What’s it like working for probably the most famous chef in the country?
The common interpretation is that working for such a mega celebrity who has TV shows, is on QVC, etc., is that the person is disconnected from his restaurants. It’s the exact opposite. Wolf calls me three days a week to see how I’m doing. I really think we’re the largest mom and pop restaurant group in the world. And Wolf, when he’s in a restaurant, will walk right into the kitchen with a towel over his shoulder, stop at every table to sit and chat, have a glass of wine, even sit down and eat right there. He does it all the time in Los Angeles. He makes the rounds of his restaurants twice a night. What’s a good story that epitomizes Wolfgang? He was in D.C. for the inauguration and had gone to the Western Ball. I was taking care of transportation, picked up him and his wife, and of course he says, “Where do we eat?” His wife is Ethiopian, so we went to try Dukem, but it was 12:30 a.m. and closed. We then drove by Ben’s Chili bowl, and he asked [Crocini slips into a goofy Austrian accen
