Atlanta Restaurants & Food

Super Bowl 53: Go inside the kitchen with Wolfgang Puck

Find out how the storied chef cooks for 2,000 at the Super Bowl 53 Host Committee party
By and Ryon Horne
Jan 30, 2019

Wolfgang Puck has cooked for some of the biggest events in the world, including 25 years as the head chef for the Governor’s Ball at the Academy Awards.

So it’s no surprise that planning and cooking for a soiree like the Super Bowl 53 Host Committee Media Party at the Georgia Aquarium is second nature to Puck.

But that isn’t to say he doesn’t still love what he does -- far from it.

“I’m still passionate about food, I’m passionate about restaurants and people,” Puck told the AJC as he was preparing for the event. “I’m doing it for 50 years or more, bit I still like it just like I did 20, 30, 40 years ago.”

The celebrity chef -- who is the exclusive caterer for the aquarium -- flew in more than 15 chefs from his restaurants around the country to help execute Tuesday night’s menu.

Wanting to showcase Atlanta cuisine beyond Southern food, Puck created stations serving food inspired by India (chicken tikka masala),  Mexico (veggie and fish tacos), Italy (truffle and mushroom pasta), China (Peking duck bao) and France (dessert crepes), plus a “Wolfgang Puck Classic” station featuring short ribs and pommes aligot.

Wolfgang Puck prepares duck for the Super Bowl 53 Host Committee Party.
Wolfgang Puck prepares duck for the Super Bowl 53 Host Committee Party.

Ordering ingredients for thousands of guests is no small feat. The list for the duck baos, for instance, include:

•400 lbs. of local air-dried ducks

•200 lbs. of flour for the bao buns

•2 gallons of Hoisin sauce

•100 blood oranges

•4 cucumbers

Preparing the ducks is a multi-day process. On the first day the ducks are lacquered, then they’re dried for 48 hours and then roasted for six hours in convection ovens.

Want to see what else goes into putting on a successful large-scale event? Watch the video above to go behind the scenes with Puck.

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About the Authors

Yvonne Zusel has been with the AJC since 2010. She worked on the digital news and food and dining teams before joining the arts & entertainment team.

Ryon Horne is award-winning filmmaker and video journalist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As a documentarian, Ryon has won two Emmy awards for the AJC and an Edward R. Murrow Award.

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