Nobu and De Niro label their own sushi “endangered”

[I] would not serve chimpanzee and tiger meat, because it is illegal, but while bluefin remained legal there was a “ludicrous situation” where some said it was unethical to serve it but Japanese fishmongers said it was a well regulated trade.

Seriously - they announced they’re serving an endangered species of fish.

You may remember the scandal last week when it was discovered that Robert De Niro and Nobu Matsuhisa were serving bluefin tuna at their London sushi restaurants, supposedly without their customers knowing that it is considered by many to be an endangered species.

Did they take it off the menu? 

No - just warned it was endangered!

The British press and environmental groups were in an uproar because the customers were not informed that the meal they were eating was considered by many people to be an endangered species (even though it is not legally-so in many countries due to Japanese lobbying pressure and the economic reward for fishermen).

So Richie Notar, the managing partner of the Nobu chain, decided that hiding it was the problem, and said:

“We are going to describe what’s on our menu but I’m also going to put an asterisk next to [bluefin] and next to that we are going to say that it is environmentally endangered.”

Great. Lot of good that’ll do. 

Notar tried to blame the chefs, but ultimately he settled on blaming the law, with his chimps and tigers comment.

Look, Nobu - just because something’s legal doesn’t mean it’s good to do.