Animals

Palo Alto’s Spago to close

by Kris   ⋅   May 10, 2007   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

Shoo shoo Spago! Wolfgang Puck just isn’t welcome in Palo Alto anymore. Ten years of the King of California cuisine was enough. June 1st is the closing date for the iconic ritzy restaurant on the fringe of downtown Paly. In a press release, senior managing partner Tom Kaplan announced that the “decision to close came as part of our focus on the new company strategy of partnering with luxury hotel brands”. Puck’s decadent morsels have previously partnered up with the Beverly Hills Four Seasons and the Bachelor Gulch Colorado Ritz-Carlton. Not too shabby. Many speculate that the decision may have been pressured by the profitable knock-em-down and build-em-up Bay Area mentality. They might have been right about that. Although five restaurants are already vying for the space, landlord Michael King plans to tear down the 9,400 square foot one-story and replace it with a two-story office building if the city will grant him permission.

This sad ending comes just days after Puck’s ambitious announcement for environmentalism and against factory farm animal cruelty:

I’m not going soft, or, heaven forbid, vegan. I’m just trying to be more accountable to myself, my customers and to those who are farming responsibly. And if it means being nicer to animals along the way, well, that’s a big bonus. Why shouldn’t cows and pigs feel sunlight on their backs, grass under their feet? Fish shouldn’t be jammed into tanks too full for them to even think about swimming. They should be able to exercise their muscles and feel a current. Yes, they’ll be killed for food—but until then, they should have a nice stay on Earth.

… I care that a veal calf—yes, even one that’s destined to become wiener schnitzel at one of my Spago restaurants—doesn’t live out his days in a crate that’s too small for him to stand. As for foie gras, my customers and I can easily live without it.

In all of my restaurants, catering businesses, licensed foods and takeout establishments, I’m committed to using organic ingredients and humanely raised meats and fish. By the end of the year, all of the chicken I buy, even for my Wolfgang Puck frozen pizzas, will have been raised cage-free. The veal on my Spago menu is now free-range. To make certain things stay above-board, I’ve hired someone who will police my purveyors. I want to ensure that everything labeled organic really is, and that no veal calf that finds its way into my kitchen lived its life chained inside a box.

And it won’t stop with the food. Our society is too reliant on disposable packaging that sits for eternity in a landfill. I drive through the streets of Beverly Hills and can’t help but notice that this city has the largest garbage cans I’ve ever seen. It’s not that bad people live in Beverly Hills, it’s just that the more affluent a society we are, the more we tend to throw away. By the end of the year, I’ll replace all of my plastic to-go bags with recycled paper, and I’ll use more environmentally friendly containers.

I’m hoping other chefs will follow suit. If I can get my foods from responsible ranchers and farmers and feed millions of people each year—and not raise prices—then chefs who cook for smaller audiences can do this, too. And one by one, we’ll all benefit. The way I see it, our future will be filled with more chefs and fewer doctors.

Bye bye Wolfgang, you will be missed. At least you’ll still be smiling down on us from your yummy canned soup in our cupboard.