Emeril Lagasse is cooking up a whole new career direction for himself these days. He closed his show at Food Network after ten years of anchoring their programming, and then recently sold his franchise to Martha Stewart Omnimedia.
Now, with the help of the Discovery Channel's Planet Green Network, along with organic grocery giant Whole Foods Market, he's going green.
What does that even mean? Read on...
Emeril is launching a new show this July on Discovery Channel's Planet Green. It'll be called EMERIL GREEN and it's going to be shot exclusively at Whole Foods Market.
The premise is that Emeril will shoot on location at the organic grocery giant, and deal with real questions and challenges that cooks have in eating green and healthy. Here's a quote from his press release:
"Since my early days as a chef, I've always been passionate about using the freshest quality ingredients from farmers, fisherman and ranchers. I try a little harder every day to think greener and be respectful of our environment and our resources. On 'Emeril Green' we'll unearth how easy and fun it is to cook with what's fresh, tasty and in-season and find smart ways to make each day a little greener for you and your family."
What do you think? In the confusing world of "eating green," are you looking forward to some tips and direction from the King of Bam!?
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I'm not an Emeril fan at all. I'm not sure if this will change that. At the very least, I like the idea quite a bit. I just seriously wish they had selected a different host...
view halfginger's profile
I'll be the first to admit I did not often watch Emeril's shows, however, I do respect his food knowledge and I know they far outweigh most of the chumps that appear on The Food Network now.
view foodiegirl's profile
I don't love Emeril, but a lot of people do, and I respect his abilities and experience. I'm hoping he can use his fame to steer more people towards thinking about where their food comes from and what's in it, because ultimately that's better for eaters and for the environment.
view ScienceandtheCity's profile
I think a lot of what people don't like about Emeril is a result of what his producers wanted him to be.
He eventually became a caricature of himself.
Physically, he is not a very good example of eating healthy though.
view art's profile
Emeril is an ass. I can't stand his phony schtik. He isn't from Louisiana but he fakes a Cajun accent and ripped off the menu from Commander's Palace restaurant to go market it to the world as his own creation.
After Hurricane Katrina he did very little to help the city and the people whose culture have made him rich. He was quoted saying New Orleans was "dead" after the storm and not worth rebuilding. In the past decade he hasn't set foot in any of his restaurants there for a minute longer than it takes for the photo opp.
Now he wants to be the poster boy for "Green Cooking". I guess cashing in on something that was started long before by much more talented folks has worked for him in the past, why not try again?
view Slim's profile
@Slim,
I respectfully dissent with some of your conclusions.
Sure, his show may have turned his character into an ass.
But as far as ripping off the Commander's Palace menu, you must admit that people gather inspiration from places that meant a lot to them. He spent his formative years there, became inspired by the food and the people, then went on to create his own, modern version of the flavors he worked with there.
Emeril's presentation and style is it's own. Charlie Trotter's has influenced many successful chefs. I wouldn't say that these chefs have ripped him off (even though he may differ--who knows). Cooking is not an exact science unless you actually carbon-copy a dish which Emeril does not or didn't do.
I also know that Emeril has setup a fund to help out his restaurant staff in New Orleans. It's not realistic for any executive on his level to physically be at all of their properties all the time. He must care about his restaurants and their people seeing as he is still the owner. His restaurants were not part of the Martha Stewart deal.
One more note on cashing in on Commander's Palace. Just like parents that hope their kids turn into something bigger than them, Emeril did that, and I wonder how a superstar who has always been proud of where he came from affected Commander's Palace business? Something tells me it helped it quite a bit.
No, I never worked for Emeril.
view art's profile