Wolfgang Puck is probably one of the most well known chefs in America, and became one of the first “celebrity chefs” in the U.S. with his opening of Spago. Born in Austria, he trained in France before coming to the U.S., making a stop in Indianapolis before settling in Los Angeles. Along with running catering operations (he is the official caterer of the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball), writing cookbooks, hawking his own line of wares on QVC, playing himself and voicing characters in movies (he’ll be playing Chef Smurf in The Smurf Movie), he owns over 15 restaurants, including The Source, located in the Newseum. Between wine dinners, we were able to catch up with the charming chef to ask him about his path to becoming a chef and what inspires him.

Photo by blueiris2006 The D.C. season of Top Chef began filming today, and rumors are flying around the city like Hung Huynh with a hot pan through a crowded kitchen. DCist foodie Alicia Mazzara spied people in white coats on the roof of the Newseum, where unconfirmed reports place today’s Top Chef taping. She passes along this photo as evidence, and she and others saw several passenger vans and rental trucks parked outside the Newseum….

Neither Mozart nor Hockey Themed Washington works hard to burnish its dining credentials. D.C. fat cats who are literally fat need somewhere to eat, and they’re not going to throw down lobbyist dollars for just any slop. No. D.C. is a dining destination, beckoning the up-and-coming chefs and their myriad foodie followers. People are noticing, too. From the New York Times to the National Geographic Traveler, we’re a getting noticed — enough so that a…

>> If you’re in the market for a Crown Victoria, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has a few to sell. [WTOP] >>It looks like Paul Wolfowitz might finally soon be gone from the World Bank. But President Bush isn’t about to let his departure spoil an otherwise solid 12-year run during which the bank’s president has had the word “wolf” somewhere in their name. Obvious replacements are Wolf Blitzer, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), Wolfgang Puck…

Puck Picks Penn Property for Newsy Noshing The second time I ever visited D.C., I saw a sign for the Newseum on I-66 and thought that it was the New-seum. I figured it was some kind of reverse museum that showcased all the stuff that was new, as in the latest in technology, science discoveries, and what have you. It turns out that it’s a museum about the news (as if those elitists in that…