Wolf Wines & Dines, or Puck's Party

By JULIETTE ROSSANT I was glad to receive my invitation to Wolfgang Puck and Barbara Lazaroff's 22nd Annual American Wine & Food Festival on October 2, 2004, at Universal Studios Backlot in Universal City. Proceeds go to Meals-on-Wheels Programs of Los Angeles. This year's event reunites three super chefs from my book (Super Chef): Wolfgang Puck, Tom Colicchio, and Todd English. Barbara invited me in 2001 for my first time, which allowed me to meet and interview numerous celebrity chefs. It was just a few short weeks after 9/11; a number of chefs from the East Coast canceled their appearances. I returned in 2002 and had again a great time, eating terrific food, drinking great wines, and talking with celebrity chefs and Hollywood stars -- spotted actor Tim Allen, looking lean and mean, probably somewhere between shoots for Big Trouble and The Santa Clause 2. AWFF is great fun. It is wonderful to see so many of Wolfgang's protegees come from their own restaurants to participate. My favorite part is the chance to sip and taste amidst the surreal Universal Studios Backlot, where countless movies and TV shows have been filmed. Imagine tucking into one of Hiro Sone's fabulous soups, or nibbling on one of Piero Selvaggio's sausages in front of a Western saloon or a Venetian fountain. I noticed many familiar names from my two years there: Susan Spicer, Robert Del Grande, Mark Peel & Nancy Silverton, Stephan Pyles, Norman Van Aken, Bradley Ogden, Nobu Matsuhisa, Joachim Splichal, Jimmy Schmidt, Mark Miller, Lissa Doumani & Hiro Sone, and Piero Selvaggio. Of course, there were also chefs from Wolfgang's team, many of whom I had met there including David Robins, John Lagrone, and -- my favorite -- Jennifer Naylor, mistress of Granita, where I ate my final meal before moving away from Los Angeles in 2003 -- one of the finer meals of my life.