Benihana Wows With New Makeover, ‘Eatertainment’

Recently, Benihana in Anaheim made its grand debut after a complete, modern makeover. It has a lot of “wow” factor and is one more sign that the city of Anaheim is moving up in the world of serious dining.

When the Benihana restaurants first appeared in 1964, they set the stage for eating as entertainment. Japanese cuisine was unknown. Having a chef dazzle us with food being hacked at lightning speed, flipped high in the air and caught on the edge of a cutting or serving utensil while being prepared and cooked was high drama mixed with liberal laughter.

Teppan cooking, the stage for the razzle-dazzle of “eatertainment,” led the way and now the appreciation of Japanese cuisine is apparent as sushi has become a favorite of diners worldwide.

Benihana Inc. now is in its 43rd year, operating 59 company-owned teppanyaki restaurants. There also are 17 franchised Benihana teppanyaki restaurants in the U.S. and Latin America. The company also runs seven Haru sushi restaurant concepts and 13 RA Sushi Bar restaurants.

Benihana’s roots are firmly planted in Japan. Right after World War II, Yunosuke Aoki,a samurai descendent and a popular entertainer,and his wife Katsu opened a little coffee shop in Tokyo. Red safflowers were abundant in the neighborhood streets and were the inspiration for the Benihana name, which translates to “red flower.”

Four sons grew up with the coffee shop that later evolved into a more serious restaurant. While they all understood their parents’ restaurant business and philosophy of serving the public, it was the eldest son, Hiroaki, who, during his college years in Japan, began forming a mental concept of something theatrical combined with good food.

It was his participation as part of the Japanese Olympic wrestling team that introduced Hiroaki to America. That was in 1960. He adopted a name that was easier for Americans to pronounce and became “Rocky” Aoki.

Rocky sold ice cream in New York City and studied restaurant management at night, rudimentary as it was then compared to present day bachelor’s and master’s programs offered at most colleges. In 1964, Rocky opened the first Benihana of Tokyo with his signature teppan (the word means steel grill) cooktops in place. Adding an explanatory suffix to teppan, Rocky used the “yaki” (broiled) and another word, “teppanyaki,” was coined.

With the restaurant in close proximity to the Broadway theater district, it took about six months and a fine review in the New York Herald Tribune to make a star out of Rocky Aoki and his Benihana of Tokyo restaurant.

The credo has always been to provide top quality food, superior service and an enjoyable and highly sociable environment. It is still the core principle of today’s Benihana restaurants.

At the newly redone Benihana in Anaheim you will find an attractive and contemporary stylishness. This is actually the prototype for the makeover of 25 Benihana restaurants throughout the U.S. in the next three years.

The sensitive color palette, balance of serenity and local friendliness, and the amazingly expanded teppan room is quite nice.

It begins with a curved stone wall that features a Benihana family crest as the dramatic backdrop for the reception area. Wander behind the left side of the wall and the adjacent window of translucent bands and an affable lounge area appears emblazoned with a bold mural.

I noticed a lot of people intensely interested in the greatly expanded sake menu, with a selection ordinarily available only in Japan. Sake is slowly coming into its own after our great love affair with wine and martinis has practically drowned out all else.

To the right of the entry is the large sushi bar area and combination dining room where a la carte and sushi dining reign supreme. Broad swaths of pumpkin color blending into yellow and red accents provide an energetic and happy feeling. There are booths lining two walls with the L-shaped sushi bar in front of them showing off the briny fresh seafood and the action of the sushi chefs.

Situated between the lounge and the sushi bar is a large, separate dining room with about 16 teppan tables, each one with seating for about eight people. When I’ve been there, the room has been steadily filled. There’s so much going on with the chef in front of you that one can hardly peek at the other dueling chefs and their tricks of showmanship. It’s a whirlwind of sharp blades, high-flying food hitting exact targets on your plate and on the chef’s utensils and aromas of beef, chicken, seafood and vegetables cooking on the grills.

When it all began way back in the mid-’60s, our palates and consumer knowledge of global food were not as adept as they are today, so we probably noticed the fun at the table more than the food.

Today, we’ve traveled and experienced more. With all the globally inspired restaurants now available to us, we wouldn’t settle for less than high quality products and delicious flavors, regardless of the theatrics of cooking and serving the food.

Benihana is delivering nicely and we have found that the sauces have progressed to a sophisticated level. The foods that are cooked are of superb quality and standing up proudly to all the competition.

At the teppanyaki table, one can order a vast array of foods. Stay with one entree flavor: chicken, beef, shellfish, seafood or make your preferred combination of main dishes. All dinners come with soup, salad, teppanyaki vegetables and appropriate side dishes such as rice.

In addition, Benihana offers traditional dishes such as yakisoba saut & #233;ed noodles with meat and hibachi-cooked vegetables, soft udon noodles with shellfish and vegetables and various teriyaki steak and chicken preparations.

Of course, catch the sushi bar and you’ll discover not only the well-known versions of sushi and sashimi but lots of creative takes on modern sushi artistry. I know you are not going to leave that sushi haven, so you will have to go back another day to experience the theatrical camaraderie with the teppanyaki chef.

Benihana Anaheim: 2100 E. Ball Road, (714) 774-4940.

Culinary Jaunt

It can be amusing and highly educational to have lunch with four intensely interesting gentlemen who are quite up to speed on Orange County and global events. Five of us, including Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, recently had lunch together at The Catch in Anaheim. It was part of a loosely scheduled gathering that we try for about three times a year.

It began as a culinary jaunt about five years ago when our Executive Editor Rick Reiff was chatting with attorney Don Segretti and their conversation segued into the possibility of having lunch with me to compare notes on food and restaurants. Rick called me to ask if such a get-together interested me. But, of course. Any time someone is interested in talking about my passion for food, I’m game, especially when it’s over yet another meal.

Rick wondered if we wanted to also invite Ray Van Natta, a mutual friend of ours, to join in this luncheon to dissect the worlds of food and wine. At the time, I didn’t know Don, and I was looking forward to meeting him. We’ve known Ray and his wife Kim for about 27 years so that was an easy fit.

We decided to reserve one of the big upstairs booths at The Clubhouse in Costa Mesa for that first lunch. It proved to be a long meal because it turned out to be so interesting and far from being just about food and dining.

We had fun finding out what everyone was doing with their lives. We discussed politics and the status of the world. By the time we forced ourselves back to work for what was left of the afternoon, we’d verbally gone around the globe and then some.

We’d had such a good time together that Don suggested we do it every few months. I said that we could dub it the Three Guys and Fifi Lunch and we all laughed. We tried it quarterly for a couple of years, but getting four schedules to mesh isn’t easy. So, we’ve settled for meeting three times a year.

We decided at our last lunch together in late 2006 that, beginning this year, we would take turns inviting one additional guest to share our table each time. Not a permanent thing, just a one-time invitation in order to spur interesting conversations with perhaps a new direction other than the four of us catching up and rearranging the world once again.

Since we were meeting at The Catch, I thought Curt Pringle could add some interest to the table. After all, a lot of positive change is happening in Anaheim under his watch. Luckily, his schedule allowed him to be our guest. It also offered me the opportunity to sample a bit of the food at The Catch again. Since we’re light midday eaters, we found ourselves enjoying some fish and chips and crispy salads. We also shared a few appetizers and, just so that everything is perfectly clear for my readers, we all drank only iced tea.

Having shared this time at The Catch also poked me in the ribs to remind my readers that the owners, the three Manzella siblings who also own Taps in Brea and the brand new Taps in the Dos Lagos development in Corona, put a lot of money into the redo of this building about three years ago. It’s a fine place to dine before or after games or other events at the Honda Center.

The menu centers around steaks, chops and seafood. There’s even a full oyster bar.

The Catch: 1929 State College Blvd. (across from the entrance to Angel Stadium of Anaheim), Anaheim (714) 935-0101.