Emeril Lagasse: Chef, Restaurateur and Television Personality
Business Owner · Food & Beverage
Emeril Lagasse turned down a conservatory percussion scholarship for culinary school and built a New Orleans restaurant, media and product business earning about $150 million a year by 2005.
About Emeril Lagasse: Chef, Restaurateur and Television Personality
Emeril John Lagasse III (born October 15, 1959, in Fall River, Massachusetts) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality and cookbook author, a National Best Recipe award winner for his "Turkey and Hot Sausage Chili" in 2003 and a regional James Beard Award winner. He is known for his mastery of Creole and Cajun cuisine and his self-developed "New New Orleans" style, and for the Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril and catchphrases such as "Kick it up a notch!" and "Bam!". In 2005 his portfolio of media, products and restaurants was estimated to generate US$150 million annually in revenue. He is the father of chef E. J. Lagasse. Lagasse's father, Emeril John Lagasse Jr., was French Canadian from Quebec and his mother, Hilda Medeiros, was from Portugal; he says he "grew up very Catholic". He worked in a Portuguese bakery as a teenager, where he discovered his talent for cooking, and enrolled in a culinary arts program at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School. His talent as a percussionist earned him a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music, but he chose instead to attend Johnson & Wales University's culinary program. Sources: English Wikipedia (Emeril Lagasse, accessed September 2026).
Basic Information
Chef, restaurateur and founder, Emeril's Restaurants; television personality
Company Details
Emeril's Restaurants / Emeril Lagasse Foundation
Restaurants, Food Media, Consumer Products
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