Emeril Lagasse
Emeril Lagasse
Emeril John Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. He is a regional James Beard Award winner, known for his mastery of Creole and Cajun cuisine and his self-developed "New New Orleans" style. However, he is perhaps most notable for having appeared on a wide variety of cooking TV shows, including the long-running Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril. On those shows he pioneered several catchphrases he is associated with, including "Kick...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionChef
Date of Birth15 October 1959
CityFall River, MA
CountryUnited States of America
Because of my restaurant schedule and other commitments I have, I shoot up to 12 shows in a week. It's taped live.
When you look at Louisiana food, you'll see there is a tremendous amount of respect. Mainly because of the amount of years... it has 200 years of history. There are restaurants that have menus that are older than most U.S. cities.
We're a new show. We can't afford instant replay.
We began building this incredible new foundation in this restaurant, and that's what began giving me the left-hand side of tradition and the right-hand side, my new palate.
We're probably close to reaching 2,000 shows, which is more than Julia Child and Jacques Pepin together.
My mom is Portuguese, and my dad is French Canadian. The solid foundations of those heritages, cultures and techniques, melded with my education and classical background, lead to my style of cooking.
I was the guy that spent 18 hours a day on the telephone, finding people, moving people, (checking on) the other six restaurants . . . now I've got a third less revenue. I was running the business, and the business is about people.
I was a whiz kid at music, and cooking was more of a challenge. I eventually went to culinary school, Johnson & Wales.
My best friend became the manager and maitre d', and he and I-with 33 people-opened this white tablecloth restaurant in the Warehouse District in 1990. By the end of '90, it blew the charts: we were getting every award, we got the highest review ever done.
I am very fortunate that I have a large audience who watches my show, and who seem to love my show, and there's certainly a lot of people contact that comes from that. But that really hasn't changed what I still feel, or how I get up in the morning, or what motivates me to get to work.
Spain has some of the richest culinary traditions and truly appreciates food that is simply prepared with top-notch ingredients.
I love to cook; that's my passion.
I moved to Louisiana to become the executive Chef at Commander's Place. And I must say I had some encouragement from friends such as Ella Brennan, the queen of the New Orleans's culinary set, and others. This was very flattering to a young man with a dream. I was only 26 years old.
One big reason I do what I do is there's no two days alike. It's not work for me. It's my life. My passion.