Before Nobu existed as a brand, this is where savvy diners would come to sample the unusual (for its time) cuisine that Nobu Matsuhisa crafted while working in Japanese restaurants in Lima, Peru. Today, Matsuhisa’s menu is filled with what are now famous dishes like Tuna Tataki with caviar, crab in a spicy, creamy sauce and squid cut into pasta like ribbons and served with a garlic sauce. As with most of the top Japanese restaurants in the country, "the real action takes place in the omakase room," where one luxury ingredient after another is doled out in an attempt to eat away at the bank accounts of compliant Hollywood types and Japanese businessmen who occupy most of the stools at the counter.