Airport Experience® News - Food & Beverage Issue 2024

Celebrity Chefs Are Making Inroads In The Casual Dining Space

BY SALLY KRAL

In the world of celebrity chefs with airport businesses, none loom quite as large as Wolfgang Puck. He’s done it all, from formal sit-down restaurants to quick-service pizza spots, in airports across the globe. “Wolfgang was the first chef in airports; he’s been in the airport business for approximately 30 years,” notes Vince Modica, executive vice president of license business for Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. , which handles the chef’s non-traditional business. “With all those

years of experience, we have a unique way of operating in the airport market. We’re not a box, we’re a custom-solution approach. You have the space, we’ll come up with a solution that will work.” For instance, when the trend in North American airport RFPs began favoring concepts from smaller, local chefs for larger sit-down restaurants, Wolfgang Puck Worldwide pivoted to expanding its sit-down concepts internationally and focused on its more casual concepts with

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AX NEWS JUNE 2024