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The Heat is On: Puck’s Career Takes Off

Article Overview: In 1982, Puck launched his first cookbook, Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen. With the success that followed, and upon meeting his future wife and business partner Barbara Lazaroff who would encourage him to follow his dreams, Puck got the confidence he needed to finally realize one of his lifelong goals; Puck was going to open his own restaurant. He had left Ma Maison after tensions began to build with his business partner and he decided that he was now ready to go it alone.

The Heat is On: Puck’s Career Takes Off

In 1982, Puck launched his first cookbook, Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen. With the success that followed, and upon meeting his future wife and business partner Barbara Lazaroff who would encourage him to follow his dreams, Puck got the confidence he needed to finally realize one of his lifelong goals; Puck was going to open his own restaurant. He had left Ma Maison after tensions began to build with his business partner and he decided that he was now ready to go it alone.

After finding investor backing from two dentists who were fans of his cooking, Puck opened Spago (slang for ‘spaghetti’), a fine dining establishment on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Lazaroff, a biochemistry major from New York City, took charge of the restaurant’s interior design and turned Puck’s vision of an Italian eatery with checkered tablecloths into a more upscale and white-linen laden venture. It was also her idea to build an open kitchen that would be visible to the diners, which was something of a novel concept at the time. Four years and $512,000 later, the restaurant was completed.

In a relatively short amount of time, Spago had become a fashionable stopping point for celebrities who especially couldn’t get enough of Puck’s unique specialty pizzas. The casual yet hip décor of the restaurant echoed the theme of the cuisine – gourmet yet simple. After Puck began topping his pizzas with the likes of caviar and smoked salmon, business took off. As he continued to raise the quality of his ingredients – wanting to use only the best – Puck also began raising his prices, and his clientele kept coming back for more.

The success of Spago set the stage for what was about to come. Puck and Lazaroff opened a second restaurant, Chinois on Main, in Santa Monica. Working with fresh ingredients from the local Chinatown and Koreatown, Puck set about creating a new Asian-Californian cuisine. Lazaroff again designed the eatery’s interior, and once more included the popular open kitchen.

In 1983, Puck launched the Wolfgang Puck Food Company, which first began producing frozen desserts. At the same time, his chain of restaurants continued to expand outside of southern California with the launch of Postrio in San Francisco. The next two ventures, Eureka in west Los Angeles and Granita in Malibu, both struggled and were eventually abandoned after losing millions. Unfazed, Puck tried his luck in Las Vegas, opening a Spago there, as well as a Wolfgang Puck Café and another Chinois, all of which proved to be huge successes.

Puck’s Cafes and the new self-service Wolfgang Puck Express were quickly expanding their presence throughout the U.S and were soon earning between $2 and $4.5 million each annually. The success of Puck’s Asian fusion cuisine led to the launch of a new chain, Oba-Chine, in Beverly Hills and, later elsewhere. As the Food Company continued to grow by 50% a year, Puck expanded its operations to include merchandise and souvenirs and changed it to Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc.

After having conquered the American market, Puck took his products overseas, launching a Spago in both Tokyo and Mexico City. He also created Wolfgang Puck Catering & Events, which caters to such high-profile events as the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball. And, in 2001, Puck partnered with the Food Television Network to create the Wolfgang Puck show, later Wolfgang Puck’s Cooking Class.

Puck now operates 12 upscale restaurants and 54 Cafes and Expresses in the U.S., four in Japan and one in Canada. Over 300 Expresses are planning to be launched in the coming year. Although the original Spago has closed its doors and Lazaroff and Puck are now divorced, Puck’s businesses continue to thrive and he remains one of the leaders at the forefront of the American culinary world.

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Article Tags: american kitchen, barbara lazaroff, business partner, californian cuisine, caviar, checkered tablecloths, chinatown, french cooking, italian eatery, koreatown, lifelong goals, novel concept, open kitchen, restaurant chinois, salmon business, santa monica, smoked salmon, spago, sunset boulevard, west hollywood



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