Emeril Lagasse Quotes (47 Quotes)

I ended up turning down a full scholarship of music at the conservatory to pay to go to cooking school.

I'm gonna do it MY way The problem with cooking is too many rules. You don't have to have perfect squares. Who cares, you know Like we got some architect judging us at breakfast

I grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. My background was modest, and I worked at a Portuguese bakery in town.

I started cooking when I was about 10. I have memories like when I was 6 or 7 with my mom, and when I was 12 I started getting real serious about cooking.

I'm not a TV guy. I'm a restaurant chef and a businessman.

I have always been involved with both music and food. Music was first, and I kind of had to set that on the back burner when food took over.

I want to give people jobs, believe me, ... I want to get back there and rebuild and want to be a part of the community. My heart is with my staff.

Those other 10 o'clock shows that come on, all you get from them is headaches and nightmares when you go to bed! At least we give you food, know what I mean?

In the restaurant it's much more serious.

Because of my restaurant schedule and other commitments I have, I shoot up to 12 shows in a week. It's taped live.

I don't limit myself.

I never thought about what it was to have fresh milk, or to take milk and make it into cheese and that sort of thing.

I love to teach, and I am thrilled that so many people want to learn from me. My job is really an art form. I must say I still am shocked at how many people, regardless of their age, want to learn to cook. TV has added so much for me. It has added such a dimension for me, it is wonderful.

I was the guy that spent 18 hours a day on the telephone, finding people, moving people, (checking on) the other six restaurants . . . now I've got a third less revenue. I was running the business, and the business is about people.

I've always done food that can work in a set time frame. The message I'm trying to get across is, it doesn't have to take three days to do this. With planning, you can do a lot and really have quality food every day.

I'm working harder than ever now, and I'm putting on my pants the same as I always have. I just get up every day and try to do a little better than the day before, and that is to run a great restaurant with great food, great wine, and great service. That's my philosophy.

I'm a good listener. And you have to have people to be a good listener. I take that very seriously. And that helps me to do better television. I don't really watch myself, so it's not like I'm critiquing. I just don't do that. What I really get inspired from is the people.

I moved to Louisiana to become the executive Chef at Commander's Place. And I must say I had some encouragement from friends such as Ella Brennan, the queen of the New Orleans's culinary set, and others. This was very flattering to a young man with a dream. I was only 26 years old.

I want people to know... the difference between Creole and Acadian cooking. As you can tell, I am passionate about the Louisiana that I love. I guess you could say I am restoring and preserving the past and sharing the future.

My philosophy from day one is that I can sleep better at night if I can improve an individual's knowledge about food and wine, and do it on a daily basis.

The world has changed, and it's almost been 11 years. I have 975 employees. I have six restaurants. We haven't opened any new ones in almost three years.

Music is one of those things that is constantly going in my head all the time. It's sort of like the evolution and creation of doing food, or my philosophy about wine. It's always beating in my head, so it keeps the spirit moving.

Home base is the support system where we have a culinary team, my own writers because of the shows and the books and stuff, we have a culinary team of about six people. Marketing, public relations, accounting and all that sort of stuff.

If you don't follow your dream, who will?

I respected it. I submerged myself into it. So on a lot of days off I would go and fish with the fishermen and the families that ran the boats. I would go work the fields with farmers. I would go and talk with farmers about growing particular products for me.

I spent a lot of time on farms when I was young. My uncle and my dad owned a big farm.

I came here because the city has a tradition and is a very respected food city.

I was a whiz kid at music, and cooking was more of a challenge. I eventually went to culinary school, Johnson Wales.

You know, for 300 years it's been kind of the same. There are restaurants in New Orleans that the menu hasn't changed in 125 years, so how is one going to change or evolve the food?

I mean, if you love what you do-whether you're an auto mechanic or you sew clothes or you cook-it's all about personal passion and love that really makes the thrust to the level that you want to get it to.

When you look at Louisiana food, you'll see there is a tremendous amount of respect. Mainly because of the amount of years... it has 200 years of history. There are restaurants that have menus that are older than most U.S. cities.

I guess I feel that I was following my instincts, and at the same time being guided by the best. I became totally intrigued with Louisiana - the people, the food. It is a part of my life. Everything that has happened for me since moving here has just been icing on the cake.

As I spent a couple of days there, I realized how blessed I am, but you realize what still is going on in the pockets of this country that we don't know about. To say these kids are 'at risk' is an understatement. They have parents who are on drugs, shot, in jail,

We began building this incredible new foundation in this restaurant, and that's what began giving me the left-hand side of tradition and the right-hand side, my new palate.

I lost pretty much all our refrigeration, ... That stuff is all custom built.

I had these recipes that say do this, do that. Who MAKES these rules?

I am very fortunate that I have a large audience who watches my show, and who seem to love my show, and there's certainly a lot of people contact that comes from that. But that really hasn't changed what I still feel, or how I get up in the morning, or what motivates me to get to work.

If somebody has a chance to put my food in their mouth, that tells the story.

When it ceases to be fun, I'll stop and just stay in my restaurants.

My family... always had the value of the family table and these cultural influences of growing up.

I'm just fortunate that now I have an audience of people on the show who don't have to pretend they have smell-o-vision. We're actually feeding these people. I'm putting my reputation on the line as an artist, as a chef.

Now that years have gone by and I look back at it and I can put one and two together, it was my childhood memories and cultural feelings and beliefs in the whole tie-in of the French CanadianPortuguese thing.

Mom ran the house, so we grew up Portuguese.

We try to take care of guests in any way we can. Like vegetarian tastings. Which reminds me of our truffles... we are known for our truffles.

Growing up in New England, being schooled and classically trained, it needed to shake, it needed to evolve.

Life just doesn't hand you things. You have to get out there and make things happen. that's the exciting part.

We're a new show. We can't afford instant replay.