When we speak a little ahead of last night’s Oscars ceremony, Elliott Grover, the executive chef of Cut at 45 Park Lane, holds up a trembling hand. Is he nervous, I wonder, about heading back to Hollywood to cook at the Oscars for the second time? He smiles. “Last year, I didn't have this feeling — but now, I'm already getting a little bit of anxiety, just talking about it,” he says. “But the excited anxiety, you know?”
It’s perhaps not such a surprise he’s already feeling a little het up. Last year was a whirlwind, a 17-hour slog of celebrities and golden statues and sherry trifles. It had come about almost by accident, Grover having teasingly suggested the idea to Wolfgang Puck, the chef who owns Cut, and who’s cooked at Oscar’s after-party the Governor’s Ball for 30 years. It was just a joke, Grover says, but Puck took him at his word.
