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
You know, for 300 years it's been kind of the same. There are restaurants in New Orleans that the menu hasn't changed in 125 years, so how is one going to change or evolve the food?
Many of my staff have been with me for over 20 years. I have a great team, and I make sure they feel respected and appreciated.
The world has changed, and it's almost been 11 years. I have 975 employees. I have six restaurants. We haven't opened any new ones in almost three years.
The premise of 'The Originals' are places that have been open 50, 60, 75, 100 years or longer that are still doing it right that maybe a lot of people, particularly the younger generations, have not even thought about.
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.