Meet the 31-year-old set to take over Wolfgang Puck's culinary empire. He got his start washing dishes at 12.

• Byron Lazaroff-Puck is stepping into a larger role in Wolfgang Puck's culinary empire.
• He was named President of Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group in 2025.
• Lazaroff-Puck emphasizes company growth with a focus on continuous improvement and innovation.

Wolfgang Puck leads a global culinary empire of restaurants and catering services that spans more than 20 countries.

At 76, Puck is still busy behind the scenes, but another person is stepping into the role that could define the company's future: Byron Lazaroff-Puck, Puck's son.

Lazaroff-Puck was named president of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group in June 2025, while Wolfgang Puck remains CEO, a spokesperson told Business Insider over email.

The multi-million-dollar business includes award-winning restaurants such as Spago, CUT, Chinois, and Merois. CUT in Las Vegas, the group's top-grossing restaurant, brings in $21 million annually, the spokesperson added.

Lazaroff-Puck has spent nearly 20 years working within his father's business. At 12, he started out washing dishes at Spago Beverly Hills, the flagship restaurant that helped define his father's career.

Now, at 31, Lazaroff-Puck says the prospect of stepping into a larger role comes with pressure but also a sense of purpose.

"I really invite that pressure more than anything because it means that we're doing something grand," he said.

Business Insider spoke with Lazaroff-Puck and his father as they helped prepare for the Governors Ball on Oscar weekend.

From dishwasher to president

Lazaroff-Puck learned from an early age that he would have to earn his position in the business. It wasn't going to be handed to him.

For example, when he began at Spago Beverly Hills, Lazaroff-Puck recalled thinking he would start as a pizza chef, but got a quick reality check when he was assigned to dishwashing.

"I've always loved and appreciated him for that fact," Lazaroff-Puck said of his father. "That, from a professional sense, he's always let me know that I need to work hard. But on a personal sense, he's always been there."

Back in the kitchen for the Governors Ball, dozens of chefs buzzed about, plating hundreds of dishes at breakneck speed, but Lazaroff-Puck seemed calm and collected. He said he wasn't always that way.

Recalling his first Governors Ball experience at age 13, he said: "I was so scared." He added, "I just didn't want to screw anything up."

"Byron is really ready to step into my shoes, to take over the business if he has to," Puck told Business Insider on Oscar weekend, adding that: "It will be a natural takeover and little by little I'm gonna give Byron more responsibilities."

Building the next phase of the company

Looking ahead, Lazaroff-Puck said he is focused on growing the company while maintaining its culture, guided by the Japanese concept of "kaizen."

"We take this mindset of kaizen, which is a Japanese term that essentially focuses on continuous evolution or constant improvement," he said.

He described the broader organization — including catering and global operations — as a "family," and said he wants to expand that network while preserving the spirit of combining traditional dishes and continued evolution and innovation.

"I was always mesmerized by food and the artistic quality behind it," Lazaroff-Puck said. "So putting in the work and putting in those long years of effort have really paid off in terms of being able to create art of my own nowadays."

At high-profile events like the Oscars, that spirit shows up in dishes like chicken pot pie with black truffle shavings and premium ingredients like A5 Miyazaki beef, reflecting a mix of tradition and innovation.

As Lazaroff-Puck takes on more responsibility, he frames it less as a succession and more as a continuation of a legacy he has been part of since childhood.

"I'm very grateful that I get the opportunity to do something that I feel like truly impacts the lives of so many through creating memories for people through food," Lazaroff-Puck said.