. It was followed by umami Chilean sea bass, served with Maui-charred calamansi, shaved red onions, yuzu Amarillo and Hua Momona Farms micro cilantro.
The A5 Miyazaki wagyu rib-eye was one of the highlights of the evening. The wagyu was served with roasted maitake mushrooms, pickled Oko‘a Farms purple daikon, local fall baby vegetables and rosemary miso.
The omakase concluded with a yuzu cheesecake, complete with Kumu Farms raspberry coulis, white peach gelee, black goma and ube tuile.
While he anticipates his restaurant being a Wailea institution — “I’d like to keep it (going) for the next year, five years, 10 years,” he says — Matsuhisa says furthering the development of his team of chefs is essential.
“People start work here (at a Nobu restaurant) and I like to watch how they grow,” he says. “I like to train people so three, four, or five years later, the chef makes their own restaurant.
“It’s kind of like a graduation,” he adds. “A lot of people ‘graduate’ from me and one day, they open their own restaurant.”
CONTACT
Nobu Grand Wailea
Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
3850 Wailea Alanui Drive, Wailea
nobugrandwaileamaui.com
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
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