Emmy Contender ‘Wolfgang’ Reveals How Wolfgang Puck Survived Nightmarish Childhood To Become Superstar Chef
16.06.2022 - 19:17
/ deadline.com
On a recent Sunday morning, lines to get into Spago Beverly Hills ran around the block, from Canon Drive onto Clifton Way. Crowds at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant aren’t unusual – in fact, they’re commonplace – but this was an unusual occasion: an opportunity to hear from the chef about the Emmy-contending documentary Wolfgang, directed by David Gelb, and the tantalizing prospect of sampling Spago cuisine.
Before almond-encrusted salmon, wienerschnitzel, succotash, creamy mashed potatoes and other savory dishes were served, Puck spoke of his decision to open up for the Disney+ documentary. He said he was inspired to say yes after watching Gelb’s 2011 film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, about the famed Japanese chef and restaurateur Jiro Ono. Jiro has become a classic of the culinary documentary genre.
“I thought it was really amazing,” Puck told the audience, noting “how wonderful [David] told the story. And making a movie is always about telling a great story.”
The story of Wolfgang Puck is a great one, even more remarkable than many have realized. As Gelb explores, the future superstar chef was born in the small southern Austrian town of Sankt Veit an der Glan in 1949. The setting might have been picturesque, but his upbringing wasn’t: the house lacked running water and an indoor toilet. Wolfgang was raised by a loving mother but a stepfather of almost Dickensian awfulness.
“It was really a terrible experience when I look back,” Puck tells Deadline. “He was crazy with me, for sure, because I wasn’t really his child — he was my stepfather. And then with my mother, too, he yelled and screamed, he came home drunk in the middle of the night and threw bottles all over the place. He was terrorizing us. My sister and myself, we were in bed