Nobu was born in Saitama, Japan, and trained as a sushi chef at Matsuei Sushi in Tokyo. After running restaurants in Peru, Argentina and Alaska, Nobu opened his first restaurant, Matsuhisa, in Beverley Hills in 1987. Six years later, Robert de Niro persuaded him to open Nobu in New York. There are now fourteen Nobu restaurants all over the world - in New York, Los Angeles, Malibu, Aspen, Las Vegas, London, Milan and Tokyo. Author Location: California Mark Edwards is the head chef of Michelin-starred Nobu London, the first of Nobu's restaurants to be opened outside the USA. He is also responsible for Ubon by Nobu in London's Canary Wharf and has played a key role in setting up the kitchens and training staff at all new Nobus since 1997. Before coming to Nobu, Mark worked in London's Cafe Royal, the George V hotel in Paris, the Mandarin Orchard hotel in Singapore and at Vong in London. Nobu Berkeley which opened in 2005 in London's Mayfair has just been awarded its first Michelin star.