[2] He is also owner of Bar Masa, with two locations: one adjacent to his New York City restaurant, and one in the Aria Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.

In the spring, which is wedding season in Japan, the family catered celebrations, typically five-course dinners for 200 guests where he would help all day at the expense of school.

[4][5] As per traditional culinary apprenticeship in Japan, he spent many of those years working on mundane tasks such as dishwasher and bathroom cleaner before rising to the level of sushi chef.

Takayama would keep a careful record of each customer, the date he or she dined at the restaurant, how many were in the party, what they drank and what they ate so that he could offer them something new on their next visit.

[3][4] In 1990, the average bill without alcohol, depending on the amount eaten by a customer and the fluctuating price of fish, ranged from $125 to $150 per person.

Marlon Brando, who would frequently visit the restaurant after hours with his family, was reportedly the only customer to whom Takayama would deliver food.

The idea for the location came from fellow chef and admirer Thomas Keller, who was opening his own restaurant, Per Se, in the complex.

[11] The restaurant also included Shaboo, an upscale omakase-style shabu-shabu dining room that charges approximately $500 per person without drinks.

[12] In 2012 Shaboo was replaced by Tetsu, with a Yakitori-based menu emphasizing grilled fare, and featuring both a la carte and Omakase menus.

Takayama married Hisako Ishii, a Japanese native studying English he met at an Orange County sushi bar where he worked, in 1979.

[13] He plays golf, runs marathons and is also a potter who designed the plates at Masa, along with sake cups of wood and bamboo.