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Wolfgang Puck presides over a sprawling empire that includes restaurants, catering, cookbooks and cookware, but all the food wizard really wants to do is have some fun.

At this weekend's Savor Borgata event at The Water Club, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, a culinary showcase will feature the upscale casino's lineup of star chefs. The fun, for Puck, will include working a grill station in front of guests. He plans to prepare shrimp and sea scallops with green onions, garlic and ginger, served over pad Thai noodles.

"We're going to wake everybody up - at least their taste buds," he says.

Since opening his first Spago restaurant in West Hollywood, Calif., in 1982, Puck has done just that with his celebrated cooking, which applies French techniques to Italian and Asian dishes.

In addition to Wolfgang Puck American Grille at the Borgata, his resume boasts more than five dozen fine dining restaurants and casual eateries nationwide, eight cookbooks, regular appearances on "Good Morning America," and a line of kitchen items on the Home Shopping Network.

Recently, Puck talked to At the Shore about how he's succeeding in Atlantic City, despite the economic slump, and why he doesn't want to be known as just another celebrity chef.

Q: Why has your Atlantic City location clicked?

A: You know what I like with our restaurant? You can go there and sit outside and have a pizza and a glass of wine, or you can have a nice dinner in the restaurant. It really fills everybody's needs.

Q: How has the recession impacted your business here?

A: We had our best year this year. I think more people know about us. I think people really know to come back.

We appeal to local people and tourists, also. We always try to make local people happy first.

Q: You were one of the first celebrity chefs. What do you think of so many cooks trying to follow in your footsteps?

A: I don't really like the word 'celebrity chef.' I thought I was pretty well known before that. What the whole television thing has done to our profession, it has gotten many more young people involved.

They say, if Wolfgang can have 10 restaurants, we want to do the same thing. They forget the years before that. I started to cook professionally in 1963 when I was 14. I'm 60-years-old now. I opened Spago in 1982. I had a lot of experience.

Q: So you think some young chefs want too much, too soon?

A: The whole world has become more instant. In the old days, you didn't know what people did in New York, Paris and London. Now you go on the Internet and you find out exactly what's going on.

Now right out of cooking school, everybody wants to open their own restaurant. They should take their time - first you have to learn how to cook. You should become famous in your community for your great food and great service. Then if television comes or a cookbook deal comes, it's OK, but you establish a solid floor.

A lot of young people today, they don't have the foundation. Then it becomes a problem - they're famous for 15 minutes.

Q: At the heart of your business is what you've done behind the stove. Can you talk about how you came up with your concept for the food?

A: Spago was the first upscale restaurant with an open kitchen. We changed the whole thing - if food is great, we can also have a good time.

I grew up close to Italy. I always loved pizza. I said, 'Let me cook what I love to eat.' I love pizza, pasta and I love grilled food. It doesn't have to be complicated.

When I came to Los Angeles in 1975, you have Koreatown, Chinatown, little Tokyo, little Saigon. I went to all these restaurants - I didn't go to French or Italian restaurants. It was always very inspiring to me.

Q: As a Food Network veteran, do you have any plans to host another TV show?

A: Not right now - if you want to do it right, it's really a lot of work.

It looks easy. To do an hour of television, you have to be ready for it, and it has to be fun for me.

If I can have a good time, I'll do it. If they have something they want me to do, and it's boring, I say I won't do it.

Savor Borgata

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7

WHERE: The Water Club, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City

HOW MUCH: Tickets, priced at $125, are available at 866-900-4849 or www.theborgata.com

WEB SITE: www.wolfgangpuck.com

Borgata's all-star line up

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