Robert De Niro helped turn one Japanese restaurant into Nobu; decades later, the brand expanded into hotels and a £360 million residential project

In the late 1980s, De Niro started eating at a small sushi shop in Beverly Hills. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa ran the spot. De Niro loved the food. He spent four years trying to convince the chef to open a new place with him. They opened the first Nobu in New York City in 1994. It became popular almost overnight. Celebrities flocked to the spot, and the business took off.