Robert De Niro Opens Nobu Restaurant in Australia

Robert De Niro might have his name behind more restaurants than he does mobster movies. Or more recently, Fockers movies.

While most of his eateries and venues are based in New York City, specifically the neighborhood of TriBeCa, De Niro is opening his next place overseas. He plans to open Nobu, a chain of Japanese restaurants, in Australia. The eatery will be based in Perth and will only be the second branch of the restaurant in Australia.

De Niro is planning to fly to Perth on Sunday to personally open the restaurant. And, if you've ever seen Mr. Personality in an interview, I'm guessing this opening will consist of him getting off the plane, going to the venue to cut the ribbon, saying "sup", and then getting right back on the plane.

He co-owns the chain with Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa. It's nice to actually know where the name of a Japanese restaurant comes from for once. You know, instead of casually saying, "Hey guys, let's go to Shiri Heddo" and not knowing it translates to "ass head."

The 21-restaurant chain has rave reviews and is frequented by celebrities like Kate Winslet and Madonna. It's been a success despite a bit of controversy in 2008. Undercover Greenpeace investigators targeted the chain a few years back and found that they were selling endangered tuna. Apparently, the world doesn’t have enough Bluefin Tuna, and while it's not illegal to serve it, a lot of chefs, including Gordon Ramsay, have dropped it from their menus.

Willie Mackenzie of Greenpeace said: "Nobu and Robert De Niro are clearly making a great deal of money serving up endangered fish and they were reported this year as trying to sell a controlling share of their restaurant chain at a valuation of $400 million. Now it turns out that Nobu's celebrity clientele are unwittingly pushing bluefin tuna towards extinction, and they should demand that the restaurant stop serving it up immediately.

Really, does Bluefin tuna really taste that much better than StarKist? Isn't it all just chicken of the sea? Especially when its cut up into tiny bits in a tuna roll.

In addition to Nobu, De Niro also owns TriBeCa Grill with developer Paul Wallace and Broadway producer Stewart F. Lane. The restaurant serves American fare, with menu items like goat cheese raviolini and their own spice rubbed lamb loin.

And that's not all. In addition, De Niro owns the restaurant inside the Greenwich Hotel—Locanda Verde. Hey, he likes the food business. Locanda Verde is run and co-owned by chef Andrew Carmellini. It's an Italian steakhouse with its own share of celebrity clientele.