Born October 15, 1959, in the city of Fall River, Massachusetts, he was raised by his French-Canadian father, Emeril Jr., and his Portuguese mother, Hilda.
While working at a local Portuguese bakery, the teenaged Lagasse developed a penchant for cooking. In 1973, he enrolled in the culinary arts program at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School. Also a talented percussionist, Lagasse led the high school drum squad, playing at dances, banquets, and numerous local religious festivals.
Upon his high school graduation, Lagasse was offered a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music, but decided to pursue a career as a professional chef instead. He spent the next year studying at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. To pay his tuition, Lagasse took a job at a local restaurant, where he met fellow student Elizabeth Kief. The two married in October 1978, a few months after Lagasse completed his course work.
Lagasse polished his skills in Paris and Lyon, France, before returning to the United States, where he spent the next few years working in fine restaurants throughout the Northeast and at Telemark Lodge in Cable, Wisconsin for Tony Wise. He graduated from Johnson & Wales University in 1978; the university later awarded him an honorary doctorate.
In 1982, Lagasse replaced Paul Prudhomme as executive chef of the famed New Orleans restaurant Commander’s Palace. This demanding position, which required Lagasse to work 18 hours a day, put a strain on his marriage.
After the birth of daughters Jessica and Jillian, Elizabeth Kief and Lagasse divorced. Lagasse married a second time to fashion designer, Tari Hohn, but that too, ended in divorce. Lagasse married a third time on May 13, 2000 to real estate broker, Alden Lovelace. He and Lovelace had a son, Emeril John Lagasse IV, on March 2003, and a daughter, Meril Lovelace Lagasse, on December 10, 2004.
In 2010, as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Lagasse appeared in a commercial to raise awareness for the spill. Also starring in the commercial were Sandra Bullock, Peyton and Eli Manning, Jack Del Rio, Drew Brees, James Carville, Blake Lively, and John Goodman.
World Liberty TV team interviewed many of the Vegetarian Vendors and Exhibitors at the festival. See what they had to say about eating Vegan.
Dan Coudreaut (born 1965), known to his colleagues as “Chef Dan”, is the executive chef at McDonald’s.
Coudreaut was responsible for the addition of several items to McDonald’s national menu, including:
Asian and Southwest Chicken Salads
Angus and Chicken Snack Wraps
Angus Burger line of sandwiches
McCafe coffee drinks
Oatmeal
Real Fruit Smoothie beverages
Spicy Premium Chicken sandwich
Chef Dan also sings lead vocals in “Chef Dan and the Appetizers” which is a classic rock band formed by McDonald’s employees in 2008 to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Marcus Samuelsson is an Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised chef and owner of Red Rooster Harlem in New York City and three other restaurants.
As of 2010, he lives in Harlem, near the site of his newest restaurant, Red Rooster, which opened in December 2010.
In March 2011, the Red Rooster hosted a fund-raising dinner for the Democratic National Committee. President Obama attended the dinner. The $30,800-per-plate event raised $1.5 million.
After appearing consistently as a culinary judge on the Food Network show Chopped Samuelsson competed in and won Chopped All Stars: Judges Remix. He was awarded the grand prize of $50,000 for his charity, the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program.
In 2013, Samuelsson won the James Beard Foundation award for Writing and Literature related to food. The book, Yes, Chef: A Memoir, chronicles his journey, from his grandmother’s kitchen to his arrival in New York City, and the earning of a New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four.
