About Us

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 encompasses 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 took the advice of a friend and 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 Wolfgang opened his first flagship restaurant, Spago. Located in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip, Spago was an instant success and culinary phenomenon. 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 international gourmet map. Wolfgang and Spago earned many accolades during its popular eighteen years in West Hollywood, including winning 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 Monica. His early exposure to Southern California’s multicultural population intrigued him, inspiring him to fuse the Asian flavors and products of Koreatown, Chinatown, and Thai Town 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, in 1997 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 Wolfgang’s 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, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

LEADERSHIP

The infrastructure of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group is one of strongest and most tenured in the industry ensuring impact, quality, consistency, and performance. This is a hallmark of the Puck organization, and one that most of our peers do not possess.

• Gelila Assefa Puck Partner/Creative Director
• Tom Kaplan Executive Vice President, Development and Design
• Byron Lazaroff-Puck Director of Food, Beverage, and Hospitality
• David Robins Executive Vice President, Domestic Operations
• John LaGrone Vice President, Culinary Operations
• Michael Lubitz Chief Financial Officer
• Klaus Puck President, Wolfgang Puck Worldwide Inc.
• Barbara Lazaroff Co-Founder/Partner
• Ari Rosenson Vice President, Food & Beverage Operations Los Angeles
• Tetsu Yahagi Director of Culinary Development and Operations
• Kamel Guechida Director of Pastry Development and Operations
• Gina Borowitz Director of Human Resources
• Julia Gokcekian Controller