Cingles Info

Rock Solid: The Story Behind Benihana
Restaurateur Rocky Aoki doesn't let hepatitis C get in his way.
By: Tamra Orr
Rocky Aoki just returned from a trip to Istanbul where he opened yet another of
his Benihana restaurants. While there, he purchased a 5 x 10 silk Turkish rug
for a mere $27,000. "They knew I was coming," he says with a rueful chuckle.
Maybe they did-but it's unlikely anyone could pull any kind of rug over this
businessman's head. With his years in the restaurant business, the lessons he
has learned and the success he has had, he is certainly nobody's fool. And he
hasn't let his hepatitis slow him down for a moment, either. "I keep a 'the show
must go on' attitude," he says.
In addition to hot air balloon and cross-country car races, Aoki has also been a
longtime fan of offshore powerboat racing. He had three fairly serious accidents
between the years 1979 and 1982 and attributes his diagnosis of hepatitis C to
one of them. "I broke many, many bones," he says, "and I feel that one of those
accidents is where I got hepatitis C. I had many blood transfusions.
"I was diagnosed with hepatitis 20 years ago, just after one of my accidents"
says Aoki. "I had interferon injections for more than five years and I felt
terrible then. I was dizzy with headaches and fever. I even lost all of my hair,
but now it has grown back. The interferon helped me," he adds, "and I survived.
Now I am going to Dr. Christopher Calapai, D.O., at Comprehensive Medical
Services in East Meadow, New York, for vitamin C drips one or two times a week.
I checked my blood just last week and I am doing well."
Challenging the disease
While hepatitis has obviously been a factor in Aoki's life, it hasn't slowed him
down at all. His future plans include opening his first restaurants in Shanghai
and Beijing, China, and, within 10 years, to have at least 35 of them in those
areas. He travels back and forth to Japan every two or three months. "I call
myself a challenger," he says. "I will challenge myself until I die. I work hard
and I work smart. You win only if you are not afraid to lose."
Much of Aoki's time, money and dedication are spent with charity work. He is a
regular contributor and spokesperson for such groups as the American Liver
Foundation, the National Foundation for Cancer Research and the Leukemia
Society. On the 25th anniversary of his restaurant chain, he raised $25,000 for
Juvenile Diabetes. He has worked to raise public awareness and funds for
hepatitis C, and the Rocky Aoki Foundation, a community service organization,
helps to solve community problems at the local level. One of his most recent
charitable efforts took place in September. In order to honor the nation's men
and women in uniform, he offered 50 percent discounts each Wednesday to anyone
showing a badge. Son Kevin stated, "We want to pay tribute to those who fight
for freedom and justice, especially during this important time in history. This
is just one small way that we can thank the American men and women in uniform
who are willing to sacrifice their lives for our country."
Connecting two cultures
The company continues to be represented in hot air balloon races across the
country and acts as associate sponsors of American Spirit Racing and driver
Michael Lewis, as well as other major sporting events. In his drive to
interconnect the United States' culture with Japan's, Aoki brought the first
heavyweight-boxing match to Japan in 1971, including international boxing stars
Muhammad Ali and Mac Foster, and then brought the Japanese tennis team here to
be part of the U.S. Championship. He has sponsored several cultural events,
including the "Asian Festivals" in Manhattan's Central Park and numerous
contributions to Japanese artists currently in this country. Despite his
inability to cook, Aoki has made a number of cooking videos for home use, using
his knowledge and an assistant's cooking talents. His Benihana National
Corporation also develops a line of frozen foods for home use.
Aoki first came to this country with the 1960 Japanese Olympic wrestling team.
He had already won national wrestling championships in Japan. Now, he was here
to compete for the New York Athletic Club and in doing so, he added three U.S.
titles to his growing collection. In 1995, he was inducted into the Wrestling
Hall of Fame.
Aoki was only 20 years old, and he already had quite a bit of business knowledge
just waiting to take root in this new country. His father, Yunosuke Aoki, was a
popular entertainer in Japan, as well as a restaurant owner. "My dad was a
vaudevillian," says Aoki. "He was a song and dance man and a comedian. He taught
me everything he didn't know." Yunosuke and his wife, Katsu, had opened their
first coffeehouse-style restaurant just after the end of World War II and named
it "Benihana" for the red safflowers that grew along the streets. "My father's
restaurant was known for using real sugar," says Aoki. "In those times, he would
often have to bicycle more than 20 miles to get it." All four of Yunosuke and
Katsu's sons grew up immersed in the business with their parents. Rocky, or
Hiroaki as he was called then, was the oldest of the brothers, and he saw how
his father made his restaurants special by using the unique combination of great
food, a touch of drama and a splash of entertainment. It was a lesson that would
one day bring him great success.
From ice cream in Harlem to Chicago
Without any real money, contacts or family here in the United States, Aoki knew
he had to start small. First, he changed his name from his native Hiroaki to the
simpler and easier to remember Rocky. "I leased a big truck from Mr. Frosty," he
recalls, "and started selling ice cream right in the heart of Harlem." To make
his treats memorable, Aoki would stick Japanese cocktail umbrellas in each one.
The truck cost him $25 a day to rent and yet, through incredible hard work and
dedication, he managed to save up $10,000 in a matter of months. The price he
paid was sometimes a bit much. "It was the era of the 60s," he says. "During
that time, I was stabbed two times in the leg, mugged several times, beaten up
and robbed. It was a real challenge to my spirit," he says, but then, he adds
with a grin, "I'm only 5'4" but I am one pretty good street fighter."
Aoki's father had passed away by the time his son was on the verge of following
in his footsteps. "My mother back in Japan was worried about me," he says, "and
so she came to New York to live with me in a studio apartment. She worked as a
waitress to help me with money." At the same time, Aoki was also going to New
York City Technical College for
classes on hotel and restaurant management. By 1964, his money and education
combined to help him open up his first restaurant on New York's West Side.
Although Japanese restaurants can be found today in even small cities, back in
the mid-60s, Japanese cuisine was a mystery to most Americans. The menu at
Aoki's first restaurant was intriguing and unusual to say the least. To make
things even more unusual for customers, and following the lessons he had learned
from his father, Rocky introduced an all-new concept to the dining
experience-eatertainment. Along with exotic food, customers were also highly
entertained by dramatic chefs, wielding sharp, shiny knives as easily as if they
were a child's rubber balls. With overhead lights glinting off cutlery that flew
up in the air and then back down to the grill in the middle of each table to
slice, dice and flip, people began to eat at Benihana as much for the fun as the
food. "In my restaurants, the chef is right in front of the customer," explains
Aoki. "He is there for appetizers through the main entrée. I think that in
America, showmanship is very important." Don't be fooled into thinking that it
was Aoki who taught the chefs their culinary skills. "I do not even know how to
cook," he admits. "I just know how to create the right kind of system."
In addition to this avant-garde style of tableside cooking, tables at Benihana
seated several parties together at communal tables instead of separately, as in
most restaurants. Most tables sat approximately eight people. A positive review
from a restaurant critic from the now defunct New York Tribune soon had Benihana
packed to capacity. "I began doing many television and magazine interviews," he
says. At this point, Aoki opened a second restaurant about three blocks to the
east and inside of six months, it, too, was packed to capacity. As its
popularity began to grow, Mr. Hilton-as in the hotel chain-approached Aoki. "He
said 'I like this place. Let's put one in Chicago,'" Aoki explains. "It hit very
big, but I was not surprised after New York. As the song lyrics say, 'If you can
make it there, you can make it anywhere.'"
Taking risks
One by one, Aoki went to large cities and opened more Benihana restaurants.
Today, there are more than 100 around the world and Benihana is considered the
No. 1 most well known international restaurant, serving more than 7 million
people each year. A recent addition to some of the restaurants is a sushi bar.
Of course, during the chain's growth, Aoki kept more than busy doing
promotion-and taking some considerable risks. One of the hot air balloon races
he participated in produced a record-breaking trip from Japan to California. It
took four days, and in the Pacific Eagle balloon, Aoki and his crew were plagued
with everything from ice and storms to near- fatal crashes. The trip was
highlighted in a 1982 issue of the National Geographic and in a book entitled
"Flight of the Pacific Eagle." His company continues to fly in a number of hot
air balloon competitions, and the company uses a hot air balloon as one of its
icons.
Personal life risks
Along with physical risks, Aoki was also taking a few risks with his love life.
He has been married three times and has seven children altogether. "I never
learn my lesson when it comes to women," he laughs. "I just get divorced and
they take all of my money-I am still paying all of them today. They had a very
famous and very good lawyer." His oldest child is daughter Grace, who lives in
New Jersey, and his youngest is Devon, a professional runway model for Chanel
and Lancome, as well as an actress starring in the film "Fast and Furious 2."
Aoki's son, Kevin, is also following in his dad's footsteps. He has worked as
vice-president for Benihana in Miami for many years and has his own restaurant
there named Doraku. Aoki's younger brother is taking his father's example to
heart, also, and has opened up four Japanese restaurants himself. "Competition
is very healthy," says Aoki. "It is a rat race with businessmen in New York;
everyone wants to be the champion. My brother and I are not brothers now, we are
competitors."
Learn more about Rocky Aoki's life story and subsequent success in these books:
Making It in America: The Life and Times of Rocky Aoki, Benihana's Pioneer, by
Jack McCallum, Dodd Mead, 1985.
Mr. Benihana: The Rocky Aoki Story by Takahashi Miyuki (comic book format),
Stone Bridge Press, 1997.
Aoki has authored eleven books himself, including 2003's Sake, a book about the
history, background and use of this Japanese wine.
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