Emeril Lagasse

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Emeril Lagasse
Born Emeril John Lagasse
(1959-10-15) October 15, 1959[1]
Fall River, Massachusetts, United States
Cooking style Cajun, Portuguese, Creole, and French
Education Diman Regional Voc Tech High School
Spouse Elizabeth Kief (m. 1978–86) 2 children
Tari Hohn (m. 1989–96)
Alden Lovelace (m. 2000) 2 children

Emeril John Lagasse (/ˈɛmərəl ləˈɡɑːsi/ EM-ər-əl lə-GAH-see; born October 15, 1959)[1] is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. A regional James Beard Award winner, he is perhaps most notable for his Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril as well as catchphrases such as “Kick it up a notch!” and “Bam!”[2][3] The "Emeril Empire" of media, products and restaurants generates an estimated US$150 million annually in revenue.[4]

Personal life

Lagasse was born on October 15, 1959, in Fall River, Massachusetts to a Canadian Québécois father, John, and Portuguese mother, Hilda. He has distant relatives in Connecticut's New Haven and New London counties. Lagasse worked in a Portuguese bakery as a teenager where he discovered his talent for cooking and subsequently enrolled in a culinary arts program at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School.[1] His talents as a percussionist earned him a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music but he chose instead to attend Johnson & Wales University in hopes of becoming a chef. He met his first wife, Elizabeth Kief, while working at a restaurant called "Venus De Milo" to pay his way through school.[1] He attended Johnson and Wales in 1978 and the school later awarded him an honorary doctorate.[5]

In 1982 Lagasse succeeded Paul Prudhomme as executive chef of Commander's Palace in New Orleans.[6]

After the birth of daughters Jessica and Jillian,[7] Elizabeth Kief and Lagasse divorced. Lagasse married a second time to a fashion designer, Tari Hohn, but that too ended in divorce.[6] Lagasse married a third time on May 13, 2000 to a real estate broker, Alden Lovelace.[6] He and Lovelace had a son, Emeril John Lagasse IV, on March 2003, and a daughter, Meril Lovelace Lagasse, on December 10, 2004.[7] Jessie is married to Steven Swanson, and they have two sons - Jude and John Peter.

In 2010 as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Lagasse appeared in a commercial to raise awareness for the spill. Also starring in the commercial were Sandra Bullock, Peyton and Eli Manning, Jack Del Rio, Drew Brees, James Carville, Blake Lively, and John Goodman.

Career

In 1979 Emeril Lagassi became the Executive Chef at the Dunfey's Hyannis Resort and is nominated as Chef of the Year in 1983 prior to his illustrious television career.

Lagasse initially gained fame in the culinary world as executive chef of Commander's Palace. After leaving Commander's he opened his first restaurant, Emeril's, in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1990. It was designated "Restaurant of the Year" in Esquire magazine of that year. Lagasse is mainly known for his emphasis on Creole and Cajun cooking styles. Many of his restaurants—as well as his corporate office, Emeril's Homebase—are located in New Orleans. Lagasse is the executive chef and proprietor of thirteen restaurants.

In April 2008 Lagasse closed Emeril's Atlanta, which had been open since 2003.

In August 2011, Emeril's Miami closed.

Lagasse has three restaurants at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Emeril's Chop House, Burgers and More by Emeril, and Emeril's Italian Table.

Lagasse opened a restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2011. It features most of Lagasse's specialties but also includes local North Carolina favorites like regional seafoods.

Television and film

Lagasse first appeared on television on the show Great Chefs where he was featured on no fewer than ten episodes including Great Chefs, the Louisiana New Garde, New Orleans Jazz Brunch and Great Chefs — Great Cities.[8] After several appearances on several other FoodTV programs, Lagasse hosted his own show, The Essence of Emeril. “Essence” in the title refers to Emeril’s Essence, the name of a spice blend of his own concoction that he frequently uses in his cooking, and which is commercially available in several flavors. He also often suggested that viewers of his show create their own spice blends that reflect their personal tastes and be unafraid to use them to customize the dishes he would teach. Lagasse has been nominated eight times for a Daytime Emmy Award for his Food Network shows without winning. On November 27, 2007 The Food Network announced that it would be canceling the Emeril Live show on December 11, 2007. The Food Network, however, stated that Essence of Emeril will continue production.

Lagasse was one of sixteen chefs featured in the 1993 Julia Child series, Cooking With Master Chefs.

Lagasse briefly starred in a self-titled TV sitcom on NBC during the 2001 fall season with Robert Urich, but it was canceled after several episodes and widely panned by critics. Lagasse also appeared on Shop at Home Network (which, like Food Network, was owned by Scripps Networks), on the show From Emeril's Kitchen from 2005–06. The program was discontinued after Scripps liquidated Shop at Home’s assets to Jewelry Television in June 2006. Lagasse has appeared on the Home Shopping Network for the channel's 30th anniversary.

On television, Lagasse is known for his light and jovial hosting style as well as several catchphrases, including "Bam!",[9] "kick it up a notch," "aw, yeah, babe" and "feel the love," usually said before or after adding something spicy to a dish, or after the reaction to adding something, respectively. When frying or making dishes like sausage, Lagasse advocates using genuine lard, boasting, "Pork fat rules!" This style developed fully and Lagasse became more comfortable when a live studio audience was added in the change from Essence of Emeril to Emeril Live.

Lagasse also acted as Grand Marshall of the 2008 Tournament of Roses Parade and presided over the nationally telecast coin-toss before the game wearing a business suit—a rarity for Lagasse who is normally attired in chef's garb.

Lagasse is currently hosting his new daily series Emeril Green that airs on Discovery Channel's new eco-lifestyle network Planet Green. Emeril Green is filmed on location at Whole Foods Markets across the United States.[10]

In 2009, Emeril joined Bravo's Top Chef as a judge.

Emeril made a guest appearance on Jon & Kate Plus 8 during the show's 5th season to help celebrate their 100th episode in May 2009. He also provided the voice of Marlon the Gator in the 2009 Disney film, The Princess and the Frog.

In November 2009 Lagasse announced that he is planning a new cooking show featuring him that he hopes will be featured on network prime time television.[11]

Lagasse also teamed with fellow Food Network personality Mario Batali in a tag battle against Bobby Flay and White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford on an episode of Iron Chef America which aired on January 2, 2010.[12]

In April 2010 Lagasse began hosting a new weekly variety program, The Emeril Lagasse Show, which airs on Ion Television each Sunday.[13]

In September 2011, he hosted a show from Hallmark Channel called Emeril's Table. It was cancelled after one season.

Now he hosts a new Cooking Channel show called Emeril's Florida.

On the Animated television show Futurama, Lagasse is parodied by the Alien Chef Elzar, who often uses Lagasse's signature "BAM!" and "Knock it up a notch!"

In 2012, Lagasse appeared as himself on an episode of the HBO drama series Treme.

In May 2013, Legasse won the "Humanitarian of the Year" Award from the James Beard Foundation.

Contribution to space exploration

In August 2006 Lagasse contributed several recipes to the meal selection aboard the International Space Station, as part of a general NASA effort to improve the quality of the food supply for astronauts. Lagasse’s cuisine in particular was selected in the hopes that the spicier fare would offset the reported tendency of microgravity to deaden flavors.[14]

Cuisine

Lagasse describes what he calls his new and different use of local, Louisiana ingredients in his own interpretation of Creole, strongly influenced by Asian, Portuguese, and Southwestern, as “New New Orleans” cooking.[citation needed] The styles of cuisine from Lagasse’s many restaurants vary a great deal from one another. Tchoup-Chop in Orlando is “Pan-Asian” while Delmonico at The Venetian in Las Vegas is a steakhouse with a Southern flair.

Merchandising and endorsements

Lagasse has a wide range of Emeril-branded products. On June 8, 2000 he signed a deal with B&G Foods to create a line of dry grocery products marketed under the label Emeril's.[15] The product line includes pasta sauces, marinades, salsas and Lagasses' signature "Essence" spice blend. He followed this up in 2004 by lending his name to a line of fresh produce made by Pride of San Juan. The products, branded "Emeril's Gourmet Produce," include spring mix salad blends, fresh herbs and heirloom tomatoes. He now also has canned pasta like Chef Boyardee.[16] Emeril's complete assortment of products can be found on his own store web site at http://www.emerilstore.com/

Lagasse also has two lines of kitchen knives produced by Wüsthof and cookware made by All-Clad as well as a line of kitchen electrical appliances made by T-Fal.

He has appeared in Crest toothpaste commercials yelling his signature catchphrase, "BAM!". (In Food Network promos, Lagasse was frequently referred to by the nickname "The Bam Bam Man.")

On February 19, 2008 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced it had acquired the rights to all Emeril products including cookware, cookbooks, television shows and food products in a $50 million agreement. Lagasse retains rights to his restaurants and corporate offices.[17]

Lagasse also hosted a YouTube contest for Crest Whitening Expressions toothpaste called What's Your Catch Phrase?[18]

Writing

Lagasse has written several best-selling cookbooks, from Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking, his first book which was published in 1993, to Emeril's Delmonico, published in 2005.

Restaurants

Emeril Lagasse has his own chain of restaurants across America. These include:

Awards

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Emeril Lagasse Biography". A&E Television Networks. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
  2. ↑ Walker, Rob (2003-09-29). "Emeril's Tasty Toothpaste". Slate.com. Retrieved 2007-07-06. 
  3. ↑ Edwards, Gina (2006-01-28). "Emeril Lagasse lets the good times roll". naplesnews.com. Retrieved 2008-01-03. 
  4. ↑ Schoenfeld, Brian (2005-11-28). "Emeril's Empire". Cigar Aficionado. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
  5. ↑ "Chef Emeril Lagasse: Biography". Emerils.com. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Emeril Lagasse Biography". biography.com. Retrieved 2010-06-06. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Biography for Emeril Lagasse". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2010-06-06. 
  8. ↑ "Emeril Lagasse, Great Chefs". 
  9. ↑ Emeril's signature catchphrase began simply as a means of keeping his studio crew awake. When Emeril first began at Food Network, he would tape seven shows a day, from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon. He would frequently pepper his dialogue with "BAMS!" to keep his crew in the studio awake, focused, and on their toes. The phrase soon proved a hit with viewers ... and a catchphrase was born. "Chefography, Food Network". 
  10. ↑ Malkin, Marc (2008-02-28). "Exclusive! Emeril's Green Days". Planet Gossip. E!.com. Retrieved 2008-02-28. 
  11. ↑ Fazan, Sarina (November 8, 2009). "Chef Emeril dishes major scoop". ABC. 
  12. ↑ Burros, Marian (2009-11-03). "Someone’s in the Kitchen With Michelle: The Secret Ingredient Is Politics". Dining & Wine (The New York Times). Retrieved 2009-11-04. 
  13. ↑ Emeril Lagasse's new variety show on Ion leaves aftertaste, even with Martha Stewart's help from the New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  14. ↑ "Station Crew ‘Kicks it Up a Notch’ with Chef Emeril Lagasse." NASA press release. August 10, 2006. Accessed June 20, 2007.
  15. ↑ "B&G Foods Annual Report (10-K)". 2004-04-02. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
  16. ↑ Gaylord, Brian (2007-06-22). "The Produce Exchange to market 'Emeril's Gourmet Produce'". The Produce News. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
  17. ↑ Reuters (2008-02-19). "Martha Stewart to buy TV chef's media properties: report". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-02-20. 
  18. ↑ What's Your Catch Phrase

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