Rocky Aoki: Hibachi’s a Bitch and Then You Die | 163

Scamfluencers

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.1 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rocky Aoki, the son of a vaudeville performer and a tango dancer, grows up in the wreckage of post-war Tokyo. With his natural flair for entertainment, he opens his first Benihana restaurant in Manhattan, making sure to entertain his customers via knife-wielding chefs. Rocky builds his business up throughout the 80s, stopping at nothing to make his restaurant empire bullet-proof, but he ends up almost bringing the ship down after having several affairs, a secret family, and a conviction for insider trading. To this day his kids and his widow, Keiko Aoki, are still battling it out over the Benihana trust and its flashy legacy.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, scamfluencer's fans, Sarah here. If you love the drama, deception, and mind-blowing reveals, Wondery Plus is your VIP ticket to more. Add free episodes, early access to the juiciest scandals, and deep dives you won't find anywhere else. Get the full scamfluencers experience. Sign up today.
0:19.0	Just a disclaimer before we start this episode.
0:22.3	I lost my voice for a few days.
0:24.3	It's finally back, but I'm now left with this sexy rasp, which you all have to enjoy.
0:44.5	Sachi, do you have like a dream dining experience, like something that you just want to experience so badly?
0:46.8	No.
0:49.3	No, not really.
0:51.2	It's okay.
0:51.7	I'll throw one out for you.
0:53.0	Okay.
0:53.9	Mine is very attainable. It is literally just to go to Benihana. I don't know why I haven't gone. I've clearly been around one, but I feel like now it has to be so special. Yeah, dinner and a show. I get it. I would go with you. We should go. There's one in
1:11.5	Toronto. Someone take us to Venihana. Benihana sponsor us. Maybe not. Maybe not after this.
1:18.9	Okay, maybe not. Never mind. I don't know yet. Well, today, I'm going to tell you all about
1:23.5	the insane story of how Benihana got huge. But most importantly, it's a story about Rocky Aoki,
1:30.6	the brilliant entrepreneur behind the beloved brand.
1:33.7	He introduced a type of Japanese food to the masses,
1:36.5	but a string of scams nearly tarnished his reputation.
1:47.7	It's the spring of 1964 in Midtown Manhattan.
1:52.5	A woman named Clementine Paddleford is walking down West 56th Street when a tiny storefront catches her eye.
1:55.9	Clementine's got blonde, wavy hair, a prominent nose, and a bright smile.
2:00.8	But she's perhaps best known for her palate.
2:03.6	At this time, Clementine is the restaurant critic for the New York Herald Tribune
	...

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