The world’s highest Nobu restaurant will open on September 20, 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand, as its operators, Nobu Hospitality maintains plans to go big in the kingdom.
Nobu Hospitality, together with Asset World Corporation (AWC), will venture into two key districts, detailed Wallapa Traisorat, CEO and president of AWC.
“The new restaurant will be located on the 58th floor and rooftop of Empire Tower in Sathorn, Bangkok’s burgeoning business district; Nobu Hospitality and AWC will also manage The Plaza Athenee Nobu Hotel and Spa in the restored East Asiatic building on the riverside, alongside launching the River Journey plaza concept and Thailand’s first Nobu Hotel across the street next to the Mandarin Oriental,” she revealed.
The two hotels are expected to open in 2026.
Celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Hollywood actor Robert De Niro, co-founders of Nobu Hospitality, who hosted an exclusive Bangkok press briefing last week, also shared their visions for the company and new restaurant in the Thai capital with TTG Asia.
Nobu Hospitality had its founding roots from when De Niro – a regular customer at Matsuhisa’s eponymous restaurant in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles since 1988 – invited him to collaborate to open another restaurant in New York, something Matsuhisa finally agreed to in 1994.
Nearly 20 years later, the brand made its hotel debut in Las Vegas in 2013.
Asked how the brand went from restaurants to hotels, De Niro told TTG Asia: “With hotels, we kept being asked if we would put a Nobu restaurant in a hotel or a residence or some place, and I would say, why are we doing this? We’re being asked to put Nobu in these places for a certain cachet, credibility – why are we not trying this at least?”
According to Matsuhisa, who credits part of the brand’s success to De Niro’s “great ideas” and “negotiation skills”, Nobu’s vision for hospitality is about bringing it back to the basics. “Our formula is simple: good food and good service. Bangkok has changed a lot since my last visit, and now, the quality here is very high. It’s the right time for us to come,” he stated.