How could being a chef at one of the most popular Japanese
hibachi [hih-BAH-chee]-style chains in the world
improve your love life? Keep watching for a look into the unique skill set of a Benihana chef.
According to The Hustle, Benihana founder Rocky Aoki — who was previously a wrestler and an ice
cream man — was known as an eccentric guy. It made sense that he wanted his restaurants to have some
extra pizzazz. Aoki reportedly couldn't even cook himself, but that seemed to be beside the point.
In an effort to win over American diners, he banned any food that was slippery or slimy,
and made a point of hiring, per Mental Floss, Japanese cooks who had learned how to speak
English and knew how to bring showmanship to their cooking. He firmly believed that
American diners would be drawn in by his new restaurant's flair for the dramatic.
As First We Feast notes, the loud, loose dining format was:
"Tailor-made for large groups and birthday parties, and the built-in noise level made it
safe for parents to take a passel of unruly kids without the fear of getting shushed."
If you're looking to become a teppanyaki master behind a Benihana Grill, you can start by applying
online via the Benihana website, which lists all current job openings, including those for chefs.
If you're selected after your in-person interview, there is a five-week program that shows you some
of the basics, including, quote, "advanced knife skills, scratch cooking mastery, and showmanship."
Those with zero experience are out of luck — Benihana's not looking for complete newbies.
A minimum of one year in a professional kitchen setting is required.
What are some of the tricks you might learn?
While there doesn't appear to be an exact format each chef must follow, Keaton Patti, writing at
Medium, broke down the most common moves we've come to expect from a Benihana chef, including
clanking spatula-play, flashy egg-cracking, and fried rice served in the shape of a heart.
There is also, of course, the celebrated onion volcano,
in which a heap of "volcano oil" is poured into the center of a pyramid-style stack
of onion rings. The chef lights a flame down the middle and, voila, Benihana's
answer to Mount Vesuvius erupts into flames to the applause of impressed and hungry customers.
Like most careers, you don't truly get the hang of things through training alone.
It comes from real-life, on-your-feet practice.
One Redditor attested:
"I'm a hibachi chef! The only way to practice is to do it, when you start you cook employee
meals every day. The heat zones and the portions are the hardest part to get down.
When it comes to tricks and throwing stuff, I just took my fork and spatula home and practiced."
In a separate thread, another Redditor backed up that claim, posting:
"It's really a lot of on-the-job training. You have to do a lot of practicing on your own time.
And honestly, you learn a lot from making mistakes in front of customers."
It's worth noting that the Benihana training program isn't the only way to get a shot behind
the grill. Some staffers start at the bottom rung of the kitchen ladder and work their way up. One
Redditor shared that he began working at Benihana as a dishwasher and was finally getting ready to
start cooking on his first day as a chef, proudly posing in his white coat and red chef's hat.
If you're seeking romance while working as a Benihana chef,
the job could be ripe with opportunities. One chef said on Reddit:
"I was propositioned a few times, but never followed through. The city I worked in was
a vacation city, so there were a lot of lonely ladies who wanted to have fun with the chef."
Still, they do need to watch it when it comes to flirting. There's no doubt that Benihana chefs
want to avoid crossing the line and starting a potential fight in their place of business.
One Redditor recalled:
"One time a lady asked me to throw a shrimp [down her shirt].
I kept refusing, but she kept insisting, so I obliged."
Needless to say, the woman's husband was not happy about it.
"Anthony, I just can't believe that on the most important night of our lives
you brought me to a place where I have to watch my food get cooked in front of me."
Accidents are usually taken in stride, but Benihana was once sued when a former customer
claimed that an incident turned deadly. A woman had been dining at a Benihana in New York, in 2001
with her husband when, she asserted, he ducked to avoid being hit by a flying piece of shrimp.
According to The New York Times, she alleged that the evasive maneuver resulted in a neck injury,
which then required surgery. Post-surgery, he later died from blood poisoning. She
sued Benihana for $16 million in damages for pain and suffering.
Per NBC News, the plaintiff's attorney argued that:
"Benihana and only Benihana set in motion the forces [...] that led to his death."
Benihana's legal team, however, asserted there was no substantial proof of that. The jury, for
their part, reportedly took less than two hours to reach a conclusion, deciding in favor of Benihana.
According to ZipRecruiter, hibachi chefs are paid, on average, a little over $18 an hour. Certain
Benihana locations may also pay chefs a percentage of the revenue from the tables they cook for.
An Indeed user posted in 2019:
"Working on a table to table basis at 7 percent
you can make really good money if you are motivated. If you work at
a unit that pays you for the amount of tables you cook you will be better off."
But it's the bartenders who really clean up, one former employee revealed on Reddit,
with some making as much as $100,000 a year thanks to tips.
According to one comment on the career website Glassdoor,
chefs at an Alaskan outpost of the chain made 9 percent of the bill in tips per meal.
Even if the customer didn't tip them directly, servers were required to
share that amount to ensure that the chefs didn't end up getting stiffed.
As you can imagine, this type of scenario can lead to plenty of resentment. So much so that,
in 2016, one server filed a class action lawsuit against Benihana,
claiming that because they were forced to share tips with the chefs, which they
alleged violated labor laws, they suffered over $30,000 dollars in lost wages, according to TMZ.
"You ready?" "Yeah, I'm ready."
"Oh."
"One, that was one."
Once you're a Benihana chef, you've got a pretty valuable set of skills,
tricks, and showmanship to bring with you anywhere else you may cook in the future.
You can always return to your old gig at Benihana, too.
One former Benihana chef, a 70-year-old woman named Ly,
returned to hers due to the shortage of chefs caused by the Covid pandemic,
SFGate reported. Former chefs were even offered a $250 signing bonus to come back.
The reason Benihana is extra motivated to woo former chefs back rather than hire new ones has
everything to do with the amount of time it takes to train one.
With the worker shortage in the restaurant industry, places like Benihana — whose chefs
need to be as well-trained in entertaining as they are in meal preparation — are more
in demand and harder to find than ever, according to The Takeout.
Benihana has loads of famous fans, including comedian Tracy Morgan, who has waxed rhapsodic
about it in his own endearing way. He told New York Magazine's Grub Street in 2012
"This is my family. These people know me. This is fancy, man.
They cook the food right in front of you."
The midtown Manhattan location in particular,
he added, is popular with his well-known group of pals.
"Everybody comes here. L.L. comes here, Busta comes here. The Rock comes here.
Everybody comes to this Benihana."
Like the rest of us, celebrities have been quick to catch on that Benihana is a great
pick if you're dining with small children. Before their 2016 split, Brad Pitt and Angelina
Jolie brought their own small brood while in London, according to PopSugar. And while
Benihana will cater to the stars, it doesn't kowtow to alleged rude or ridiculous behavior.
When Tori Spelling sued Benihana over a 2014 visit with her family in which she claims
she slipped on a grill and injured herself, requiring hospitalization, Benihana shot back.
According to the Daily Mail, the restaurant sniped that Spelling had failed to, quote,
"conduct herself as a reasonable guest."
The restaurant demanded she pay Benihana's legal fees for the trouble.
The two parties later agreed to mediation.
For Benihana chefs, patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to the restaurant's
Be the Chef program. For a few hundred dollars, a trained Benihana culinary expert will teach their
student tricks of the grill, including how to pull off Benihana's widely beloved fried rice.
After that, the student will have the chance to cook a meal for their friends,
finishing the program with their own apron, chef's hat, photograph, and teppanyaki chef's certificate
to commemorate the occasion. As for the cheesy jokes, they probably have to improvise their own.
Throughout the process, your Benihana teacher is right there to help get you out of trouble.
Many who have completed Be the Chef have wonderful things to say.
One proud parent, who gifted her son the program for his 16th birthday, said on TripAdvisor:
"[The chef] worked with him for over 2 hours teaching him how to cook hibachi style. When I
arrived for dinner with the family 2 hours later, I was handed a picture, and my son was dressed in
full chef clothing with the big red hat included. I was amazed that he was given so much attention."
"Looks like you got a little Nakiri knife action going there."
"No, it's Soba."
"Yeah, I bet you wish you had a Nikiri, though."
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