Chef Emeril Lagasse was born Oct. 15, 1956, in the small town of Fall River, Massachusetts, to Hilda and Emeril Lagasse.
Before finding a job at a Portuguese bakery, he
learned to cook at his mother's side. At age 10, he started working in a Portuguese bakery and
learned the art of baking and pastry-making.At the same time he was developing his now-famous culinary skills, Emeril was also considering another career path - that of musician. A talented percussionist, Emeril was offered a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music. The man really wanted to be in show biz - but originally the idea was to be a rock star. Instead, he enrolled in the acclaimed cooking school at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, RI. He graduated in 1978 after a two-year course of study.
After graduation, he went off to France for three months, to hone his skills in Paris and Lyons. Upon his return to the U.S., Emeril settled in New Orleans to begin his shining career. By some accounts, he pestered Ella Brennan into hiring him to be the chef of Commander's Palace. In any case, he did get the job. At the tender age of 26, he was running the kitchen of one of the foremost restaurants in New Orleans, and replacing the rather large shoes left behind by Paul Prudhomme.
In 1990, he went off on his own, transforming a former warehouse on Tchopitoulas Street into Emeril's. It was an immediate hit, judged the nation's best new restaurant by Esquire magazine. The New Orleans Times-Picayune gave it five red beans, its highest rating. In 1991, The James Beard Foundation named Lagasse its chef of the year in the Southeast for his interpretation of classic New Orleans cookery.
In 1992 came NOLA (New Orleans, LA, in case you are wondering who she is :)), another refurbished warehouse-cum-foodlover's paradise with a more relaxed atmosphere than Emeril's. The menu features "new" New Orleans cooking - lighter sauces, natural reductions and healthier infused oils.
In 1998, he re-opened Delmonico, the Garden District institution which served classic Creole dishes for over a hundred years, and which closed in 1997. Many of the restaurant's traditional dishes remain on the menu, which has been carefully Emerilized to reflect the new owner's style.
As his popularity and success increased, his personal life took
a nose-dive. He divorced his first wife, Elizabeth, by whom
he has two daughters, Jillian, 17, and
Jessica, 19, more than 15
years ago. In 1989, he married again, this time to then actress
and designer Tari Hohn. The two worked together in designing and
running his restaurants. But that marriage, too, foundered in
1996. From People magazine, 12-22-97, "Now divorced a second
time, Lagasse is loath to discuss Hohn's battle for a share of
his empire. "I'll [build it all] again, if I have to," he
asserts." Apparently this marriage did not end on a good note.
By the mid-90s, not only was Emeril running his own restaurants, but he was also starring in his own cooking shows on the TV Food Network. He started out as the host of How to Boil Water, but was soon fired for being overqualified (!). They rescinded the pink slip and gave him Emeril and Friends, another flop. "It was too scripted," he said. It wasn't until he was able to "be himself" in the Essence of Emeril that he started to attract that TV audience. A few years later, Emeril Live was born - a loud and raucous, "rock-and-roux" type of show - which earned him his legions of rabid fans spouting Emerilisms, "Bam!" "Pork Fat Rules!" and other catchphrases, and made him the Food TV Network's number one star. Now the man is definitely in show biz!
Emeril has opened three restaurants in addition to his trio in the Big Easy. Two are in Las Vegas - Delmonico in the new Venetian, and Emeril's New Orleans Fish House in the MGM Grand. Both opened to rave reviews, and Delmonico has even had a little scandalous hanky-panky when Robin Leach came to visit. The other restaurant is Emeril's Orlando, at the Universal Studios Theme Park Citywalk.
When will this man sit still? He's constantly in motion - going to NYC once a month for a few days of intensive filming, traveling the country on personal appearances, making his weekly appearance on Good Morning America, visiting his restaurants - and presumably attempting a take-over of the culinary world. His fans certainly don't mind - I am waiting for the day when an Emeril's opens up in Baltimore ;)
