Barbara Lazaroff

Barbara Ellen Lazaroff is an American interior designer and restaurateur, and the co-founder of the Wolfgang Puck brand.[1] She has been involved with several women's business and leadership organizations.

Barbara Lazaroff
Born
New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation
    • Commercial/residential designer
    • Restaurateur
    • Co-founder of Wolfgang Puck brand
Partner
    • Wolfgang Puck (1983–2003; divorced)
    • John Hanwell (partner since 2004)
Children2
Websitebarbaralazaroff.com

Early life

Lazaroff was born in the Bronx, New York and started her education there, later moving to Los Angeles. Her studies included theater set design and lighting. She moved on to biochemistry, psychology, and work in biomedical.[2] In the book, How They Met by Nancy Cobb, she and Wolfgang tell the story that they met while she was out with a friend at a club in 1979, and she appealed to him to get her away from a guy who “had too many lines.”[3]

Career

Lazaroff's first restaurant design was the original Spago in West Hollywood, California, which opened in 1982. It was created and run in collaboration with her business partner and then-husband, Wolfgang Puck.[4][5] The magazine Interiors wrote that Lazaroff "transformed a neglected shack above the Sunset Strip into what became the prototype for many California restaurants; a sparkling exhibition kitchen, art-filled interior, and easy indoor-outdoor flow of space."[6] This original Spago location was closed on March 31, 2001, when the building required costly renovation.[7]

In 1983 Lazaroff and Puck opened Chinois on Main in Santa Monica, also designed by Lazaroff. Lazaroff spent two years remodeling the former punk rock club into what People Magazine described as a "fuchsia, black and celadon-green oriental fantasy."[8] In 1991 Lazaroff designed Granita, the fourth Los Angeles restaurant she did with Puck. It was their first restaurant in Malibu.[9][2] Granita closed in 2005 because Puck and Lazaroff decided not to renew the lease on that property.[10]

When Spago Beverly Hills, also designed by Lazaroff, opened in 1997, Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila called it "spectacular," saying "The site of the old Bistro Garden has been entirely reinvented by designer Barbara Lazaroff, Puck’s wife and partner, and architect Stephen Jones."[11] Spago Beverly Hills was fully redesigned in 2012, eliminating Lazaroff's initial decor.[12]

Lazaroff's other designs gave included now-former Wolfgang Puck Cafés in the United States, Canada and Japan featuring a signature Café design of triangular fused glass sconces, colorful geometric mosaic floors and walls, and Lazaroff's custom “pizza chairs” for which she won, with Wolfgang Puck, the Hot Concept award from Nation’s Restaurant News.[13] Her other restaurant designs also included the following co-owned restaurants, now closed: Chinois Las Vegas, Spago Tokyo, and the Playboy Club Japan in Tokyo.[2]

In May 1997, Lazaroff and Puck owned 36 restaurants together, with ObaChine in Seattle, featuring Southeast Asian cuisine and decor, being the 36th. At the close of 2019, Lazaroff co-owns Spago Beverly Hills, Spago Las Vegas and Spago Maui, Chinois on Main, Trattoria del Lupo, Postrio Bar & Grill, and Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill in Las Vegas. She is also a partner in CUT Beverly Hills.[2]

Outside of the WP properties, in 1988 Lazaroff designed Shane's (Bel-Air), which featured Southwestern food.[14]

Lazaroff is a founding member of the International Association of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs (1993).[15][16] She was inducted into the National Association of Women Business Owners Hall of Fame on March 24, 2000.[17]

She appeared on The Joan Rivers Show.[18]

In addition to her restaurant and design work, Lazaroff holds film credits as a producer for the 2013 documentary Femme, which featured 100 interviews with prominent women from around the world.[19] She co-authored the book Wishes for a Mother's Heart with Tricia LaVoice, and was featured in RenWomen: What Modern Renaissance Women Have to Teach Us About Living Rich Fulfilling Lives, co-written by Dale Griffths Stamos and W. Scott Griffiths.[20][21]

Personal life

Lazaroff married Puck in 1983 and divorced in 2003, They have two sons.[22] She is Jewish.[23]

Awards
  • 1994—James Beard, Humanitarian of the Year[24] [Lazaroff & Puck]
  • 1994—Assopiastrelle Design Award, Association of Ceramic Tile & Refractory Manufacturers, Italy[2]
  • 1995—Hospitality Design Award, Dupont Antron[2]
  • 1996—The Ray Bradbury Creativity Award, presented by Woodbury University Library Associates.[25][26]
  • 2005—Spirit of Beverly Hills Award[27]
  • 2011—Alliance for Housing & Healing's Visionary Award[28]
  • 2013—Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Greater Los Angeles Honoree, Innovation Award[29]

References
  1. Wian, Casey. "Dinner chatter with Puck (March 6, 1998)". money.cnn.com. CNN.
  2. "Barbara Lazaroff, Wolfgang Puck organization Co-Founder (expand, and click MORE)". wolfgangpuck.com.
  3. Cobb, Nancy (1992). How They Met. Turtle Bay Books, division of Random House. pp. 75–78.
  4. Kit Wohl; Martha Stewart (2012). The James Beard Foundation's Best of the Best: A 25th Anniversary Celebration of America's Outstanding Chefs. Chronicle Books LLC. ISBN 9781452110424. Retrieved December 19, 2019. Spago, which was designed by Puck's former wife Barbara Lazaroff, opened on January 16, 1982. They furnished the restaurant on a tight budget, with patio tables and chairs. 'People smiled when they saw it and they immediately felt relaxed,' said Puck
  5. Richmond, Akasha (2006). Hollywood Dish: More Than 150 Delicious, Healthy Recipes from Hollywood's Chef to the Stars. Penguin. ISBN 9781583332412.
  6. Interiors, July 1998
  7. Jerry, Hirsch (January 28, 2001). "Puck Closing Original Spago's, Hollywood Hot Spot for 19 Years". SF Gate. Retrieved December 19, 2019. Puck and Lazaroff were traveling and unavailable to comment, but they said in a prepared statement that the building required a costly renovation and that they would rather focus their efforts on their other business ventures.
  8. "Wolfgang Puck & Barbara Lazaroff". People Magazine. February 13, 1995. Retrieved December 20, 2019. Sixteen years later, the playful Puck, 45, and the deadpan Lazaroff, 41, have become the king and queen of California cuisine. His prowess with a pan and her theatrical interior designs have spawned 11 restaurants, beginning with the hugely successful Spago in 1982.
  9. "Granita - Spago by the Sea". L.A. Times. August 18, 1991.
  10. Eyrich, Tess (March 22, 2013). "Wolfgang Puck Plans Return to Malibu". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  11. VIRBILA, S. IRENE (April 17, 1997). "New Spago, New Delights". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 19, 2019. Wolfgang Puck's new Spago Beverly Hills opened its doors Monday night and it is spectacular. The site of the old Bistro Garden has been entirely reinvented by designer Barbara Lazaroff, Puck's wife and partner, and architect Stephen Jones.
  12. Baum, Gary (Jun 19, 2012). "Wolfgang Puck Readies for Spago's Summer Closure on July 8". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  13. Virbila, S. Irene (October 20, 1995). "Wolfgang Puck Cafe Another Triumph For You-Know-Who". L.A. Times.
  14. Reichl, Ruth (2 September 1988). "First Impressions: Sizing Up Shane's". Los Angeles Times.
  15. "A Woman's Place: Ruling the Kitchen" (L.A. Times), 1993-06-20
  16. "International Association of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, founders". womenchefs.org. Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.
  17. Gellene, Denise; Dickerson, Marla (March 15, 2000). "23 Women in Business Named to Hall of Fame". L.A. Times.
  18. "The Joan Rivers Show Jackée, Barbara Lazaroff, Wolfgang Puck". YouTube.
  19. Selina Chignall (February 3, 2017). "RLTV to air "FEMME: Women Healing The World"". RealScreen.com. Retrieved December 20, 2019. FEMME: Women Healing The World is produced by Amanda Estremera, Sharon Stone, Dawn Zuill, Barbara Lazaroff, Andrea Barron and Celeste Yarnall and distributed by Vision Films.
  20. Wish, The. "Wishes for the Heart - Home". www.wishesfortheheart.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  21. "What is a "RenWoman," and What Are Her Secrets to an Abundant Life?". RenWomen. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  22. Corie Brown; Mimi Avins (December 4, 2002). "Will each get a slice of Puck's pizza empire?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 20, 2019. But Lazaroff, 48, was responsible for the eye-catching design of many of the couple's eateries, and it was her ambition, her sense of style and her flair for showmanship that helped push Puck out of the kitchen, into stardom on the charity circuit, in supermarkets and, ultimately, in television, radio, and in a series of cookbooks.
  23. Burros, Marian (March 31, 1993). "Puck's Seder at Spago: As Traditional as Gefilte Fish with Cayenne". New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  24. "James Beard awards for Barbara Lazaroff". James Beard Awards.
  25. The Ray Bradbury Creativity Award, 1996, with photo of Ray Bradbury, Barbara Lazaroff with plaque, others
  26. "Friends of the Library: Sponsored Awards". Woodbury University. Retrieved December 19, 2019. The Woodbury University Ray Bradbury Creativity Award is presented to individuals who embody the creative spark and social conscience that characterizes Bradbury's work...1996 Barbara Lazaroff
  27. "Spirit of Beverly Hills Award, 2005". jewishjournal.com. 2005-11-17.
  28. Alliance for Housing and Healing (Jun 27, 2011). "The Serra Project / Aid for AIDS to Honor Barbara Lazaroff, Dr. David Hardy and Actress Holland Taylor". PR Newswire. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  29. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles (2013-04-03). "News Release: The Guild Of Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Greater Los Angeles Presents Accessories For Success Spring Luncheon And Fashion Show Honoring Barbara Lazaroff And Lori McCreary". Cision PR Newswire. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
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