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Nobu, the seminal, if faded sushi restaurant on Berkeley Street in Mayfair, will close in the coming months on 23 March after resigning its lease. Property Week reports that the plans come in the context of opening a new Nobu hotel on Portman Square, in a one-in-one-out deal. Industry insiders tell Eater that the lease will be taken by Il Borro, a luxury Italian restaurant founded at the Jumeirah Al Naseem Hotel in Dubai.
The Mayfair restaurant lost its Michelin star in 2014, but it is still a brand with a certain kind of worldwide clout, whose iconic black cod and miso, Nikkei-style sushi, and dedication to luxury ingredients draws celebrities in by the bucketload. Robert de Niro is an investor in the business that runs the hotels, Nobu Hospitality, also founded by Meir Teper and Nobu restaurant creator Nobu Matsuhisa. It said in 2018 that it aims to reach $1 billion in revenue across its 40+ portfolio by 2023. Still: the restaurant and its Old Park Lane sibling were, at their time, at the peak of London’s most illustrious dining experiences.
More soon.