Why Wolfgang Puck Hates Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
Dine at Wolfgang Puck's Beverly Hills restaurant, Spago, and you won't have any trouble finding pizza on the menu. And not just any kind of pizza, because these pies are topped with black truffles and cured salmon. The renowned chef and restaurateur takes things seriously when it comes to the Italian dish, and even his line of ready-to-bake frozen pizzas is no exception. "If we make canned soup, it has to be the best one, if we make frozen pizza, it should be the best," he told Variety of his retail brand.
But, whether it be $72 pizza at his restaurant, or frozen pizza from the grocery store, Puck's standards will never stoop as low as Chicago deep-dish style pizza. In an episode of the cooking competition show "Pizza Wars" (via First We Feast) featuring Puck as a guest judge, the chef revealed that he can't stand deep dish. "It's a mess! It's not a pizza! I like the thin crust, I like when the bottom is crispy," Puck shared. "I remember I went with a food critic to one of those pizzerias in Chicago, I walked out."
Wolfgang Puck doesn't hate all Chicago style pizza
Wolfgang Puck unapologetically snobs Chicago deep-dish pizza, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a taste for Chicago tavern pizza, the kind served in bars. Unlike deep-dish, tavern-style pizza has a thin crust with a crunch comparable to that of a cracker, as Bon Appétit explains. Typically it only has one topping to prevent the crust from flopping, and it's cut into squares instead of triangular slices.
Though many people will go to Chicago for a taste of the famous deep-dish pizza, many locals — and apparently Wolfgang Puck — tend to prefer tavern pizza instead. "I think it's really good," he admitted in the "Pizza Wars" episode. "I think it has a nice crunch to it, so it's really an interesting way [to make pizza]. I make my own style, but I think I always like to see something new, and this is a really good pizza for a bar." Deep-dish may not have Puck's stamp of approval, but at least Chicago's other style of pizza seems to make up for it.