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How a 10-Year-Old's School Project Landed Him a Job at Spago
Ari Rosenson interviewed Wolfgang Puck for a fifth-grade biography. Two decades later, he runs Puck's kitchen at Spago.
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When Ari Rosenson was in fifth grade, his mother called Spago and asked if Wolfgang Puck would let her son interview him for a school project. Puck said yes. The interview lasted two hours. Puck suited the boy up in a chef's coat, showed him the kitchen, and let him make an omelet. Two years later, Rosenson wrote a letter reminding Puck of the promise. The next day, his assistant called. Rosenson started as a prep cook at Spago at 16.
He did not go to college or cooking school. He worked the line, became sous chef, then executive sous chef. He took a sabbatical to cook in Italy during truffle season. Puck tapped him to run Cut in Beverly Hills, then Spago Beverly Hills. Today Rosenson is vice president of food and beverage for the Los Angeles and Maui operations at Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining.