Emeril Lagasse

Emeril Lagasse
Born	Emeril John Lagasse (1959-10-15) October 15, 1959 (age 57) Fall River, Massachusetts, United States
Education	Diman Regional Voc Tech High School, and Johnson & Wales University
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Kief (m. 1978–86) 2 children Tari Hohn (m. 1989–96) Alden Lovelace (m. 2000) 2 children
Culinary career
Cooking style	Cajun, Portuguese, Creole, and French
Current restaurant(s) Emeril's Restaurant (New Orleans); NOLA (New Orleans); Emeril's New Orleans Fish House (Las Vegas); Emeril's Delmonico (New Orleans); Emeril's Orlando (Universal CityWalk, Orlando); Delmonico Steakhouse (Las Vegas); Emeril's Tchoup Chop (Orlando); Table 10 (Las Vegas); Lagasse's Stadium (Las Vegas); e2 Emeril's Eatery (Charlotte); Emeril's Chop House (Bethlehem); Emeril's Fish House (Bethlehem); Burgers and More by Emeril (Bethlehem)
Television show(s) The Emeril Lagasse Show, Emeril Live, Essence of Emeril, Emeril Green, Emeril's Florida, On the Table

Emeril John Lagasse (/ˈɛmərəl ləˈɡɑːsi/ EM-ər-əl lə-GAH-see; born October 15, 1959) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. He is a regional James Beard Award winner, known for his mastery of Creole and Cajun cuisine and his self-developed "New New Orleans" style. However, he is perhaps most notable for having appeared on a wide variety of cooking TV shows, including the long-running Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril. On those shows he pioneered several catchphrases he is associated with, including "Kick it up a notch!" and "Bam!" Lagasse's portfolio of media, products, and restaurants generates an estimated US$150 million annually in revenue.

Lagasse was born on October 15, 1959, in Fall River, Massachusetts to a French-Canadian Québécois father, John Lagassé, and Portuguese mother, Hilda. 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. 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 attended Johnson & Wales in 1978 and the school later awarded him an honorary doctorate.