Robert de Niro’s Nobu Restaurant Now Offers Ethical Dilemma On Menu

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by Michael dEstries September 22, 2008
Categories: Eats
Tags: .

A couple weeks back, it was revealed that Robert De Niro’s popular restaurant chain, Nobu, was including endangered fish on its menu — particularly, the critically hurting Atlantic bluefin tuna. Needless to say, the bad press greatly upset the management. However, they’re not going to remove the fish from their menu — opting instead just to let people know that what they’re about to order contains meat from an endangered species.

Would you like a side of guilt with that sushi?

Of course, none of this is sitting well with Greenpeace — the organization that released the findings after an investigation. “It’s all very well labeling endangered species on the menu,” said Greenpeace’s Willie Mackenzie. “But the simple fact is, if it’s endangered they shouldn’t be serving it up anyway.”

Agreed — however the move to remove bluefin entirely was resisted by the restaurant’s Japanese chefs, who use the fish in sushi and consider it the tastiest of all tuna. There is hope though. From the article,

“Nobu Matsuhisa, the leading sushi chef who co-owns Nobu with Mr de Niro, has been looking into supplying his chain with bluefin farmed from the egg in Australia and Japan, instead of rounded up wild in the Mediterranean and fattened before being shot and exported to Japan.”

What do you think? Is the menu option a step in the right direction? Do you think it will curb ordering of endangered species?


Categories: Eats
Tags: .

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • Sibi

    I’ve never liked DeNiro, now I just have one more reason to dislike him.

  • http://BrainyBlonde.com erin

    not a big fan of deniro and definitely not a fan of nobu. i went to the malibu location a year and a half ago (before i gave up fish.. again!) both were so pretentious and severely over priced..

    granted, at malibu location there were celebs all around us just eating there to be seen. and the people who pay to eat there are just paying to be seen eating by the loser celebs. never again.

    oh and in malibu we sat in this crappy outdoor area which was the parking lot with a make shit roof over us and some bad plastic hanging down like walls. the celebs all had to sit in there too. it was cold and it sucked. i had better sushi at the 9.95 all you can eat in miami.

  • RAIN-RA

    WHy is the law not cracking down on that restaurant?

  • sara

    This is beyond ridiculous. Shouldn’t it be illegal? Isn’t that the point of being an endangered species, to get protection from stuff like this?

  • http://celebrities.com/ Key

    If the fish is on the endangered species list why isn’t illegal for them to be serving it? The chefs there need to have enough respect for the fish that they claim to love so much to at least not eat them into oblivion!

  • http://BrainyBlonde.com erin

    sNobu is above the law. tell your friends not to go there. especially your vapid celeb friends. boycott sNobu!

  • Cid Martins

    If you have money, prestige and fame you are above laws… It’s like that in the US and in the rest of the world!

    It has always been, it is and will always be like that unless the ‘little’ people rebel against the system.

    Enough with those few humans who think they own the natural resources which belong to every living creature on earth!

    This planet needs a quick and dramatic change. Things won’t last much longer… Take a look around! Everything is falling apart – environment, species, economy, hope and ultimately the future of us all!

  • Pingback: Endangered sushi at De Niro’s restaurant now served with mild eco-guilt | Gfeen.com

  • http://BrainyBlonde.com erin

    i say people stand outside and boycott. the hipsters who go there (whether truly hip or not) won’t want to break the picket line. Snobu will quickly take it off the menu then. Man I HATE that crappy food restaurant the more I think about it. I wish I’d never gone to either location.

  • Stephanie Williams

    I know a few of the snobby hipsters that go there just to go to a swank place and belive you me…the trendy people DON’T CARE!!! In a sick way, it makes it MORE worth it to them! I told one of my coworkers (one who goes there) that he shouldn’t cause of this and he goes “That sounds good! I may order that next time”

    To the rich, stuck up and pretentious….it’s all a big joke.

    This coming from an activist! lol.

    It SHOULD be illegal!! I think i’m going to start looking into that and writing some letters.

    And protests are always good anyway.

    Farming the fish is no better, why don’t they farm them and put them back in the wild if your gonna make the effort?!

  • http://montereybayaquarium.typepad.com/ Ken Peterson

    Robert De Niro, Nobu and ordinary sushi lovers and chefs won’t have to wonder what sushi is OK to eat and what comes from seafood caught or farmed in ways that harm the oceans. On October 22, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, along with the folks at Blue Ocean Institute and Environmental Defense Fund, will release consumer pocket guides to sustainable sushi so we can all make ocean-friendly choices. Check it out at http://www.seafoodwatch.org, http://www.blueocean.org and http://www.edf.org. — Ken Peterson, Monterey Bay Aquarium

  • katya

    If this was such an endangered fish, it would in fact be cracked down on…and it would be illegal to sell/consume. It tells me that once again greenpeace is going over the top. It isnt the first time they have done so. I am not saying i am in favour of nobu, i have never been there, but i do know what tactics greenpeace uses…not all of which are legal in itself…its rather like the pot calling the kettle black. it is like saying ok deniro is doing something illegal, while greenpeace takes its boats and rams other boats, or damages crab/lobster cages, etc…for things that are not even on the endangered list…but it is still illegal to damage property…but is it ok for them to do so??? greenpeace is the least believeable and most hypocritical of any of the activist groups. I dont believe anything they publish

  • Steve Tyler

    Erin above doesn’t seem to understand what this is all about. To the others, write to the US Fish & Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Division @ POB 9, Sherwood, OR, 97140-0009

  • Pingback: Greenpeace goes to battle with Robert DeNiro’s Nobu over endangered bluefin tuna | Famous Celebrity Pets

  • http://www.eastcoastgourmet.com live lobster

    It becomes apparent that there is a lot to know about this. I think you have made a lot of smart points in your article.

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