Chef

It's not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night and not know where I am. I take sleep medication to deal with all the flights. But I find it helps to eat at the same time every day.

When I set up my first restaurant, I was so inspired by Wolfgang Puck, who is also based in L.A. and is now a good friend of mine, and the way he would engage with his customers and greet them personally.

I used to watch my mother cooking when I was a child; she influenced me a lot.

The fine art of preparing sushi is something that you watch and learn.

A different spice is the most interesting thing to me.

Cooking is like fashion. Always, I like to try to change. If I'm traveling in a different country - to Australia, the Bahamas, Budapest, Moscow - and I see a new ingredient, I like to try it in a new dish.

A sushi chef has to spot the best-quality fresh fish instantly.

I like Mercedes because my wife has been in two big accidents and emerged without a scratch, thanks to the safety of these cars.

My business partner Robert De Niro knows a lot about hotels; he opened the Greenwich Hotel in New York City.

When I set up my first restaurant, I was so inspired by Wolfgang Puck, who is also based in L.A. and is now a good friend of mine, and the way he would engage with his customers and greet them personally.

My flight time is important to me; I actually prefer a longer flight to a short one. That way I have time to read a book, watch movies, and think about new dishes.

I learned from my first restaurant: Make customers happy, make sure the customer comes back again. And automatically, success has followed me.

Dashi remains unfamiliar to most French and American cooks, who tend to reach for a bouillon cube to do many of the same things. But dashi is worth preparing and using the way the Japanese do: for poaching fish, as a soup base, and in simmered dishes.

I'm not perfect. I am not Iron Man.

When I'm home in L.A., I go to La Brea, a bakery which does artisan breads, excellent sourdoughs primarily, but also patisserie and cakes.

I enjoy people who have passion, whether it is as a musician or whatever they do. All people who have success keep it very basic. Try your best. But without passion, you will not have success.

I travel all over the world, usually 10 months out of the year. I stay at a lot of hotels, and the ones I like best are clean and not complicated. You go to bed and say, 'Wow, I feel comfortable.'

I eat soup noodles for comfort. In fact, noodles of any kind. It's a food that is very easy to eat; it's very soothing and comfortable, too. If I could choose any, I'd say buckwheat was my favourite: it has a very good flavour and is healthy, too.

I like to keep healthy physically and mentally, too.

I grew up in the countryside in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo.