Emeril Lagasse Net Worth and Biography

Emeril Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and television personality, with an estimated net worth of $70 Million.  He has appeared on a wide variety of cooking TV shows and is one of the most expensive chefs in the world, charging as much as $100,000 for private bookings. Here is how he accumulated his $70 Million net worth.

Bio Data

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Biography

Emeril Lagasse was born on October 15, 1959, in Massachusetts, to  Emeril John Lagassé, Jr. and Hilda Medeiros. He worked in a Portuguese bakery as a teenager where he discovered his talent for cooking and subsequently enrolled in a culinary arts program at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School.

His talents as a percussionist earned him a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music, but he chose instead to attend Johnson & Wales University in hopes of becoming a chef. He attended Johnson & Wales in 1978.

Career

Lagasse graduated from the culinary school JWU in 1978 and became Executive Chef at Dunfey’s Hyannis Resort in 1979. In 1982 Lagasse succeeded Paul Prudhomme as executive chef of Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. He was nominated as Chef of the Year in the following year. He led the kitchen there for seven and a half years before leaving to open his own restaurant.

In 1990 he opened Emerils in New Orleans. It was designated “Restaurant of the Year” in Esquire magazine that year and has been a recipient of the Wine Spectator Grand Award since 1999. He has since then established eleven more restaurants in New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Orlando.

In August 2006 Lagasse contributed several recipes to the meal selection aboard the International Space Station, as part of a general NASA effort to improve the quality of the food supply for astronauts. Lagasse’s cuisine in particular was selected in the hopes that the spicier fare would offset the reported tendency of microgravity to deaden flavors.

Television Appearance

Emeril Lagasse made his first television appearance on the Great Chefs where he was featured on ten episodes. He then became the original host of Food Network’s How to Boil Water, he hosted the program from 1993 to 1995.  After several appearances on several other Food Network programs, Lagasse hosted his own show, Essence of Emeril.

“Essence of Emeril” was rebranded to “Emeril Live” in  1997. He also hosted Emeril’s Kitchen from 2005 to 2006, the Emeril Green daily series, and  The Emeril Lagasse Show, which aired on Sundays on Ion Television.

In 2011 Lagasse hosted the Hallmark Channel show, Emeril’s Table. It was canceled after one season. In 2013, Lagasse began hosting the Cooking Channel show Emeril’s Florida. The show aired for five seasons. Emeril now hosts Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse on Amazon Prime Video.

On television, Lagasse is known for his light and jovial hosting style as well as several catchphrases, including “Bam!”. “Kick it up a notch”, “Aw, yeah, babe” and “Feel the love”, are usually said before or after adding something spicy to a dish, or after the reaction to adding something.

Aside from his hosting shows on the Food Network, Lagasse made other television appearances. In 2009 Lagasse joined Bravo’s Top Chef as a guest judge. He also appeared in an episode of Iron Chef America in  2010 and served as the “Menu Master” of the TNT cooking competition show On the Menu.

Lagasse was a guest on the animated show Space Ghost Coast to Coast and played a fictionalized version of himself on Emeril, a TV sitcom on NBC. He also appeared as himself in the film Last Holiday and an episode of the HBO drama series Treme.

Honors and Accolade

Emeril Lagasse is a recipient of numerous honors and accolades. He won the National Best Recipe award winner for his “Turkey and Hot Sausage Chili” recipe in 2003. He also won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Program in  2017.

Other notable awards on his shelf include the GQ magazine Chef of the Year and the Most Intriguing People of the Year in 1998; Executive of the Year, Restaurants & Institutions magazine, 2004 and  Distinguished Service Award, Wine Spectator, 2005.

Lagasse was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Taste Hall of Fame, in  2013. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award, from The Food Network, in 2009 and  Taste Awards in 2014. He is also  a two-time James Beard Foundation Award winner: Best Southeast Regional Chef in  1991 and  Humanitarian of the Year in 2013

Emeril Lagasse Net Worth

Emeril Lagasse is one of the richest chefs in the world, with an estimated net worth of $70 Million. According to a  report, his portfolio of media, products, and restaurants generates an estimated US$150 million annually in revenue.

Lagasse also has a wide range of branded products. In 2000, he signed a deal with B&G Foods to create a line of dry grocery products marketed under the label “Emerils”. He also lent his name to a line of fresh produce made by Pride of San Juan in 2004.  Lagasse also has two lines of kitchen knives produced by Wüsthof and cookware made by All-Clad, as well as a line of kitchen electrical appliances made by T-Fal

In 2008,  Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia acquired the rights to all Emeril products including cookware, cookbooks, television shows, and food products in a $50 million agreement. Lagasse retained rights to his restaurants and corporate offices