This Is TASTE 738: How Wolfgang Puck Became Wolfgang Puck
Mar 2, 2026
Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-born chef and restaurateur who pioneered California cuisine and founded Spago. He recounts arriving in LA, shaping a new food movement at Ma Maison, and launching Spago with its wood-fired pizzas. Stories cover open kitchens, TV breakthroughs, building a global restaurant empire, and feeding the Oscars Governors Ball for decades.
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Chino Farm Changed The Menu
- Finding Chino Farm transformed Wolfgang’s cooking by giving him multiple tomato varieties, white corn, strawberries and herbs comparable to the best French produce.
- He drove two hours weekly to Rancho Santa Fe to pick up crates of these vegetables for Spago.
Bootstrapping Spago Through Cooking Classes
- Wolfgang Puck funded Spago by pitching cooking-class students and borrowing $60,000 with a co-signer after failing to secure an investor who wanted majority control.
- He opened Spago in January 1982 using those grassroots investors and a personal loan, refusing deals that would give him less than 50% control.
California Cuisine As A Citywide Fusion
- Wolfgang labeled his menu “California cuisine” to signal a city-driven fusion using local produce and multicultural influences rather than a single national tradition.
- He sourced vegetables from Chino Farm and integrated Japanese sashimi, Chinese-style duck, and wood-fired Italian techniques into one menu.