Smoke Over Beverly Cañon Gardens, Wolfgang Puck Anchors the Beverly Hills Autumn BBQ

On Sunday, October 18, the gardens beside The Maybourne will smell like a fire pit. From 6 to 9 p.m., the returning Beverly Hills Autumn BBQ takes over the hotel grounds and the adjacent 33,000-square-foot Beverly Cañon Gardens, Time Out reported, with Wolfgang Puck and his son anchoring the local showcase. It comes as the Puck family marks two decades of CUT, its steakhouse at the Beverly Wilshire.

A Benefit Built Around Fire

The evening is co-hosted by The Maybourne Beverly Hills, Puck’s Spago Beverly Hills and the City of Beverly Hills, and presented by United Card Events from Chase. Guests move between live cooking stations and pop-up bars among the greenery and fountains, Time Out wrote. All of it supports No Kid Hungry, the national campaign working to end childhood hunger in America. The event builds on last year’s $50,000 donation, and 100 percent of the proceeds from this year’s silent auction will go to the cause.

The roster reaches well beyond Beverly Hills. According to Time Out, Damon Gordon, executive chef of The Maybourne, will serve Spanish-style California lamb with white beans and pimentón dulce. Alisa Vannah of Chi Spacca is presenting grilled lamb ribs with a spiced red wine glaze. Eric Werner of Hartwood in Tulum is preparing wood-fired prawns with chipotle mezcal and piña cacahuate salsa, and Daniel Castillo of Heritage BBQ is smoking beef cheeks to serve on tallow-fried corn tortillas with salsa macha verde. Time Out lists Wolfgang Puck and Byron Puck of Spago Beverly Hills as the anchors of the local showcase. Cocktails come from Florería Atlántico, Dante Beverly Hills and Employees Only NYC.

One correction to the early buzz. Nancy Silverton, who was first announced as a participant, is no longer confirmed, Time Out noted in an update to its story.

The evening carries a few extras. New York-based artist Marco Gallotta will cut an original paper artwork live in the gardens, and the silent auction includes lots such as five donated Ferragamo bags. A United MileagePlus early-access lounge opens at 5 p.m. inside The Terrace Restaurant and Maybourne Café for cardmembers.

Twenty Years of CUT

The BBQ is the outdoor cousin of a more formal celebration. In a conversation with The Pride LA published this week, Puck and his son Byron Lazaroff-Puck talked through two decades of CUT Beverly Hills and the CUT 20 anniversary dining series, which brings the chefs from the group’s other CUT kitchens to Beverly Hills.

CUT now spans seven locations, The Pride LA noted, and Byron Lazaroff-Puck called the anniversary “an incredible milestone.” The Beverly Hills restaurant, he said, paved the way for what the family considers the modern American steakhouse, one that turned the classic steakhouse on its head by being focused, technical and precise. Puck said CUT Beverly Hills is the birthplace of all the others. The next two openings were Singapore and London, followed by Bahrain, New York, Washington and Las Vegas.

The anniversary dinner puts those cities on one menu. Puck described chefs arriving from Bahrain, London, Las Vegas and New York, the last of them a former chef of the Beverly Hills kitchen, and said three weeks of the dinner had sold out. Byron Lazaroff-Puck said Kamel Guechida, who oversees the pastry programs for the CUTs internationally, will make a Baked Alaska about 20 feet long carrying flavors from every location. Singapore might lean toward yuzu, he said, and Washington toward old-school Americana with flavors like caramel.

Puck also spoke about why a restaurant lasts. Chinois in Santa Monica is 43 years old, he noted, and Spago is 45, with the anniversary coming in January according to his son. “Most of the restaurants don’t survive five years, forget about 10 years, forget about 20 years,” Puck said. He added, “So, we are all about longevity,” and tied it to the neighborhood, saying the community supports the restaurants because the restaurants support the community.

The Chef as Craftsman

The Pride LA interview wanders from steak to painting. Puck said he is taking painting lessons to get skin tones right, and he compared chefs to composers who listen to other music and painters who go to museums. “I think it’s important to know what’s going on in the world,” he said. He recalled that Spago was a different idea from the start. “Before Spago, there were no white tablecloth restaurants with an open kitchen,” he said.

The Beverly Hills CUT was designed by Richard Meier, whom Puck described as the architect who built the Getty Museum. A room alone does not make a great restaurant, Puck said, and he credited the people in it, from the chef and the manager to the pastry chef.

What Comes Next

There is more Westside building ahead. Puck said the family is still working on a large restaurant on the beach, in a building designed by Frank Gehry in Los Angeles County next to Malibu, which he called the biggest project the company has taken on. Byron Lazaroff-Puck said Abu Dhabi will be the next CUT, with Palm Beach and the Maldives among the other places the group is looking at.

The Autumn BBQ is the smaller, softer side of the same story. For one night a hotel, a restaurant family and the city share a garden, and the silent auction money goes to No Kid Hungry.

Practical Details

The Beverly Hills Autumn BBQ is on Sunday, October 18, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Beverly Cañon Gardens and The Maybourne Beverly Hills. Tickets were $300 for early birds and are $350 after September 30, plus tax and gratuity, Time Out reported. The full lineup, menu highlights and ticketing are on The Maybourne’s website.