Wolfgang Puck is truly chef to the stars. He’s been serving them dishes they love since before he became famous with his first Spago restaurant in Hollywood. Now, he is the owner of some of the finest and most popular restaurants in the world, from London to Las Vegas to Singapore, and his chocolate Oscars and unique mac and cheese draw an impressive string of A-listers to his Academy Awards party every year.
A powerhouse in the kitchen, Puck is happiest when he’s pleasing his guests, and you don’t have to be a famous face to get the star treatment.
The first time I ever cooked for “Wolf,” he walked straight into my kitchen and took a taste from every pot. I didn’t get a Michelin star, but I got lots of smiles.
Jeanne Wolf: You radiate enthusiasm and I know how hard you work.
Wolfgang Puck: I’m lucky because I still can do what I love. Opening a restaurant can be easy if you get somebody to invest a few million dollars. Keeping it open is the hard part. Without the guests, I’m nothing. Many have been famous faces, and so the press around the world talked about my food and I became famous, too. I’ve had a lot of celebrities come over the years and, of course, to the parties after the Oscars. Many have become my friends. But I must treat every customer as if they are the most important. I’m like a singer at a concert with a thousand people who makes you feel like they are singing just to you. I aim for the perfect balance between hospitality and food to make a great restaurant. You want patrons to feel good when they come. That’s why I still go out to the tables in every city and say “hi” to customers.
JW: Do you get nervous when the staff tells you someone like Elton John is in the house?
WP: I don’t know whether you could say I’m starstruck after all these years. What I do appreciate is that most of the grandest stars are the nicest. Orson Welles I loved more than anybody probably because he was so into food, and John Travolta is a foodie too. My smoked salmon pizza with caviar was a hit from the start; I gave the first one to Joan Collins, who is a bit of a diva, and she loved it. Now everybody wants it.
Tom Cruise is a great guy who always gives me a hug when he comes to [my restaurant] Cut. I showed Andy Warhol the Spago menu and said, “I had to design this myself. That should be your job.” And he said, “How about me painting you?” I went, “Just my menu.” So, he did a sketch. It’s hanging in my kitchen.
Barbara Streisand says to me, “Keep making your chicken pot pie and I’m happy.” I always make sure she gets extra truffles.
I remember we did Madonna’s wedding to Sean Penn. She sat with me in her little apartment and planned it.
The Kardashian children used to come to Spago for pizza when they were little kids. They’d see me at the counter and go, “Oh Wolfie make me that Mickey Mouse pizza.” Now, they’re all big TV stars and I tease them about the old days.
What I’ve learned from some of the most famous is how they are devoted to their craft no matter what the challenges.
JW: You enjoy great food. It’s fun to cook for you.
WP: When I go to Spago just to have dinner, I tell the chef, “Cook me something I never ate.” I know he isn’t going to invent new ingredients, but he’s going to take them and make a new composition just like if I’d asked a singer, “Sing me a new song.” Maybe it will be a love song, or rock ’n’ roll, but it will be new and fresh. I love the favorites that everyone asks for, and I love surprises and keeping up with the times.
If you’re passionate, it’s not really work. I get excited just going to the farmers market. I see the best mangoes and it makes me feel like I did starting out 50 years ago. I tell my staff, don’t make it fussy. Remember: keep it simple. I guess it’s that way about life too.
One of my favorite things is when my wife Gelila cooks her pasta Bolognese. She does it so well. Sometimes, I make it because I’m much faster in the kitchen. And after the kids eat it they always say, “Oh, papa, it’s almost as good as mom’s.”
Jeanne Wolf is the Post’s West Coast editor
This article is featured in the July/August 2023 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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