Emeril Lagasse was born of a French-Canadian father and a Portuguese mother in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1959. He developed an interest for cooking while working at a local bakery at his teenage years. He subsequently enrolled for cooking classes at the Diman Vocational High School. Emeril had a few more talents including being a well accomplished percussionist; he played at dances and local religious occasions. Upon graduation, Lagesse had an offer for a scholarship at the New England Conservatory of Music, this he declined in the interests of following his passion as a professional chef. He therefore chose to proceed to the Johnson and Wales University at providence and took up a job at the local restaurant in order to cover his tuition. He and Elizabeth Kief met at the college and were married in the October of 1978. His culinary skills were polished in France, in the cities of Lyon and Paris. He returned to the US to work in fine restaurants across the Northeast.
As the Commander’s Palace executive chef, Lagasse won a lot of support and was loved by gourmet enthusiasts. In 1990, right after he’d left the Commander’s Palace, he opened up Emeril’s (his own restaurant), this was in New Orleans in the state of Louisiana. The eatery won “Restaurant of the Year” in the magazine, Esquire. Lagasse humors his clientele by the enthusiasm with which he makes Creole dishes as well as his Cajun cooking styles. Presently, Lagasse has in his property, ten restaurants across America. The establishment’s restaurant at Atlanta was closed in 2008.
His appearance on Great Chefs was the first attempt at broadcasting any of his endeavors in the media. He appeared for quite a few episodes and proceeded to host his own show after appearances in another cook program, FoodTV.