http://blogs.usatoday.com/hotelhotsh...t-de-niro.html
Robert De Niro, hotel magnate
Actor Robert De Niro, who's a key investor in the just-opened The Greenwich Hotel in his beloved TriBeCa neighborhood in downtown Manhattan, is involved with another hotel project.
The Oscar-winner, who also has invested in Nobu Matsuhisa’s trendy Nobu restaurants, is a partner in the Japanese chef’s Nobu Hotel and Residences, due to break ground this year in Manhattan’s financial district and open in 2010. It'll be a sleek 62-story tower with a Nobu restauarant.
Matsuhisa aims to meld "the impeccable attention to detail characteristic of Japanese hospitality with modern amenities and sophisticated luxuries," he says in a statement.
It's planned as part of a Nobu chain -- the first one is going up on Israel's Mediterranean "Riviera."
Do readers have thoughts on chefs going into the hotel business on a large scale? I know some have inns at their restaurants, but this is a far bigger deal. What do you think?
I also find it interesting that De Niro -- who is known for being a non-publicity-seeking actor's actor and whose ever-expanding restaurant investments include Nobu and Ago -- is really jumping into the hospitality business.