King of a Culinary Empire - Emeril Lagasse

The first chef to find his way to Food Network, and make it big on national television is none other than our dear Mr. Emeril Lagasse. The king of the Emeril Empire, he is no longer a chef, but is in fact a definition of celebrity chef and has made a significant contribution to how the world sees gourmet food, restaurants and culinary professionals. He is among the few who make watching cooking shows everybody's worth, not just for the food, but for the lively environment that he creates by involving his audience in his shows. So let's take a peek into the life of this famous food celebrity- both on-screen and off-screen!!

Snapshot:
Birth Date: October 15th, 1956
Homebase: New Orleans
Family: Wife Alden
Famous Restaurants: Delmonico Steakhouse and Emeril's New Orleans Fishhouse
Famous Shows: Emeril Live, Essence of Emeril

Born in the small town of Fall River, Massachusetts, Emeril boasts of a fusion of Portuguese and French Canadian heritage. He worked in a local portuguese bakery as a teenager, learning the art of bread-baking and pastry, then found his way to the culinary program at Johnson & Wales University, where he earned a Doctorate in Culinary field. He later trained in France, worked in New York, Boston and Philadelphia and finally as Executive Chef at Commander's Palace restaurant for seven and a half years before fulfilling his dream of opening his own restaurant in New Orleans. He expanded this chain to 3 more eateries with his flagship palce called "Emeril's" in 1990 and by 1995 he had found a place for "Emeril's New Orleans Fish House" at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las vegas, the first ever to make an impression in the sin-city. 1999 saw the growth of his name, fame and food at Universal Studios in Orlando and a steakhouse in Vegas.

But what got every kid and adult to know the name of Emeril Lagasse was his affiliation as top chef with Food Network. His two shows "Essence of Emeril" and "Emeril Live" won him several awards and made him a celebrity in the true sense!! He has also published several bestselling cookbooks like "New Orleans cooking", "Emeril's Delmonico" and more recently "There's a Chef in my World". His books have sold more than 4.3 million copies, and his restaurants have been showered with critical acclaims like "Restaurant of the Year by John Mariani(Esquire magazine)" and the prestigious "Ivy Award". He was also named the Best Southeast Regional Chef by the James Beard Foundation. If that's not all, an entire brand of cooking stuff is named after him and is always on Amazon's most-wanted list!! Lately though, I'm a bit disappointed to see his shows being repeated on Food Network. Emeril Live, is not longer live, but then maybe its FN that needs a makeover, and not Emeril!:)

So what is this guy when he's not a chef??!! Well, he has a history of two failed marriages, but now lives with his wife Alden in New Orleans and is passionate about cooking good food. He enjoys collecting wine, and often fantasizes of joining the PGA Tour. He also loves Tennis, Golf and Fishing, which is often sacrificed due to his 12-15 hour work days!! In 2002, he started the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, a charity organization to improve the lives of children and youth, and he spends whatever time he gets with kids and passing on his culinary skills to tiny chefs.

There, a concise yet descriptive biography on the famous chef Emeril Lagasse, a celebrity in the culinary world! People all around the world love this guy, and his Emeril-isms like "Bam" and "Kick it up Another Notch" are known to most of his fans! The one thing he says to his loving audience is "Enjoy Food, Have Fun and Remember Flavor".....hmm....kind of sounds like Fun and Food, right?!:)