Wolfgang Puck

"Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colors, there are only so many flavors - it's how you combine them that sets you apart," chef Wolfgang Puck told “The Huffington Post” in 2012. Puck, who first learned to cook as a child at his mother’s side, opened his first restaurant, Spago, in 1982 in West Hollywood. It became an instant success, earning Puck many accolades over the years, including the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year, twice, in 1991 and 1998, and the James Beard Foundation Award for Restaurant of the Year in 1994. He is the only chef to have won the Outstanding Chef of the Year Award two times. Puck presides over a major culinary empire, which includes fine dining restaurants, a catering business, casual dining franchises and branded housewares. He has earned multiple Michelin stars, has a Daytime Emmy Award for his cooking show “Wolfgang Puck” and is the author of several best-selling cookbooks. His syndicated newspaper column, “Wolfgang Puck’s Kitchen,” appears in 30 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Updated 2018