‘Wolfgang’ movie review: The making of a celebrity chef

The Disney+ documentary is a candid and inspiring look at Wolfgang Puck’s journey from a little town in Austria to running a vast culinary empire

Ten years after David Gelb’s meditative Jiro Dreams of Sushi, comes the more straightforward Wolfgang, documenting super chef Wolfgang Puck’s journey from a little town in Austria to running a vast culinary empire. . The documentary starts with Puck visiting his sister, Christine, in Austria. Puck’s troubled relationship with his abusive step-father is one of the reasons he found safety and comfort in the kitchen. At the age of 14, Puck’s mother, a pastry chef, gets him a job in a restaurant. His step-father’s ridicule is enough to spur the boy. Puck peels potatoes and cleans the kitchen. One day in the middle of lunch, the mashed potatoes run out, and the chef yells at Puck, asks him to leave, telling him he is no good. Crushed, Puck nevertheless returns the next day and though the chef tells him to go away, the owner of the restaurant gives him a job in another restaurant.