To most men the idea of watching cable television's Food Network is one step short having a pin-up picture of Martha Stewart in the tool box...except when it comes to watching Emeril Lagasse, the animated New Orleans chef.
"BAM! Let's kick it up a notch," Emeril shouts into the television camera as his studio audience, composed equally of men and women, cheers him on.
The sly-faced, cherubic Emeril looks as though he'd be more comfortable chomping on a cigar and pushing an 18-wheeler across country than in a kitchen. Well, the cigar part is true.
Lagasse is a long-time cigar smoker who believes that a good smoke will complement a well-prepared and tasty meal.
And none of those pantywaist little stogies for him. Emeril's tastes are for a cigar he can bite into with a good draw and smooth taste.
"Nothing will substitute for good food carefully prepared," he says. "You've got to have the proper ingredients and you've got to know what you're doing when you prepare the food. But there are other things that will enhance the enjoyment of a great meal."
Emeril points to a snifter of brandy or a fine sherry and a good cigar.
"You've got to know when to add the extras," he said. "You never sip an after dinner drink until the meal is eaten...and you never light a cigar until everyone else has finished."
He smiles as he sits back and slowly draws, the smoke curling and climbing.
The success of Emeril Lagasse has been nothing short of amazing. Not native to New Orleans, or even Louisiana, Emeril grew up in blue collar Fall River, Mass., the blending of Portuguese and French Canadian stock, where he worked in a Portuguese bakery, learning the art of bread and pastry baking.
So intrigued by meal preparation was he that when the opportunity came along for a music scholarship, he turned it down and took a job so that he could work his way through the famed culinary school, Johnson & Wales University. He later received an honorary doctorate from J&W.
Continuing his culinary education, Emeril trained in France (Paris and Lyon) before returning to the United States and jobs in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. He was later persuaded to move to New Orleans and immediately fell in love with the Big Easy where he worked as executive chef at the famed Commander's Palace for seven and a half years before opening his first restaurant, Emeril's, in the warehouse district in 1990.
The rest of the story is about as meteoric as his rise in culinary circles.
Emeril is credited by many with revitalizing the Creole-Acadian style of cooking. To many people New Orleans cooking is fire and brimstone that could take the first layer of skin off your palate.
Emeril tends toward the hot, but melds his spices with only fresh, top-quality ingredients indigenous to Louisiana. It's been said that he preserves the bayou tradition with a contemporary flair.
His first restaurant, Emeril's, was the lead-in for NOLA (New Orleans LouisianA), opened in the famed French Quarter in 1992. 1995 saw the opening of Emeril's New Orleans Fish House at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. In June he took over the renowned Delmonico's, revamping it and reopening it in his image. January 1999 will see the launching of a new restaurant in Orlando at Universal Studios and the following spring will unveil a steakhouse in Las Vegas.
Emeril, who is on the go so often he hardly has time to light up a cigar, much less enjoy one of his own great meals, has two television shows, the Essence of Emeril and Emeril Live, both on the Food Network. In 1997 he won cable TV's top award, the Cable Ace as best informational series.
In his "spare time" Emeril is food correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America.
Emeril always has time to talk to the children.
Crowds line up in Ridgewood, NJ at Bookends at an Emeril booksigning.
In 1993 Emeril launched a series of cookbooks in conjunction with William Morrow & Co., one of the country's top book publishers. He began with Emeril's New Orleans Cooking in 1993 and then took the back roads to detail Louisiana Real & Rustic. That was followed by his popular holiday book, Emeril's Creole Christmas in 1997. That one made the best seller list.
His current book, Emeril's TV Dinners, appears to be headed in the same direction judging by the reception he has received at book signings. At a recent signing in Ridgewood, New Jersey, the line out of the bookstore began an hour before the scheduled starting time and reached not only to the corner, but also around and onto the next block. For every person who left the store clutching a copy of Emeril's book, three more took their place on line to wait for an autographed copy.
As frenetic and animated as he appears on television, Emeril is the antithesis in person. Where his public persona is brash and loud, Emeril himself is quiet and self-effacing.
At the end of his extended day, which can stretch from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., Emeril's pleasures are simple; he likes to sip a good brandy and puff on a smooth cigar.
By Bob Nesoff
