Byron Lazaroff Puck, president of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, grew up in a flurry of cooking, art and hospitality. This legacy chef is one of the drivers of the future of food.

“There’s a Picasso quote that I love, which is, “Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist,’ and that always spoke to me,” Puck told the Journal. “To me that means honoring and respecting tradition, the rules, the things that people have worked so hard on to create in the past, and … then also being bold and creative and trying to innovate on top of that.”

Puck is the second son of chef and restaurateur Wolfgang Puck and designer Barbara Lazaroff. Many are familiar with Lazaroff’s annual interfaith seder at Spago that benefits MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. Puck shares his recipe for Passover-friendly braised short ribs below.

“Both of my parents were very supportive at a young age to allow me to experience life and give me opportunities to try and figure out what I wanted to do, whether that was food or hospitality related or something completely aside from that.”

Puck loved art, even as a kid.

“I always wanted to be a painter as a young kid,” he said. “I realized very quickly I was absolutely terrible at it.”

Instead of pursuing that, Puck’s father put him to work, washing dishes at Spago Beverly Hills, at age 12.

“Working in that kitchen and seeing those plates go up on the line and then eventually out to our guests, I always thought was the most amazing thing,” he said. “I quickly realized, ‘If I’m clearly terrible at painting on canvas, maybe I can paint on plates;’ I [had] such an amazing opportunity to learn how to do just that.”

Once that love of food was ignited, Puck never looked back. But it’s the hospitality element that really fuels him.

“It’s not just about serving great food [and] beverages with detail oriented service, it’s about crafting a memory for a person that they can always look back on, whether it’s a 25th or 30th or 50th birthday, an anniversary, a college graduation or a promotion at a job [or] just a regular Tuesday night,” he said. “Every single person that is gracious enough to adorn one of our dining rooms, we want to treat with the utmost respect and integrity.”

Although Puck loves serving great food, that’s not the end goal.

“I love that essence of striving for greatness, but [being the best is] also very subjective,” he said. “What I really wanna be is just your favorite; I want to make and craft an experience that turns into a memory that ultimately brings you back to have it again.”

Puck said some of his fondest food memories from growing up came from spending time in his maternal grandmother’s kitchen.

“Ellie was just an exquisitely beautiful, kind, polite, and wonderful human being and she had, as most bubbe’s should, an epic recipe for [latkes],” he said. ”Anytime Hanukkah rolled around, I got to spend time with my grandmother in the kitchen and learn that recipe from her.”

While Puck has tried to change up her recipe over the years – including making them with ube, Japanese purple sweet potatoes, and Okinawa sweet potatoes – he said, “Nothing beats Ellie Lazaroff’s latkes during Hanukkah.”

Another one of his favorite Jewish foods is gefilte fish. He and his team have worked hard over the years to make a phenomenal gefilte fish recipe.

“It was figuring out how do we elevate [it], how do we keep it traditional, while getting the best quality product … and make it feel like something truly, truly special,” Puck said. “To make people happy and make them feel sustained with great food .. to be able to do that with some of the beautiful traditional items within Jewish cuisine, speaks to your soul … and it’s really beautiful.”

Having a healthy balance of tradition and innovation within a restaurant is what allows you to build a longevity operation. Puck wants to honor what his parents built – a legacy of excellence, persistence and craft – while, as his parents did, being good to others and a helpful influence on up-and-comers.

“There’s room for all of us in this industry,” Puck said. “If there’s any legacy that I want to leave [it is to] put some good back into the world by being able to teach, [guide] … and [create] more amazing human capital.”

Follow @ByronPuck’s food adventures on Instagram and check out WolfgangPuck.com.

For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:

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Byron Puck’s Passover Short Rib Recipe

1 bottle kosher for Passover Cabernet Sauvignon

2 tablespoons kosher for Passover vegetable oil

6 short ribs, trimmed

Salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed

Matzoh meal, for dressing

10 cloves garlic, peeled

8 large shallots, peeled, trimmed, rinsed, split, and dried

2 medium carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch lengths

2 stalks celery, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch lengths

1 medium leek, white and light green parts only, coarsely chopped

6 sprigs Italian parsley

2 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 quarts unsalted beef stock or chicken stock

Freshly ground Pepper

Pour the wine into a large saucepan set over medium heat. When the wine is heated, carefully set it aflame. Let the flames die out, then increase the heat so that the wine boils; allow it to boil until it cooks down by 1/2. Remove from the heat.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large casserole, large enough to hold 6 ribs, over medium-high heat. Season the ribs all over with salt and the crushed pepper. Dust the ribs with about 2 tablespoons of matzoh meal and then when the oil is hot, slip the ribs into the pot and sear for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until well browned.

Transfer the browned ribs to a plate. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pot; lower the heat to medium and toss in the vegetables and herbs. Brown the vegetables lightly, 5 to 7 minutes, then stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to blend.

Add the reduced wine, browned ribs, and stock to the pot. Bring to a boil; cover the pot tightly and slide it into the oven to braise for about 2 1/2 hours, or until the ribs are tender enough to be easily pierced with a fork. Every 30 minutes or so, lift the lid and skim and discard whatever fat may have bubbled up to the surface.

Carefully transfer the meat to a heated serving platter with a lip and keep warm. Boil the pan liquid until it thickens and reduces to approximately 1 quart. Season with salt and pepper and pass through a fine-mesh strainer; discard the solids.

Presentation: Pour the sauce over the meat. Serve with vegetables of your choice.

This recipe can obviously be made year-round. Feel free to substitute regular wine, oil, and your preferred thickener in lieu of matzo meal.

Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.