Liquid Measure: A Yen for Sake
Benihana capitalizes on sake’s growing popularity with a more comprehensive menu.
By Maya Norris, Managing Editor -- Chain Leader, 11/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
 Benihana’s new sake program centers around nine premium chilled sakes from Japan. They also serve as the base for Benihana’s new Sake Cocktails. |
As Japanese fare such as sushi, wasabi and miso become more ubiquitous in the United States, it’s not surprising that sake, Japan’s traditional rice wine, is also gaining a following among Americans. Japan exported nearly 3 million liters of sake to the United States last year, up from 1.5 million in 1998, according to the Japanese Ministry of Finance.
So when Benihana decided to create a new prototype, it couldn’t pass up the opportunity to revamp its sake offerings, too. The Miami-based teppanyaki chain reinvented its sake menu with a slew of premium sakes from Japan and creative sake cocktails that stay true to its Japanese heritage while showcasing a more contemporary Benihana.
After spending a year developing its sake program, Benihana rolled it out to the 75-unit system from October 2005 to January 2006. “More people are aware now about sake, and they are ordering it more,” says Director of Beverage Enrique Briceno. “The main thing was just make [the sake menu] a little bit exciting—create more awareness about sake and the different presentations.”
Sake Education
Even though sake connoisseurs say that high-quality sake should be consumed chilled, most people in the United States are only familiar with inexpensive warm sake, which is heated to mask its flaws. While Benihana does offer one house sake served hot, its new sake menu features nine premium chilled sakes from Japan. Three of the sakes fall into the daiginjyo category, the highest grade, $9.50 to $12 a glass and $47.50 to $62.50 a bottle. The three junmai-ginjyo-grade sakes are the least expensive, $6 to $8.50 a glass and $28 to $38 a bottle. And the remaining three junmai sakes fall in the middle, $6.50 to $8.50 a glass and $35 to $46 a bottle.
To educate customers about the subtle flavors and textures of sake, Benihana offers the Sake Grazer, $12, three 2-ounce glasses of premium sake ranging from sweet to dry. It comes with a card describing each sake in the flight, including the brewing process, classification, sugar concentration and flavors.
“By sampling and by experimenting, it really makes a difference in the customer experience,” Briceno says. “It’s then easier for us to determine what they like. That sampler really works well.” The Sake Grazer makes up 20 percent to 30 percent of sake sales.
Creative Combinations
With half of the menu dedicated to premium sake, Benihana decided to get creative with its new stash. Sake now serves as the base for several new cocktails. The best-selling ones feature a sweet flavor profile: Mango Saketini, $6.50, blends mango, pineapple, orange and lemon juices with sake; and Ocean Blue, $6.50, mixes sake, blue curacao, triple sec and pineapple juice. Customers who prefer their cocktails on the dry side often order the $6.50 San Diego Beach, which features sake with apple pucker and pineapple juice.
“There’s some people that want to try something refreshing but not very heavy, and [the sake cocktails] look good, and it’s fun,” Briceno says. “[Customers] can have one or two or even three and not feel like when they’ve had three martinis—that it’s too much for them and they can’t handle it.”
The new menu also pairs sake with food in the Sake & Snack section. For $12.50, customers choose from junmai, junmai-ginjyo or daiginjyo sake and one snack dish: Beef Sashimi; Shrimp Tempura; Kai-San Trio, sliced octopus and hokkigai (Japanese clam), and julienne squid with masago caviar; or Marinated Salmon, three pieces of marinated salmon roll with cream cheese, avocado and sliced onion. Popular pairings include Kikusui junmai ginjyo with the Marinated Salmon, and Tamanohikari daiginjyo with the Kai-San Trio.
With premium sakes, sake cocktails, and a menu category pairing sake and food, Benihana’s new sake menu is a far cry from the chain’s previous selection. The restaurants previously offered only two or three sakes. And the sake offerings differed among units based on what sakes were available regionally. “All of that now is in the past,” Briceno says. “Everything is consistent now. Everything is uniform.”
Paying the Price
But executing a large, sophisticated sake program for a national chain comes with a price. The sake menu increased beverage costs overall by 1 percent, to 18 percent to 19 percent. “The new menu had a little bit of increase in cost because we’re dealing with higher-priced items, but we expected it,” Briceno says. “We’re not concerned about that. We have a great item on the menu, and we’re proud of it.”
Sake, however, has helped boost Benihana’s beverage sales to 17 percent to 20 percent from 15 percent to 16 percent. Sake sales now make up 5 percent to 7 percent of beverage sales; because the sake offerings differed at each unit prior to rolling the new sake menu, the company does not know how much sake previously contributed to beverage sales. The average beverage check has also increased about 50 cents to 60 cents to $5 to $5.10.
Now that Benihana considers the sake program a success, it is ready to supplement it with limited-time offers. The company will introduce a sake sangria from November through January and sakes infused with fruits such as strawberry and blueberry next year. It also wants to add more sushi to the Sake & Snack menu.
As the company continues to evolve its core sake menu and develop sake-based LTOs, Benihana’s mission is to make sake accessible to its customers: “We don’t want to be snobs about sake,” Briceno says. “We want people to be able to come in and enjoy and experience.”
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