How Chef Wolfgang Puck Serves 25,000 Dishes at The Oscars Every Year — Mise En Place

You know, the important part is all the people are going to be so hungry. Why? Because they don't eat in the morning. They have no time. They have to get makeup. They have to go to the hairdresser. They have to fit into their skinny dresses. By the time comes 10 o'clock at night, there's no vegan or vegetarians. They all eat the chicken pot pie or the Wagyu steak. Right now, we are just doing prep work here and everybody is getting ready. And at nine o'clock, it's going to start. And then you will see the rush here in the kitchen. It's like game time. All right. So this is our Miyazaki beef here. We're going to sear it on the grill here and then we put it in the oven when we need it. Everything is seared, but not cooked. We cook everything at the last moment. So that way you get the same food as we serve at Spago or Cut or at the Bel Air. It's really the must-go party because it's the only place where you also can get good food. If you go to the Vanity Fair party and all these other parties, there's no food really. We have chefs from all of our restaurants. We have a chef from Dallas. We have chefs from New York. We have chefs from Spago in Istanbul. I mean, Eric runs the whole show here. He is in charge of 200 chefs. So that way he makes me look good. Then what's your job? My job is just being here, being Wolfgang. How are my ham people here? How is the jamón? So we have two guys from Spain here who are cutting the Cinco Jota ham. They are really specialized, better than me. Though he cut his hand already. So we'll see. Maybe I have to jump in. How is the ham, OK? Not enough ham? You cut the ham too? Put this on. You're going to marinate the fish a little bit here? Yeah, we did, yes. I think you could use a little bit more ponzu on there. And this is Chef Fuji, who runs our restaurant in Dallas. And he always comes for the Oscars. Why? People love sushi and sashimi. And it's really great to have somebody who we can trust and who is here all the time. So in about an hour, we're going to go down on the red carpet. There's more to running a restaurant or a catering business than cooking. It is also people have to know us. And we want to show to all the television stations, which are lined up down there, what we are serving tonight. And then maybe I get a drink downstairs at the bar with a few old friends like Chef Bezos and Bob Iger. I'm going to come back up here and we're going to slowly get ready. When I was young, the chef was not known. The chef was somewhere in the cellar, in the background. I still remember when I came to L.A. the first 30, 40 years ago, I went to a club and I danced with a girl. And she asked me what I do. I said, I'm a cook. The song was over. She left me and I didn't even walk on her feet or anything. But I'm sure today it is different. How are the scallops, all right? Sushi rolls? You're ready? Tomorrow I'm going on a diet, OK? Tomorrow I'm going on a diet for sure. That's it. My pants are so tight. Oh, my God. I thought they cleaned it in the dishwasher, but no. All right. I'm going to go sit down, rest a little bit, and then we go. Then we go. It's all about leadership. You give us directions, we follow through. Thank you. We really start getting into action when they call out best director. 7.15, so we're going to say maybe around 8 o'clock is going to be go time. Then it's going to get busy. It's going to get busy. It's going to get crazy. It's going to get fun. It'll be nice. When they say the best movie and then they say, thank you, the show is over, everybody wants to eat right away. And the Oscar goes to... Olivia Colby. Wow. It's five minutes before go time. I have all the chefs online right now. Everybody's getting antsy. I don't get to go, but it's like a Super Bowl. We're ready to kick off. I'm doing the truffle thing, too. Black truffles, buddy. I'll be the most truffle shaped person in the city tonight. This is your favorite job every year, right? Shave four pounds of truffles. OK, everybody, listen up. Don't f*** it up this time, man. 25 years with it, OK? All right. Everybody is ready. All right. And the Oscar goes to... All right. Let's fire the food now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the appetizers, let's start. Let's go, let's go, let's go. I want a hundred right away. Let's push it. People are hungry. OK, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. Let's get it out there. All right. You know where Barbra Streisand sits? No. Bud-bye for Barbra Streisand, extra truffles. She's with James Brolin, her husband. 23 years, she said. All right. Too many people are waiting. Let's go, let's pick up, pick up, pick up. Chicken Bud-bye. You want another one? Well, we have a song. Be happy. How are you? Ham for Jose. You eat it. You're tasty. Tasty if it's good. This one. All right. This is a good steak. Yeah. And beautiful ham. OK, now the Austrians know how to cut ham too, sh**. Yeah. We don't need the Spaniards anymore. Why, why, why, why, why? You are fired. All right. All right, guys. Congratulations. Everybody was very happy out there. I saw a lot of people who were leaving, and they all said the best ever. So now all we have to do is do better next year. So it's very simple. Cheers. Oh my god, 25 years. How many more? I don't know, how many more? I don't know. I think maybe 10. But you know, Byron soon or later going to take over. So I think in about five years, I'm going to push him a little bit. So by 10 years, I'm going to come as a guest. But I think I will be bored. You know, I think it's more excitement in the kitchen than actually coming for dinner and being a guest. Unless you win an award, unless you get something really special, it's not a big deal. No lifetime achievement for me, because I will get it when I'm dead.