For 35 years, Nobu’s has set the standard for Japanese cuisine in St. Louis. Many St. Louisans equate their first taste of sushi with the restaurant, long located in a former pancake house with an unassuming interior on Olive near I-170. Then, last June, the restaurant temporarily closed to make way for the forthcoming Olive and 170 redevelopment project. Now, Nobu’s is slated to reopen this spring at 6253 Delmar, on the Delmar Loop, with a modern look and a new generation at the helm. Here’s what to know before you go.
THE BACKSTORY
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Nobu’s is synonymous with its namesake, chef Noboru Kidera, one of St. Louis’ undisputed sushi masters. After moving to St. Louis from Kobe, Japan, Kidera was the sushi chef at Tachibana in Creve Coeur in the early ’80s. Then, in 1987, he opened the flagship Nobu’s in a diminutive space on Delmar, across from the original (and now former) location of Pasta House Company, before later relocating to the larger space on Olive.
Kidera’s style is an amalgamation of two regions, Kansai and Kanto, with attention to the sushi rolls (maki) that were popular elsewhere in the U.S. Many of the dishes were examples of furusato ryori, or Japanese “old home cooking,” notes SLM dining critic Dave Lowry, author of The Connoisseur’s Guide to Sushi. For example, the kamameshi, a seasoned rice dish steamed in a pot with chicken and vegetables, “was like a fragrant, steaming casserole—or something Mom cooked on a snowy Sunday,” says Lowry. The grilled teriyaki squid, he adds, “is probably the closest to what teriyaki tastes like in Japan.”
Dozens of details, from seasonal changes in the miso soup to the sushi rice recipe, demonstrate the chef’s expertise. “He adapts the seasoning in the rice according to the season, adding more sugar in winter, more vinegar in summer, so the sushi is exemplary,” notes Lowry. “Tempura is crispy, golden and hot. Even better, though, are traditional dishes like yellowtail jaw, grilled and flecked with salt, or thick stews of shellfish in rich broths redolent with the aroma of the sea.”
Yet despite Nobu’s creativity and quality, much of the menu went “largely overlooked,” Lowry laments, possibly because of some St. Louisans’ limited exposure to the genre and seemingly ubiquitous preferences for sushi rolls.
Now, the Kidera family is tweaking the menu to offer guests what they want, with some pleasant surprises along the way.
THE MENU
At the new location, the primary focus will be sushi—sashimi, nigiri, and some maki—plus tempura and a la carte seafood. “We’re getting away from chicken, beef, and pork,” says Nobu’s son, 40-year-old George Kidera, who will take more responsibility in the day-to-day operations.
Cooked seafood will be prepared using kappo (“cutting and cooking”), referring to the traditional methods of poaching, baking, broiling, and steaming. “Kappo is an all-encompassing word for a less formal cuisine that emphasizes the proximity between the diner and the chef who is cutting and cooking the food,” explains George. “Kappo restaurants are usually small and cozy, frequented by regulars and known only through word of mouth. We feel that such treatments and culinary focus will resonate here.”
In addition to sashimi and nigiri, guests will be able to choose from a curated list of favorites. “I know what Nobu’s has done and is capable of sustaining,” George continues. “We will continue to deliver a great experience at a fair price point,” which he says will be “mid-level, $50–$80 per person, far less than what you’d pay in larger cities for equal quality.” The restaurant will feature imported wasabi, organic rice from a regional farm, and produce from up-and-comer Lucky Dog Farm in Wentzville.
Due to its small size, Nobu’s beverage options will be limited. To start, there will be three types of sake, limited wine, spirits (including a few Japanese scotches), and a handful of craft beers.
THE ATMOSPHERE
“The only thing lacking in the other two spaces, quite frankly, was atmosphere,” says George. “This time, the environment will be in balance with everything else we’re planning. This is a contemporary Japanese restaurant that has a traditional, classical Japanese feel to it.”
The restaurant received a relocation grant from University City (part of $1.5 million set aside for commercially displaced businesses) covering 10 percent of the build-out costs and some financial assistance from the developer.
The new space will be off street, along a meandering, tree-lined paseo walkway that connects the urban streetscape to residential housing. With 18 seats nestled into its 1,000-square-feet footprint (just slightly larger than the original location), Nobu’s 3.0 evokes a traditional Japanese sushi bar with “secret hideaway” panache.
S.AMD founder Sasha Aleksandr Malinich designed the space alongside the Kidera family—Nobu; his wife, Taeko; as well as George, and his wife, Chirapinya “Noi” Kidera—all of whom will be involved with the operation. (In St. Louis, Malinich was the designer behind the interiors of the original Niche in Benton Park, The Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co., Sardella, Vicia, Winslow’s Table, Edera, and Cinder House at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis.) Idea Architects is the project architect. The general contractor is Aspire Construction Services. Novel Studio has been tapped to handle the restaurant’s branding and website.
The aim of the design team was to create an “at-home type of experience,” according to Malinich. “Upon entry, the immediate visualization is of a modern Japanese home.” In many sushi bars, the sushi counter takes center stage; at Nobu’s, it’s stage left, as it were, allowing guests to take in the entirety of the space, rather than simply fixate on the counter. To Malinich’s point, in center frame is what could be Grandma’s pie cabinet, fashioned in rattan, flanked by kitchen paradigms: a double sink, open shelving, and a buff-colored service counter and backsplash made of nearly indestructible quartzite. In this expression are three two-top tables, which can be puzzle-pieced together several ways.
Similarly, three identical tables are anchored by an 8-foot bespoke tentacled chandelier made of oxidized blackened iron terminating handblown globes of different colored glass, reference points to what Kidera is creating a few feet away, “colors found in the sea interpreted as a light installation,” Malinich says.
“We want to celebrate soft light at night to better engage the senses,” Malinich adds. “We’re cognizant about how light interplays with this type of food.”
The color palate is gentle and muted; the finishes, warming and welcoming. On the floor are pale oak planks; on the walls, planks of cerused pine or a barely colored, lime-based plaster Malinich describes as “mashed potato white with a drop of yellow.” Walls terminate at a shadow gap, creating the impression of being suspended over the floor, an effect aided by cove lighting, so nothing appears to be holding up the walls except the light.
The space folds into the stainless steel of the exhibition kitchen and counter, tempered by the plaster that continues in that area. The pièce de résistance is Nobu’s workspace, a traditional sushi bar with an L-shaped dining counter made by award-winning woodworker and furniture maker David Stine. A four-sided, white oak lid drops down from the ceiling to define the space—a stage covering, as it were—delineated by an image die-cut into the surface, a nod to Nobu’s skill at calligraphy. Above are spotlights trained on the workspace and plating areas.
There are two contrasting departures—in the alcove leading to the restrooms and the area leading into the kitchen. Both are being clad in daku ban (a wood veneer that mimics the black finish of shou-sugi-ban without the charring). “In Japan, such finishes signify renewal, a rebirth,” Malinich says, “which is exactly what Nobu’s is.” A gilded reinvention of the Kidera family’s trefoil paulownia crest (a tree that symbolizes good fortune) may also find a home in one of these nooks.
From a service perspective, counter seats will be by reservation only; tables by reservation or walk in. Omakase, or “chef’s choice” dinners, are also possible; collaborations with local chefs are likely. Patrons can also expect a limited amount of tasteful carryout options packaged in branded boxes. Outdoor dining is being considered for the paseo area as well.
A full menu, a calendar of upcoming events, plus online ordering and reservation information, will be disseminated at a future date.
THE TEAM
Customers can expect to see Nobu behind the bar, flanked by George and Taeko, who will also oversee the dining room. Fortunately, launching such a small restaurant won’t require a huge staff. “My father, my mother, my wife, and myself, plus a few more staff members are all that’s needed,” says George.
With the opening of the new restaurant, the baton is being passed to George, who’s worked in restaurants—from pastry shops to izakaya bars—in Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. “I consider myself an apprentice in the art of sushi,” George adds. “It’s appropriate to be humble—when working with Nobu and under his direction.”
Part of George’s apprenticeship has been observing his father’s physicality. “More so than maybe any other cuisine, the way a sushi chef moves can reveal a lot about the quality of the product,” notes Lowry. “Nobu cuts with his hips, not his shoulders, with elbows close to his side, so he’s always moving from his center. This is referred to as a chef’s dosa. It’s comportment, economy of motion always.”
For the past few months, the Kideras have been doing some private catering, but the family is ready to get back to full-time work and give back to the community. “Nobu is 73 now,” George says. “From a Western perspective, he should be retiring, but in Japan, chefs work into their eighties and nineties. I’ll receive the orders and do the prep; Nobu will be on the main stage when he comes in. Slowly, I will phase myself in to his position.
“It’s Nobu’s last hurrah,” George says of the new space. “We all want to make sure he goes out with a bang.”
