If Wolfgang Puck was a soldier, he would have been a decorated hero. This world-renowned chef, restaurateur, author and actor is the equivalent of a 5-star general in the culinary world.
Since starting his own company in 1982, he has built a massive three-branch business venture called the Wolfgang Puck Companies. . He’s been on a slew of TV cooking shows and owns over 20 restaurants across the United States.
Wolfgang Puck’s Bio
The famed chef was born with a different form name – Wolfgang Johannes Topfschnig – in Carinthia, Austria on July 8, 1949. According to him, his first cooking inspiration and guardian was his mother. Subsequently, young Johannes received serious culinary training in his youth. Those days of teething took apprenticeships in exotic places like Monaco and Paris. After this period, he moved to the United States at the age of 24 to pursue his dreams as a chef. He began his career with two years at La Tour in Indianapolis, then as co-owner and chef at the Ma Maison restaurant in Los Angeles.
Her time in Los Angeles gave Puck the confidence to publish her first Modern French Cuisine cookbook for American cuisine inspired by her restaurant recipes. This book came out in 1981 and the following year he opened his first Spago restaurant located on the Sunset Strip. The immense success of this business inspired food enthusiasts to turn it into a full restaurant chain in the years that followed.
As of 2018, Wolfgang has four Spago locations, including the inaugural restaurant which he moved to Beverly Hills in 1997. In 2004, the Beverly Hills restaurant was proclaimed one of America’s Top 40 Restaurants and has remained on this list since.
Wolfgang Puck has restaurants and operations everywhere, from street corners and airports to hotels and beaches. Among its sites are even the Walt Disney World Resort, the magnificent Ritz-Carlton and the grandiose MGM Grand Detroit.
In 1993 he had his first restaurant, Spago Hollywood was inducted into the Nation News Restaurant Hall of Fame. In 1994, the same restaurant awarded the James Beard Award for Restaurant of the Year.
All of these successes gave Puck the resources to launch a full fledged company – The Wolfgang Puck Companies. The company operated in three categories: Wolfgang Puck Gourmet Group, Wolfgang Puck Worldwide Inc. Group, and Wolfgang Puck Restaurant Service. These divisions deal with restaurants, licensed products and operations, and restaurant services, respectively. Puck is also the official caterer for the Oscars Governors Ball.
Besides his busy business schedule, Wolfgang was able to free up time for an acting career. He has made appearances in TV series and movies such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Weather Man, and The Smurfs. He also did a four-episode recurring role on Las Vegas. As chef and contract caterer for Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ wedding, Puck also made an appearance on their family reality series. Keeping up with the Kardashians.
He has also been a judge on numerous TV show competitions, including Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, Next Food Network Star, Best Chef: New York and Best Chef: Las Vegas. In October 2009, he appeared on The Jay Leno Show.
Wolfgang Puck has released more titles since its premiere in 1981. In 2018, his latest book Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy, came in 2004.
He also donates to charity through his Puck-Lazaroff Charitable Foundation was established in 1982. In 2018, the foundation was able to raise over $15 million through different philanthropic endeavors.
Besides his restaurants, Wolfgang Puck has also received numerous awards and accolades for his contributions in and beyond the food industry. In 2013, he became a member of the Culinary Hall of Fame. In April 2017, Puck’s television efforts earned him his own shining star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Later that same year, it was named the 2017 Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) Gold Plate winner.
Family life and marriage: wife, divorce, children
Puck is in his third marriage. He first tied the knot in 1975, when he was 26 years old. His first wife was a woman named Marie France Trouillot. The marriage lasted until 1980. He then met Barbara Lazaroff a little later and they married in 1983.
Even though the couple separated in 2003, they are still all business partners as they were in the 80s. The Wolfgang Companies still list Barbara as a co-founder and she still contributes creatively and creatively to the restaurant industry.
In 2018, Puck is married to Gelila Assefa. They married in 2007. Wolfgang has four children, two by Barbara and Gelila.