The last time I saw Wolfgang Puck was almost two years ago at his flagship Spago Beverly Hills. He was schmoozing Hollywood power brokers, actors and bankers all converging there for elegant Friday lunches like it was the culinary Grand Central Station of the rich and famous.
Puck graciously stopped by our table, took one look at my friend’s golden-brown Wiener schnitzel topped with two sunny-side-up eggs and said in his trademark Austrian accent, “you don’t have a cholesterol problem, DO YOU?” We all laughed, made small talk, and then he continued making his famous Friday rounds.
These days, at age 70, Puck’s culinary empire continues to grow. With 26 fine-dining restaurants in six countries from Turkey to Singapore (two in the U.S. with Michelin stars), a worldwide catering group that dazzles at the Oscars each year, fast-casual eateries from airports to hospitals to universities, and beefy Home Shopping Network sales of his cooking equipment, the legendary chef enthused that Spago Maui is his favorite restaurant.
“If people ask me, ‘What is your favorite restaurant?’ I always say, ‘Spago Maui,’” Puck explained in a phone interview from his West Hollywood offices. “It’s so beautiful there. The location of the restaurant and the oceanfront views are amazing. I walk around, play golf. I really love Maui, and maybe we should consider having a house there. Yet it’s so expensive nowadays. It’s hard for employees to find housing.”
Puck reopened Spago Maui at the Four Seasons Resort Wailea on Wednesday. The entire restaurant has been closed since October and the private dining room since September.
“We first opened so long ago, almost 20 years now,” he said. “I decided after a while you have to change things a little bit. We had to do some upgrades in the kitchen. In the main dining room, we have added a seafood and appetizer bar. We want to showcase all of the fish from Hawaii. People can see the opakapaka, the walu, the Kona lobster. We’ll make appetizers like Hawaiian poke and Peruvian ceviche, crudo and salads, too. All prepared in front of you.”
Puck flew in from California for the Wednesday reopening after hosting his Home Shopping Network show on Tuesday, but no big festivities were planned.
“It’s hard to plan ahead for a party with construction,” he noted. “We just opened The Source in Washington, D.C., and it was the same thing.”
San Francisco Bay Area EDG Design added lava stone, teak and rattan into the dining rooms and lounge. During construction, Puck retained his Maui staff by offering vacations and paying main employees.
“Some people went surfing or did whatever they wanted. We payed all of our main people. For sure, if we didn’t pay them, they would leave.”
Having such a large empire, how does he manage to maintain quality control?
“I think the most important thing is to have good people. Chef Peleg Miron used to work with Chef Cameron Lewark on Maui, and then he worked at Spago Istanbul. The timing was good for him to go back. He knows the purveyors and how to get fish. It’s good to get somebody who is familiar. The general manager is from Maui.”
Mixing it up
In recent weeks Miron traveled to California to test new recipes with Puck for the reopening launch.
“We want to make it a mixture of tradition and innovation,” Puck stated. “People visit Maui maybe once a year, so we have to change it up because people get bored after a while. Me, too. I don’t want to look at the same thing. We have to rotate menu items every 10 days for vacationers and for locals — and I do want the local people to dine there.”
Puck came up with a new take on kardinalschnitte, a favorite from his Austrian childhood. “It’s a layered cake, and on Maui we’ll make it with passion fruit and roasted pineapple. Also, we came up with one of my favorite desserts from when I worked in France at a one-star Michelin restaurant. It’s called ‘floating island’ in English, and we’ll make our own version. It’s a comfort food, very well known. Sometimes old is new again. All the classics, I call them. They are classics for a reason. They stand the test of time. These types of desserts will be here 10 years from now.”
The Spago menus are distinct in each location with a couple of crossover items here and there. Miron will partner with Otani Farms and Lapa‘au Farms, among many others. One new share dish is braised bone-in short ribs with Hawaiian chili pepper water, pineapple barbecue sauce and Samoan coconut rolls. Signature items such as ahi cones will remain. The rest you’ll have to discover for yourself. Appetizers range from $18 to $30, entrees from $45 to $135 and desserts from $14 to $20.
At Spago Maui, Puck pays rent to the owner of the building. “All of our fine- dining restaurants, we own 100% (with partners such as Tom Kaplan). All of my airport concessions, for instance, we manage with HOST International.”
Still going strong
Puck is able to get to Maui twice a year. “I might come for Christmas for a little bit. My wife also wants to go to Europe. I’d prefer the nice warm Maui climate then. I’m scheduled to come back in May for sure.”
What current challenges does he see in today’s restaurant industry?
“The biggest challenge is to find enough people. That’s the reason we don’t expand really fast. Where are we going to get the people? We have a CUT restaurant in Bahrain. I just got back Friday. The chef, Brian, has been there for four years, and he was eight years with me. One reason we stay successful is we have our own culture. I need them to know how we operate.”
What food trends does Puck see ahead?
“More ethnic foods that were not really popular 10 years ago are coming to the surface now,” he said. “Filipino food is hot. I still think that Thai food is popular. I am surprised not to see more of it. It’s definitely food that young people like. It’s a little bit spicy, not too heavy. It’s appealing.”
The bottom line is, Wolfgang Puck is still going strong — with no stopping in sight.
“You know, I’m 70 years old. I just can’t believe it! Now I think I would be so bored if I wasn’t very active. For me it’s the excitement of doing new things. If you want to be successful, you do have to put money back into your business, and that is what we are doing on Maui.”
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SPAGO MAUI
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Veteran journalist Carla Tracy pops the cork on Maui’s dining and entertainment scene in her weekly column. Email her at carlatracy808@gmail.com.
