The Old-School Austrian Ribeye Dish That Wolfgang Puck Loves

Wolfgang Puck has been an enduring culinary icon since 1982, when his signature smoked salmon and caviar pizza captured diners' imaginations at the Beverly Hills location of his restaurant, Spago. But a man of his tastes also has some classic favorites from his Austrian homeland that you may be less familiar with.

We spoke with Puck at the Bellagio Fountain Club during 2025's Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix, an open-wheel auto race through Las Vegas and the Strip. The acclaimed chef discussed a dish called zwiebelrostbraten, which translates to "Onions with roast beef."

He explained, "It's like if you want a New York or a ribeye steak, but cut very thinly and then seared very fast." Referring to the team at his Spago restaurants, he added, "we slice onions really thinly too, put them in milk, season them with a little salt, pepper, and a little cayenne, and fry them really crispy and serve them on top of the meat." All tied together with a simple pan sauce, this is a delicious, hearty meal — and one you can't find on his menus anymore.

Why did Wolfgang Puck take zwiebelrostbraten off his menu? The practical realities of running a busy restaurant. He told us at the Bellagio Fountain Club that "it got so popular, we didn't have enough space on the grill to cook it." Coupled with the difficulty of reliably cooking thin steak slices medium rare, the beloved dish was more trouble than it was worth.

If you want to make zwiebelrostbraten for yourself, start with the meat. There are many things people don't know about ribeye steaks, including that they go by different names depending on how much rib bone is present. But since these are thin, rapidly seared slices of beef, leave the cowboy steaks on the shelf. You'll just discard the bone anyway.

For a dish with so few components, the right ingredients are key. Cayenne pepper is one of the spices every beginner chef should stock up on, and in zwiebelrostbraten, it adds a necessary heat to balance out the sweet, milky onions. If you're unsure of your flavoring prowess, follow Puck's tip for not overdoing your seasoning: Rather than adding it all at once, do so gradually and adjust to taste.