Wolfgang Puck's Spago: Wherever You Are

By JULIETTE ROSSANT City (Beverly Hills), Seaside (Maui), Desert (Las Vegas), and Moutains (Vail) – Wolfgang Puck's Spago is now in all environments. Wolfgang Puck and partner Barbara Lazaroff opened the first Spago in Hollywood in 1982, later hosting Irving "Swifty" Lazar's Oscar Parties. The flagship is now Spago, Beverly Hills. Super Chef attended the opening of Spago at the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch at on Thursday, December 6. It is hard to resist Nature when it agreeably pours 14 inches of fresh powder on Vail, Colorado ski resorts the night of the opening. The hotel is a copy, albeit on a huge scale, of a Swiss chalet, complete with log exterior and interior, giant fireplaces and a roaming Labrador retriever. The rooms are high luxe, along with a spa, various bars and cafes and plenty of sports equipment on offer. The mountain looms in the background beyond a outdoor heated swimming pool and hot tubs. Spago takes the place of a previous restaurant demolished last April. The food is almost identical to Spago Beverly Hills -- Wolfgang's pizzas, pasta and main courses -- yet there is something decidedly different about this Spago. In part it is the design by Tony Chi. The restaurant's bar leads off from the hotel, a giant etched silver bar with faux pinto pony hair-covered bar stools. Beyond are two rooms, one with a low ceiling, and one with a lofty ceiling (though perhaps not as lofty as Tony would like). The windows are covered with panels of pale wood, custom vegetable-dyed in pastel shades that are shutters hiding the ski slope. and orange leather is on the walls between the two rooms. The floors are covered by wood, marble, or small stone tiles in warm colors. The lighting looks like candles hung in boxy glass containers. The tables are pale wood, with office-chair like seats covered in the same retro pinto pony fur. There is a stone wall between the two dining rooms, adding to the effect of bringing the mountain elements indoors. Is this a western, Rocky Mountains interior? Perhaps, but it definitely is a relief from the log cabin hotel. The scale is big, noisy and busy. At the back is an open kitchen with a marble bar. Behind the reception desk, a huge sweeping "u" of wood, are live flames under a huge black and white photographs of white water --the idea is water and fire underlined -- winter and summer underlined. There are booths for intimate dining, but the main idea is a gregarious restaurant that is suppose to fit somewhere in the relaxed elegance of Vail. Here is Wolfgang's business partner and former wife, Barbara Lazaroff, discussing Spago as a luxury brand: Wolfgang began negotiations three years ago to create a restaurant that would be equal to his Beverly Hills Spago. How can we make this hotel like the Palace in St. Moritz? It looks like Soho came to the mountains. The main challenge, it turns out, is the high altitude – 8,000 feet at the hotel and 12,000 feet at the summit of the surrounding mountains. That height effects everything from the pizza dough to the desserts. Here is Spago's executive pastry chef Sherry Yard discussing high altitude cooking: Here is Spago's chef de cuisine Mark Ferguson discussing the altitude's effect on savory dishes: The opening cocktail party for 250 guests (chairs and table had been cleared away) included Wolfgang's famous salmon pizza, kobe beef sliders, and miniature crab cakes. There were spoons filled with risotto, suffering from too far a distance from the kitchen, and tiny mugs of squash soup. Sherry made greaseless zeppolis at a dessert station. Super Chef joined the press corps for a tasting menu the following day featured divine white truffles shaved over pizza, a Greek salad with feta, toasted pine nuts and too much dressing. The chefs then sent a tasting of pumpkin agnolotti with pine nuts, sage brown butter, and Parmigiano Reggiano. The main course was a double protein plate - slices seared prime steak with sautéed broccolini and whole grain mustard and slices of chicken with chanterelle mushrooms, goat cheese, rosmary and Yukon gold potato puree. The beef was well charred, meaty and tender – just what you'd expect from a chef who owns Los Angeles' Cut. The finale was an exquisite dessert called Kaiserschmarren, a fluffy, baked crème fraiche custard pancake served hot over strawberries in a strawberry coulis. Served with a sweet Austrian wine - the hot, cold, sweet, and tart flavors were sublime. This was a dessert to follow a Christmas dinner – or – a Christmas breakfast. (Super Chef also attended a marshmallow roasting at the hotel's fire pit. Not content with the regular size – Sherry Yard went for Guiness Book of World Records, preparing giant 12-inch cubed sized homemade marshmallows. Watch FOOD FLICKS this Friday, as Wolfgang Puck and helpers try to spear and hold the blobs of marshmallows over the fire.) Finally, Super Chef attended a sit down dinner with Barbara and other press. Mark sent over a wild mushroom and caramelized onion pizza, shaved white truffles over fetuccini, and a creamy cauliflower and truffle oil soup, all before the first course. His kitchen skillfully reproduced Wolfgang's excellent Lobster & Crab "Louis," and Wienerschnitzel. As snowed piled up outside and music pumped inside, the beautiful people of Bachelor Gulch ate and ate. Video: Spago Opening December 2007 (Super Chef via YouTube.com) Previous articles: Who Pays for Wolfgang Puck's Wedding to Gelila Assefa? 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