Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto has some drawing power.
Meaning: attracting an audience and pulling a knife on an unsuspecting tuna.
Which he did Tuesday, June 7 at Morimoto, the Center City restaurant he owns with Stephen Starr.
He did a cooking demo in the middle of the dining room, in a $300-a-head benefit for the Philadelphia-Japan Disaster Relief Fund, and pointed out that the tuna (front and center) was not sourced from Japan.
The money flowed at a live auction:
Someone paid $21,000 for Morimoto to cook dinner in his home for 10 people.
Someone else paid 6 grand to have a meal for two at all Starr restaurants.