Wolfgang Puck Plans Return to Malibu

Speculation regarding which tenant might someday occupy the empty beachfront property beside Malibu’s recently opened Nobu outpost may be coming to an end. 

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In an interview with luxury lifestyle magazine Haute Living (issue hits newsstands March 25), Wolfgang Puck hints that he may be preparing to move to the Pacific Coast Highway property owned by Oracle CEO and commercial developer Larry Ellison. Malibu resident Ellison, the father of Annapurna Pictures founder Megan Ellison (Zero Dark Thirty), owns several major properties in the area and began construction on the property in 2010.

Puck, who first opened his flagship restaurant Spago in 1982, plans to “serve great seafood prepared simply” in the surfside digs, emphasizing that he and Ellison are “in the early stages” of discussion. 

Puck’s last foray into the Malibu restaurant game, Granita, opened in 1991 to critical and commercial acclaim. Barbara Lazaroff, Puck’s ex-wife and the interior designer of many of the pair’s eateries, created an under-the-sea theme for Granita using vibrant pastels and rich blues accented by blown glass, ample mosaics and even a koi pond. 

Granita, beloved among celebrities and locals alike, closed in 2005 when Puck and Lazaroff, who divorced in 2003 after a 20-year marriage, chose not to renew the property’s lease. Its site, a short drive north of Ellison's commercial development, has remained vacant since the storied restaurant’s closing.