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CHEF WOLFGANG GREEN
OF WOLFGANG'S ON MAIN,
HIGHLANDS, NC
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Return to
Great Carolina Chefs
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this is an evolving section
of our
web site and
information on
more chefs
and their restaurants
are on the way.
until then, happy and
adventurous eating ...
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f all the adjectives you could apply to Wolfgang Green, "timid" isn't one of them. In 1961, the 18-year-old future chef escaped East Germany, before the Berlin Wall divided his country. A year later, without speaking English, he traveled to Jamaica to work in a Sheraton Hotel kitchen, where the head chef refused to speak German. Decades later, after sojourns in Bermuda, Dallas, Hawaii, Los Angeles and New Orleans, the much-lauded chef finds himself in the refined mountain town of Highlands, North Carolina. His dramatic past flavors his menu, which is as adventurous as he is.
"We are not a German restaurant," he maintains stoutly about Wolfgang's on Main, the restaurant he opened 10 years ago with his wife Mindy. Though a handful of German dishes are on the menu (wiener schnitzel, rostbraten and a Bavarian sampler), Wolfgang's is more about sophisticated American cuisine. Chilean sea bass is served two ways: encrusted with porcini or Macadamia nuts, on baby spinach or with a mango papaya salsa. Filets, venison loin, and in these parts - mountain trout - are other favorites. Cajun and Caribbean entrees salute his stints in those regions, while several classics - French onion soup, escargot au gratin and "Chateaubriand for Two" let patrons feel European.
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"You have to listen to what your customer wants. You can't be everything to everybody," Chef Wolfgang believes.
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"But you've got to look for new things, different things to keep it interesting. And you've got to have good staff. You have to train them well and hopefully they will stay with you."
At 60, this chef can afford to preach. His restaurant has won Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence from 1999 through 2003. (They started with 30 wines in 1994; now they offer almost 600.) Voted Jamaican and Texas Chef of the Year, Chef Wolfgang was a member of the 1988 Texas Culinary Olympic Team. Today, he passes on his knowledge to students at Johnson & Wales University and the Culinary Institute of America through his summer internship program. Several students live in accommodations he provides, and practice with him in the kitchen.
"I'm in the kitchen everyday, and I love every minute of it," he says. "You've got to love this business. Otherwise, get out of it."
Though the couple traveled extensively - their daughter Katie Ann was born in Honolulu - they've decided Highlands is home. This is where he proposed marriage, and where they serve elegant food in an atmosphere his wife calls "rustic European chalet."
But the good chef isn't all about doing the new and fancy. One of his most popular desserts is apple strudel. It's his grandmother's recipe.
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Because Highlands is a seasonal town, Wolfgang's on Main keeps seasonal hours.
Serving the evening meal only, Wolfgang's is open Friday-Sunday in March, and 7
nights a week from April through the end of October. The season ends New Year's Eve,
with the restaurant closing January and February. Wolfgang's On Main, 474 Main Street,
Highlands, NC, 28741. Call 828.526.3807,
FAX 828.526.5754, or
see www.wolfgangs.net.
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Aida Rogers has worked in newspapers, magazines, legal newsletters
and television. USC graduate and Lexington, SC native currently is
managing editor of Sandlapper, The Magazine of South Carolina, for which she
writes a column about the most popular restaurants in The Palmetto State.
Call her with your favorites at (803) 808-1664
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