In a culture where family restaurants are passed from fathers to eldest sons, Nobuhiro Nishi’s decision to leave Japan was not an easy one. His family’s restaurant Nishikane in Fukui had served kaiseki-style cuisine since 1850 and Nishi was the sixth generation expected to carry on the legacy.
Ironically, it was Nishi’s father who encouraged him to work outside to broaden his culinary perspective when he was 18 years old. He alternated between his family restaurant and stints in others around Japan for several years, and eventually became the second in command at three-Michelin-starred Kagurazaka Ishikawa in Tokyo from 2010 to 2014.
It was a turning point. Nishi was inspired by Kagurazaka Ishikawa’s international outlook — non-Japanese customers formed at least half of the clientele and the restaurant frequently did pop-ups in cities such as Seoul, Singapore and San Francisco. He explained: “In our family restaurant, we focused on serving the customers, but at Ishikawa there were many exciting and interesting things beyond that. That was when I decided to leave Japan to learn more.” The patriarch was naturally disappointed but he also saw his son’s determination. The family restaurant was closed, and Nishi’s father demolished the outlet in front of him so that he would not look back.
