Hiroaki ‘Rocky’ Aoki, Benihana founder, dead at 69
Professional-wrestler-turned-restauranter Hiroaki ‘Rocky’ Aoki, founder of the Benihana chain of Japanese restaurants, died two days ago at the age of 70. Cause of death is noted as pneumonia. I’m sure that Benihana was for many an American their first taste of Japanese food, even if the menu doesn’t feature many of the more exotic selections of the Japanese diet.
I remember my brothers and I once went to Benihana to eat one afternoon a few years ago, and my father (who himself is in the restaurant business and seems to know everyone else in the biz for a 100-mile radius) found out that our tableside chef was in fact Filipino. After a spirited conversation in Tagalog, it soon turned out that every Asian employee of the restaurant was likewise Filipino - an irony I was quick to recognize.
That has nothing to do with Mr. Aoki, but its’ my fondest memory of Benihana. It’s also worth noting that Mr. Aoki’s daughter, Devon Aoki, portrayed the silent assassin Miho in Robert Rodriguez’ film adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City.
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