A Culinary Master and His Protégé

E.J. Lagasse Takes the Reins at Emeril’s New Orleans

By Jordan Staggs | Photography courtesy of Emeril’s

Some dining experiences become world-renowned, whether for excellence, wow factor, style, or location. As we traverse an era in which chefs are celebrities and their kitchens and dining rooms are stages, it’s incredible to watch them perform and then enjoy the final product as an interactive member of the “audience.” What is perhaps even more impressive than creating an unforgettable restaurant is reimagining an iconic one with a well-established reputation. That’s exactly what the team at Emeril’s famous New Orleans flagship has done under the leadership of Chef Patron E.J. Lagasse, the twenty-one-year-old son of Chef Emeril Lagasse.

Approaching Emeril’s restaurant at 800 Tchoupitoulas Street, the painted brick exterior, turquoise awnings, and hand-painted directional mural lead guests to a landmark culinary destination. But for those who visited during the Warehouse District eatery’s first three decades, that destination has undergone a big change since it closed in 2021 during the pandemic and then took a hiatus in the summer of 2023 for renovations. Emeril and E.J. partnered to build a new look, feel, and concept for the restaurant, with much excitement on their end and from the public.

Emeril can’t say enough about how impressed he is with E.J.’s vision and work ethic. E.J.’s passion for cooking formed at a young age when he began helping his dad in the kitchens of Meril in New Orleans and Emeril’s Coastal in Miramar Beach, Florida. Revamping Emeril’s is a full-circle moment the whole family was excited to unveil when it reopened on October 24, 2023.

“As young as he is, E.J. has really taken over the restaurant and is doing amazing things,” says Emeril. “He and I have two different styles. I’m a little old-school and a little classic, New American cuisine. He reads my books from cover to cover to make sure he’s doing things correctly from that perspective, but he has unbelievable training. He worked for me starting when he was a young boy. I’ll never forget the time we were having dinner at Daniel Boulud’s Palm Beach restaurant, Café Boulud, and E.J. was about thirteen. He told his mom and I—remember, this was at thirteen—he said, ‘Look, I figured out what I’m going to do.’ Alden and I looked at each other and said, ‘Okay?’ And he said, ‘I’m going to be a chef.’ I said, ‘Woah, wait a minute. You sure about that? I don’t think you know what you’re getting into.’ And he said, ‘I’m going to be a chef.’”

E.J. kept his promise. A “scholar of food,” he studied under not only his father but also Michelin-awarded chefs, including Daniel Boulud and Eric Ripert. After graduating from Johnson & Wales University (Emeril’s alma mater), he headed South again to tackle the renovation and take the lead at Emeril’s while Emeril himself is busy with many other business endeavors, such as becoming the face of culinary operations for Carnival Cruise Line.

We walked into Emeril’s and were promptly greeted by maitre’d Michael Destin Casey, a native of Florida’s Emerald Coast who spent time at Emeril’s Coastal before making his way to the Big Easy. Casey led us through the shiny new bar area to the dining room while soft hits from the 1960s and ’70s filtered through the speakers. The dining room is a beauty to behold. E.J. worked with designer Charlie Moore for the look and feel.

“It’s an amalgamation of all the things I love about restaurants,” E.J. shares. “The banquettes were inspired by a place in London, the tables from a favorite spot in the Cayman Islands.” He also pointed out there are no sharp edges in the building, creating an artistic and inviting space. There are only round or oval tables, and E.J. revealed that many guests want to measure them, as the ovals are much slimmer than most dining tables but still seat guests comfortably with plenty of space for place settings. Even the edges of the painting at the end of the room are rounded.

Art creates focal points throughout the restaurant, including a portrait of Emeril in the bar and a piece by New Orleans artist Doyle Gertjejansen, fittingly titled Generations, above a spirits-laden sideboard in the dining room.

But the real work of art is the kitchen itself, which patrons can see clearly through a floor-to-ceiling glass wall in the dining room. E.J., a self-proclaimed “Energizer bunny,” outfitted his stage with state-of-the-art equipment that’s as beautiful as it is powerful. His team is even more impressive, as a short chat with any of them will reveal each member—front and back of house—is intimately knowledgeable about the menu and restaurant operations.

A short visit to the kitchen revealed it’s just as well-run as you’d imagine, with each staff member (and there are many of them working in tandem) working diligently but pausing to chime “Welcome, guests!” as you enter. You genuinely feel as though you’ve stepped into a major motion picture. There’s a tiny tasting table where we savored an amuse-bouche of fresh seafood and a shot of gazpacho-esque puree while chatting with E.J. for a few moments before returning to our oval table for the main event.

The star of the show, of course, is the food.

Guests may choose between two seven-course tasting menus with optional wine pairings. Reflecting the duality of the Lagasse chefs, the menus are named The Classics (aka Emeril’s favorites) and The Seasonal (E.J.’s new rotating creations). In April of 2024, The Classics included a revamped version of Emeril’s smoked salmon cheesecake, oyster stew, potato Alexa, Maine lobster gumbo, wagyu and daube glacé, a New Orleans snoball, and banana cream pie.

E.J.’s passion is evident in not only the outstanding restaurant he’s curated with his father and their team but also his enthusiasm for “raising the tide” by bringing other young culinary professionals through his kitchen and placing them in positions among Emeril’s other outlets around the country.

Our table opted for The Seasonal menu, which included Grand Isle shrimp, crawfish pie, red snapper, sweetbreads, lamb with spring vegetables, the snoball, and a strawberry genoise cake, plus some extra sweets to end the evening. It would be unsurprising if guests needed to order a wheelbarrow to take them away from the table—everything is so good, you don’t want to waste a bite.

The dinner itself is a spectacle as you watch E.J. and the team through that glass wall, creating each dish with precision and professionalism. From the plating to the presentation and explanation by each member of the waitstaff, it’s awe-inspiring. Almost everything is sourced from within 150 miles of New Orleans, and Emeril’s takes pride in building relationships with the farmers and purveyors whose products are on the table. One of those, E.J. noted, is the lamb from White Sand Homestead Farm in Poplarville, Mississippi—a small family farm run by another father-son duo, Allen and Aaron Snelling. “Relationships with local farms have been so important to Emeril from the beginning, and we’re always going to honor that,” E.J. says.

Each dish reflects not only those local farms but also contemporary New Orleans cuisine, family traditions, and inspirations from E.J.’s favorite places, much like the dining room decor. For example, a small glass crustacean figurine was placed on the table with a sanitary wipe for guests to use after enjoying the shrimp, harking to a similar presentation from Chef Grant Achatz’s famed Chicago restaurant, Alinea.

You might notice the snoball is the only course on both tasting menus, and that’s no accident. “It’s our New Orleans version of a palate cleanser,” our server explained. Patrons can choose from seasonal flavors, which included hibiscus and lemon-lime during our visit, plus the Hansen’s Sno-Bliz classic flavor, sourced from the famed snoball stand that’s been a city staple since 1939.

Since reopening with its new look, feel, and taste last fall, Emeril’s and its young chef patron have gained worldwide attention. A Michelin star rating could be in the cards soon, and if the restaurant is awarded, it would make E.J. the youngest US chef recipient, alongside Gilles Epie of France and Aiden Byrne of England, who were both awarded at twenty-two.

While he would love to win, of course, awards are not E.J.’s primary objective. He’s working to build on the legacy Emeril started at the restaurant thirty-four years ago: “To take all of these ideas that I know he’s had for a number of years—probably thirty-three—and to take some ideas that I know I’ve had since I was a child and see them come to life in this space, it’s pretty surreal.”

E.J.’s passion is evident in not only the outstanding restaurant he’s curated with his father and their team but also his enthusiasm for “raising the tide” by bringing other young culinary professionals through his kitchen and placing them in positions among Emeril’s other outlets around the country. This echoes Emeril and Alden Lagasse’s educational mission under the Emeril Lagasse Foundation. Emeril shares, “Twenty-two years ago, I said to my wife, ‘We need to inspire children from a culinary arts, educational, and food perspective, and we set our goals to do that. Now, we’re celebrating twenty years of the Emeril Lagasse Foundation and its legacy programs. We have eight school and garden programs; it’s just incredible.”

While the foundation continues to expand and gain support through its many programs and annual fundraisers, such as Carnivale du Vin, the Lagasse family is also undergoing continual career growth. Emeril and E.J. recently celebrated at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in Las Vegas, E.J. joined Chef Ryan Ratino at Jônt in Washington, D.C., for an exclusive four-hands collaborative dinner in June, and Emeril will be featured at the ​​sixteenth Ritz-Carlton Cayman Cookout in January 2025, to name a few exciting developments. Meril Lagasse, Emeril’s youngest daughter and the namesake of Meril restaurant in New Orleans, was recently awarded an internship at Domaine Serene Winery. She hopes to work with the Emeril’s team and continue solidifying the restaurant group as a family legacy business.

Describing the experience patrons have at the New Orleans flagship in the simplest terms, E.J. says, “It’s breaking bread in the best way there is. We’ve been here thirty-four years, and my plan is for us to be here another thirty-four.”

We’ll toast to that.

— V —

Visit EmerilsRestaurant.com to learn more or book a table, and be sure to follow @emerils, @emeril, and @ejlagasse on Instagram for more updates.