Emeril on New Orleans: This Is One of America’s Greatest Cities

All photos courtesy of Emeril Lagasse unless otherwise credited.

Few names are as closely tied with New Orleanian cuisine as that of Emeril Lagasse, the colorful chef whose big personality and piquant Cajun- and Creole-inflected food catapulted him to small-screen fame more than two decades ago.

But before hosting his first cooking show in 1994, Essence of Emeril, and before coining his iconic catchphrase “BAM!,” Emeril opened an eponymous eatery in New Orleans that would become the flagship of his restaurant empire. Now, more than 25 years since Emeril’s opened its doors and a decade after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, Lagasse believes the New Orleans dining scene is stronger and more vibrant than ever.

Below, the chef chats with Yahoo Food about his memories of the storm, how New Orleans’s struggles have counterintuitively sparked a culinary renaissance, and about his still-under-wraps plans to open a new restaurant just down the street.

The main dining room at Emeril’s, as it looks today.

Yahoo Food: Aug. 29 marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. How are you, your restaurants, and the NOLA food scene doing poststorm?

Emeril Lagasse: We, as a restaurant group, we’re great. We have continued to slowly keep growing, and the city is continually, very positively moving forward. I think that the Louisiana Tourism Commission, the tourism board, and the Convention Center Bureau folks have done a heck of a job working really, really hard making the city visible again. And the food scene in New Orleans? It’s kind of scary because it’s grown so much. It’s grown, what 50 percent? There are all these little boutique-y and chef-owned restaurants now. It’s amazing what’s going on.

Your flagship restaurant, Emeril, just celebrated its 25th anniversary. Congrats! A lot has happened in that time — what were the major turning points?

We just celebrated [the restaurant’s anniversary] this past March, and it’s a really big deal not just for the city but for us. A lot has happened since its inception, when I really fell in love with the Warehouse District [where Emeril’s is located] 20-some years ago. There weren’t many streetlights back then. It was a pretty big risk, but I felt very strong that this was going to turn into a great neighborhood, and it is.

At the restaurant, a lot has happened, and I like to think that even with Katrina, it’s positive. There’s been so many turning points in the history of the restaurant, between Super Bowls and hurricanes and storms and [the BP oil refinery explosion]. I could go on and on and on. I like to look at these things very positively…. It’s kind of just one of those things, you know? You have storms, living there. I think that post-Katrina, it took time — it took a little bit to get the glue back and get the dance back in our step, but we’re blessed.

I’m proud of the city. I’m proud of the people. I’m proud of how people just came out and put their game faces back on and did whatever it took to make it a great place again. This is one of the greatest cities in America.

Pedestrians walk through the damaged French Quarter after Hurricane Katrina hit the city Aug. 29, 2005, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty)

What do you remember from when Katrina hit? What your immediate reaction?

I had a couple of major things going on that weekend. My daughter’s christening was happening on Sunday. I was in New York; my family was in New Orleans. I had my hand on the door of my apartment, and something hit me. Something went through my body that said, “Why are you going to New Orleans? You need to get your family out of New Orleans.”

I got [in touch with] as many key management people as I could to make sure they had a plan. The staff — I tried to reach out to every one of them within 24 hours. My parents had a plan. My in-laws had a plan. My immediate reaction was to secure things, whether it was home or the restaurants.

The bar at Emeril’s.

What was the aftermath of the storm like for you?

Unfortunately, New Orleans got the water. But in Mississippi, they got the wind. We lost our house in Mississippi [in Port Christian]. I had 26 feet of water in my house. It’s an empty lot today.

I think the toughest part after Katrina was reopening the restaurant right. We decided as a restaurant — with my guys and gals — that we were going to do it right. It took maybe a little longer than some people, but you can’t just go down to the Home Depot and buy a walk-in cooler. We had a lot of looting, as well as water damage. Equipment that was ransacked. All the refrigeration had to be replaced.

But when we opened, we opened right. There was never a question of safety, a question of food sanitation. We weren’t eating on paper plates and paper cups. The buzz was back. The mood in the restaurant every night was a sense that people could let go and get back to normal. I think it took at least six weeks.

What about the New Orleans food scene makes you most proud?

The food is incredible. The people are beautiful, the hospitality is incredible. I find that a lot of people still are really talking about New Orleans.

I think that [the food scene is] really solid. I think it’s more ethnic than it ever has been. Besides great Vietnamese food, which we’ve had for more than 30 years, now you can go to Emeril’s, you can get po’boys, you can eat Jewish food or Korean food. It’s really, really versatile. It’s not just New Orleanian food that’s making the food scene now.

Looking forward, what on the horizon for the New Orleans food scene most excites you?

I haven’t announced it publicly, but we as a group are building a new restaurant in New Orleans just a few blocks from Emeril’s…. It’s cool. It’s really cool. We’re in the design stage now, but I promise I’ll tell you about it when I can!

More stories about Emeril:

Emeril Lagasse Still Shops for His Own Groceries, OK?

Shrimp. Clams. Kale. Pasta. Dinner Served

300 Home Cooks to Hit Times Square to Make Pancakes With Emeril