When it’s Wolfgang Puck’s name lighting up your screen, you take the call, no matter what time it is. Elliott Grover knows this. “He’s so passionate, he calls every evening, saying: ‘Elliott! How’s it going?’ And I’m like: ‘Wolfgang, it’s 2am!’”
Grover is the executive chef of Cut at 45 Park Lane, Puck’s London outpost. But right at this moment, he’s cooking in Hollywood as he helps Puck cater for the Oscar winners. For Puck, it’s all part of the annual routine — America’s most famous chef has done it for nearly 30 years — but it’s virgin territory for Grover. The pair will be at the Governor’s Ball. It’s the big one, the evening’s after-party, where sideboards end up strewn with wine glasses and golden statuettes and it swiftly becomes impossible to really decide who’s the most famous person in the room. And Grover, a 31-year-old with a strong Cornish lilt, will be there in the room, plating up. Not bad going for someone who’s been in the gig less than a year.
