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
I'm gonna do it MY way! The problem with cooking is too many rules. You don't have to have perfect squares. Who cares, you know? Like we got some architect judging us at breakfast!
I've never really had a problem with people.
As I spent a couple of days there, I realized how blessed I am, but you realize what still is going on in the pockets of this country that we don't know about. To say these kids are 'at risk' is an understatement. They have parents who are on drugs, shot, in jail,
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 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 am committed to using only the finest and freshest products. People have come to expect that, and I will never let them down.
Now that years have gone by and I look back at it and I can put one and two together, it was my childhood memories and cultural feelings and beliefs in the whole tie-in of the French Canadian/Portuguese thing.
I'm a good listener. And you have to have people to be a good listener. I take that very seriously. And that helps me to do better television. I don't really watch myself, so it's not like I'm critiquing. I just don't do that. What I really get inspired from is the people.
I lost pretty much all our refrigeration, ... That stuff is all custom built.
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.
I want to give people jobs, believe me, ... I want to get back there and rebuild and want to be a part of the community. My heart is with my staff.
I want people to know... the difference between Creole and Acadian cooking. As you can tell, I am passionate about the Louisiana that I love. I guess you could say I am restoring and preserving the past and sharing the future.
We're a new show. We can't afford instant replay.