Miami HEAT & Benihana Team Up For Celebrity Cook-Off and Ticket Promotion

MIAMI, Fla. – The Miami HEAT will team up with Benihana’s master teppanyaki chefs at the Miami HEAT/Benihana Celebrity Cook-Off fundraising event presented by Benihana. The exclusive fundraising event is set for Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 at Benihana’s North Bay Village restaurant located at 1665 N.E. 79 Street Causeway, in Miami Beach.

HEAT players will serve as celebrity chefs while assisting Benihana’s knife-wielding, steak flipping entertaining chefs prepare and serve Benihana’s famous teppanyaki dishes, with proceeds to benefit SafeSpace, the Jackson Memorial Foundation’s Guardian Angels and Holtz Children’s Hospital, the Miami Coalition for a Safe & Drug Free Community, and the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund. Established in 1997, the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund supports programs for the betterment of at-risk families in South Florida.

“We are excited to team up with our hometown team, the Miami HEAT, and help raise funds for these wonderful causes,” said Joel Schwartz, Chairman and CEO of Miami-based Benihana. “Like our chefs, these players know how to put on a show and we anticipate a big win for everyone involved.”

The event will kick off with a cocktail hour from 6 – 7 p.m. giving fans a chance to mingle with the team. Dinner will begin at 7 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available for $200 per person and can be purchased by calling 786-777-4141.

In addition to the fundraising event, the Miami HEAT and Benihana have teamed up to offer a Buy One Ticket, Get One Ticket free special. Benihana guests who bring their dining receipts to the Verizon Wireless Ticket Office at AmericanAirlines Arena will receive a free ticket with the purchase of a ticket for the following Miami HEAT home games: Chicago Bulls, March 9; Memphis Grizzlies, March 23; and the Orlando Magic, March 30.

For additional information, please visit HEAT.com.

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About Benihana
Benihana Inc. (NASDAQ GS: BNHN and BNHNA) operates 63 Benihana teppanyaki restaurants, nine Haru restaurants, and twenty-two RA Sushi restaurants. Under development at present are ten restaurants: five Benihana teppanyaki restaurants and five RA Sushi restaurants. In addition, twenty-one franchised Benihana teppanyaki restaurants are operating in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean.

Media Contacts:
Danny Jovic, 954-776-1999, ext. 226
djovic@piersongrant.com
Rachel Shapiro, 954-776-1999, ext. 230
rshapiro@piersongrant.com