Wolfgang Puck

The name Wolfgang Puck is synonymous with the best of restaurant hospitality and the ultimate in all aspects of the culinary arts. The famed chef has built a brand that encom- passes three companies: Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, Wolfgang Puck Catering, and Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc.

Puck was born in Austria and began cooking alongside his mother at a very young age. A chef herself, she encouraged Wolfgang and inspired his passion for food. So driven and inquisitive to learn, he started his formal training when he was just fourteen years old. As a young chef he worked in some of France’s greatest restaurants, including Maxim’s in Paris, the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, and the Michelin 2-starred L’Oustau de Baumanière in

Provence. At the age of 24, Wolfgang left Europe for the United States. His first job was at the restaurant La Tour in Indianapolis, where he worked from 1973 to 1975.

In 1975, Wolfgang came to Los Angeles and very quickly garnered the attention of the Hollywood elite as chef of Ma Maison in West Hollywood. His dynamic personality and culinary brilliance that bridged tradition and invention made Ma Maison a magnet for the rich and famous.

After leaving Ma Maison, in 1982 he opened his first flagship restaurant, Spago. Located in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip, Spago was an instant success and culinary phenome- non. His early signature dishes, such as pizzas topped with smoked salmon and caviar, and Sonoma baby lamb with braised greens and rosemary, put him and Spago on the interna- tional gourmet map. Wolfgang and Spago earned many accolades during its popular eigh- teen years in West Hollywood, including the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year in 1991 and 1998, and the James Beard Foundation Award for Restaurant of the Year in 1994. Wolfgang is the only chef to have won the Outstanding Chef of the Year Award multiple times.

In 1983, following the success of Spago, Wolfgang opened Chinois on Main in Santa Mon- ica. His early exposure to Southern California’s multicultural population intrigued him, inspiring him to fuse the Asian flavors and products with his French and California-based cuisine in a fine dining setting. Chinois on Main brings diners a fresh and imaginative Asian-fusion menu that laid the groundwork for fusion cooking in America.

After 15 years in West Hollywood, Wolfgang moved Spago to an elegant setting on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills. His menu blazed new ground, with a combination of updated Spago classics and newly conceived items. The seasonal menu drew inspiration from his favorite childhood dishes, offering a selection of Austrian specialties such as Wienerschnitzel and Kaiserschmarren.

In 2006, Wolfgang opened CUT, a sleek, contemporary steakhouse at the acclaimed Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel. After only one year, CUT earned a prestigious Michelin star among numerous other top accolades including Restaurant of the Year by Esquire Magazine.

Today, Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining restaurants can be found in Las Vegas, Beverly Hills, Maui, London, New York, Singapore, Budapest, Istanbul, Bodrum, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.