Emeril Lagasse is one of Food Network’s most popular chefs. His cuisine is based on New Orleans style cooking, and he is the owner of nine restaurants in New Orleans and several other cities. He is also the author of dozens of cookbooks including the best sellers “There’s A Chef In My World” and “New New Orleans Cooking”. He has two shows on Food Network: Essence of Emeril, and Emeril Live. You may be familiar with his catch phrases: “Bam!” (recently used in a toothpaste ad on television) and “Kick it up a notch!”.
Emeril was born in Massachusetts, and took up cooking at an early age. After graduating high school, Emeril was contemplating between two career paths: music or food. He chose food and graduated from Johnson and Wales University culinary program. After continuing his studies in Paris, Emeril returned to the US and then began working in Brennan’s – a landmark New Orleans restaurant. There, his passion for all New Orleans style cooking took hold.
In 1993, Emeril joined The Food Network with Essence of Emeril. When taping a special a couple years later, the live audience was so enthusiastic that Food Network developed Emeril Live. Emeril Live began taping in 1997. Both Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril have been nominated for Emmy awards, and Emeril Live won a coveted CableAce award in 1997.
Emeril Live is taped at Chelsea Market in New York City, (75 9th avenue). The show consists of a live cooking demonstration on the theme of the day. This could be anything from a special holiday meal to Louisiana favorites. Guest chefs are also invited to appear along side Emeril. Some of these guests have included fellow Food Network chefs Mario Bitali and Bobby Flay, as well as cooking legend Julia Child.
To keep the energy high on the show, Emeril wanted to have live music during the show. The house band featured is Doc Gibbs and the Emeril Live band. Emeril also features guest artists on his show, such as Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson and Sammy Hagar.
Taping happens three times a year, in one week segments. Multiple shows are taped each day. There are also some tapings done outside of NYC, which are special shows.
Tickets to be in the audience for Emeril live are one of the most requested live audience show tickets in NYC. Tickets are obtained only through Food Network. They hold a lottery once per year (or more if needed). The lottery is listed through the Food Network website. You must be signed up for the newsletter to be eligible for the lottery. You may sign up here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/newsletter
Winners of the tickets are picked and then are notified by phone approximately 2-4 weeks before the taping is scheduled. There is a limit of 4 tickets per family. You must accept the dates offered to you.
Tapings are done months before airing, so you may be attending a christmas theme taping during the summer months!
As well as his cooking endeavors, Emeril founded his Emeril Lagasse Foundation in 2002, which supports education and developmental opportunities for children. You can also see Emeril on Good Morning America friday mornings.
Reference:
- For more information on Food Network, please visit their website at food” href=”http://http://www.foodtv.com/” rel=”nofollow”>www.foodtv.com”>Food Network. For more information on the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, please visit the website at www.emeril.org””>
