Wolfgang Puck Inaugurates Washington

By JULIETTE ROSSANT During an interview for Super Chef in 2003, Carl Schuster made a presidential promise that Wolfgang Puck Catering & Events would be nationwide. It looks like Mr. Schuster is keeping his word for the New Year. As of year-end 2004, WPCE had outlets in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Seattle, and St. Louis. Although Wolfgang Puck Express already has one outlet in the heart of the nation's capital, WPCE's "Coming Soon" section reads, rather excitingly, about a special inauguration that will occur during the second term of US President George W. Bush: WASHINGTON, D.C. Flaship Venues Freedom Forum / Newseum Wolfgang Puck Catering will commence operations in 2007 with a fine-dining restaurant and full-service catering. We look forward to opening soon in Dallas, Boston, San Francisco, Atlanta and Denver Now, first of all, it's a bit confusing to look at all the listings for WPCE outlets, since all but the St. Louis outlets are currently headlined as "Flagship Venues" -- how many flagships can you have, really? Flagship proliferation aside, is WPCE becoming a nationwide competitor to its semi-allies Compass Group plc and subsidiaries Restaurant Associates (RA) and Levy Restaurants (49%), both already based or at least strong on the East Coast? I'm curious about the WPCE formula. When RA bought Joachim Splichal's Patina Group in 1999, (see Super Chef, pp. 41-42), they took over restaurants on the East Coast from Patina, while Joachim & Co. took over RA properties on the West Coast. That way neither partner was stretched too far. WPCE has relationships with RA and Levy Restaurants, but Carl Schuster seems more interested in building up Puck outlets back East than in leveraging his partners (unless a new HMSHost alliance is about to breed a great number of outlets in airports -- see previous article). Granted, the East Coast has a lot of museums, which form part of the bread-and-butter business of catering companies like RA, but WPCE has ties in California yet to mine, such as the new, close ties between Hollywood and Sacramento, thanks to the Gubernator and presidential wannabe Arnold Schwarzenegger, so why fight open up new fronts in the East when you have the Patina Group to contend with in your core area? The situation somehow reminds me of Operation Enduring Freedom, in which the US opened up one front in Afghanistan (the "flagship" site and home of the "original" Operation Enduring Freedom) and made real headway, then left that front to fester while it opened up an even tougher, less well planned front in Iraq. Will WPCE survive with so many fronts, or does it face the prospect of facing a forced retreat when popular elections/reaction prove less than successful/popular? As we enter this Inauguration week, are we looking at "Puck Proliferation"? Previous articles: Coffee Puck: Heats in Your Hands Fly With Wolfgang Puck Express Les Enfantes Terribles devient terriblement vieux World Series Chefs Serve Baseball Nick Valenti: Super Chef Master? And Now Puck Paints, Two! Wolf Wines & Dines, or Puck's Party Euro Puck Puck in a Box Puck Examines the Examiner