CHEFS AS THE STAR INGREDIENTS

They roll into town like rock stars, roadies in their wake. They stay in the best hotels, are wined and dined at all the finest restaurants--and when show time finally comes they are interviewed, photographed and besieged by autograph hunters. They are the celebrity chefs--on the road for Chefaid once again.

Chefs who were asked to give to charity used to send a check, a recipe or a dish. Now, they send themselves. These days it is not the food they cook or the celebrities they attract, but it is the chefs who are the biggest draw. Big-name American chefs hit the road for charity with such regularity that many of them have regular road crews. Jeremiah Tower shows up pulling what he calls his “TravelPac”--a suitcase loaded with pots, pans and tablecloths that he says “is always packed and ready to go.”

Long before rock musicians got on the current bandwagon for activism, chefs were doing well with traveling shows. It was, after all, the third annual Spago benefit for Meals on Wheels held Sunday at the Pacific Design Center that brought famous chefs from all across America to serve their food to anyone willing to spend $125 (tax deductible) for a ticket to the event. (Meals on Wheels is a nonprofit organization that delivers hot meals to the elderly, ill and disabled.) Each year the affair has become more impressive, the chefs more celebrated--and the bucks bigger.

The preshow hysteria resembled that of a rock concert as organizers strolled around with headsets and two-way radios, looking official. As the 4 p.m. opening got closer, chefs scurried around setting up their stoves and decorating their tables. Someone sent out for Big Macs and fries, and when they arrived there was a general scramble for them, despite the tables laden with foie gras and baby vegetables and whole sides of salmon.

“We’ve done nothing but eat,” said Boston’s Lydia Shire, detailing the seemingly endless meals she had been served since her arrival in California. There were banquets at the Bel-Air, dinners at Chinois on Main--and an impromptu party at Primi. These chefs work hard but they know how to party. Knowing that they had to cook for 800 people the next day, most of them did not hesitate to drink champagne until 3 in the morning. They seem to know that this show has more to do with them than what they serve.

“I came the first year because I thought, ‘All you can eat and drink, that’s a good deal,’ ” said one fan waiting in line for a taste of Jeremiah Tower’s California cooking. “But this year it’s more expensive. My husband and I spent $250 for a pair of tickets, and we could buy a meal in any restaurant in town for that. This time I just wanted to come and look at the chefs; I guess you could call me a food groupie. But isn’t he handsome ?”

In the next line Piero Selvaggio served black risotto and eggplant whipped with goat cheese while he worked the crowd. “What’s your name?” he asked one well-dressed matron. She giggled, told him and he replied, “Give me a kiss.” The woman nearly swooned. And down the way Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme had a woman sitting on his lap while her boyfriend snapped their picture. “Will you autograph it?” she asked.

“ ‘Entertainment Tonight’ asked me how I felt about being a celebrity,” said Jonathan Waxman, former chef at Michael’s and now owner of two New York restaurants. “So I just put on my shades while they shot the interview.” The “Entertainment Tonight” crew was everywhere, moving from chef to chef asking questions. “The chefs are becoming the new stars,” said producer Susan Haymer.

As the crew moved away, Larry Forgione, owner of An American Place in New York, and one of the chefs most responsible for the renaissance of American cooking commented, “Sometimes all this publicity gets tedious. At the Meals on Wheels benefit in New York last June, the photographers dragged us around from site to site. Time, Life, the newspapers--they all wanted different shots. Meanwhile, we’re trying to cook the food.”

At the Design Center, the food itself seemed almost beside the point; people lined up according to who was cooking, not what was cooked.

“I don’t even know what food they’re serving in this line,” said one man in the Puck line, “I just know that it’s cooked by Wolfgang Puck.” He appeared to relish the roasted Sonoma baby lamb with garlic cream and pesto, and the grilled quail.

The other long line was for Prudhomme’s food--fettucini with tasso and oysters, shrimp etouffee and blackened redfish whose pungent smell hung heavily over one end of the Design Center terrace.

A woman walked up to the table where Avner Samuel, of the not-yet open Crescent Court Hotel in Dallas, was serving the most beautiful dish of the evening-- foie gras on deep red fried cayenne pasta with a relish of black beans and very orange mango. “I’ve never heard of him,” she said, turning on her heel and walking away without giving the food a second glance.

The wine was not a big hit, either, although 43 wineries were represented, willing to pour asmuch wine as anybody wanted to drink. Moet et Chandon went through 10 cases of champagne, but few other wineries poured more than a couple of bottles. Most of the winery representatives, in fact, seemed primarily intent on telling the chefs about their wares; the chefs had dozens of bottles pressed upon them.

The chefs were the most appreciative of each other’s food. Scouting parties went out from each table to return with laden plates. “This is wonderful,” said one of Waxman’s helpers, tasting the lobster with Thai sauce and noodles made by Lydia Shire of the Boston Four Seasons Hotel. He moved on to the spicy pheasant sausage served with yogurt pumpkin cakes made by Bradley Ogden of San Francisco’s Campton Place, and gave a deep sigh of satisfaction.

“I think the most important part of this, other than raising money for a charity I care a great deal about,” said Larry Forgione, “is that you get together with all these people. We’ve done this sort of thing for a few years now, and we’ve all gotten to be friends. And the people we bring with us--the next generation--it’s really wonderful for them to see what’s going on all around the country.”

The more they do it, the better they become at it. “We’re more professional about running these benefits,” said Puck, who acknowledged that the first Meals on Wheels affair cost so much money in rentals, hotels and travel expenses that the considerable take was finally whittled down to a paltry $3,000. This year almost everything was donated--airfare, hotel rooms, all of the food--and the final check to Meals on Wheels is expected to top $70,000. “Next year we’ll go for a hundred grand,” said Puck, who is already thinking of some new celebrity chefs to draw next year’s crowds.