MANILA, Philippines - The popular New York-based Japanese restaurant Benihana of Tokyo, with its close to a hundred branches all over the world, has chosen Lyceum of the Philippines University’s Culinary Institute (LPU-LCI) as training ground for the teppanyaki chefs it will need when it opens additional branches in Asia.
The restaurant is known for its sumptuous meals theatrically prepared by knife-wielding, joke-telling chefs at teppanyaki tables, each surrounded by a wooden eating surface for the customers.
The first Benihana of Tokyo opened in New York in 1964 and it now boasts of branches all over the United States, Latin America, Caribbean, and the Middle East.
Benihana of Tokyo CEO Keiko Ono Aoki and director of operations Porche Prasertchoang recently visited the LCI to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with LPU president Atty. Roberto Laurel and vice president for academic affairs Dr. Conrado Inigo Jr.
The MOU provides for a partnership between both institutions where Benihana of Tokyo will provide the technical training and equipment, while the LCI will provide the teaching demonstration laboratory and the faculty trainors. The teppanyaki tables, donated by the restaurant chain, have been installed at the LPU Culinary Institute.
Those interested in this teppanyaki chefs training may contact LCI at 318-400 or LPU’s College of International Tourism and Hospitality Management at 527-2744.