illlJillU[llruruil,llftf

,i*::*
'*rtl
r.
!
:
i
sc
the
Behind
FreeIn Metro New Orleans
us $3.9scANs4.30fuK 1.95
,illlJillU[llruruil,llftf,
BACKSTAGE
at Emerills
For argwabfuNew Orleans'mostfamouschef,thecity'sbeartis rnwsicand food.
a few vegetables
and lotsof Abitabeer.The
producer.
ShehiredGibbsandkeyboardist
I ohn Bouttewalksontothe setof
freezeris packedwith carefully
arranged
rows CliffStarkey
asthe permanent
musical
foils
I Emerillive in NewYorkCity,tiredand
J triumphant
aftera soldout showat Joe's of icecreamto be passed
out duringa break to Lagasse
s high-energy
cooking.
"Doc" Gibbs,
"We were
Pubthe nightbefore.Leonard
to everykid in the audience.
a struggling
cablenetworkat
percussionist
the
andmusical
directorfor
B o u t t ea n dt h e b a n dr u nt h r o u g h" D o w n
the time,"saysKatz,"and it wasjustDoc
the band,leansoverhispercussion
kit,still
in Treme,"anda few crewmembers
bobtheir andClifffor a numberof years."Theband
wearing
s u n g l a s saensds i p p i n g
h i sm o r n i n g heads.
A stylistprepsa sandwich
for a close- now numbersfive.EmerilLiyetaoes90
coffee.Heshoutsat Boutte,"l heardyou did up. lf not for the wrongbread,it wouldbe
showsa year,and nearlya thirdof those
goodlastnight."
a debrispo-boy.
5heputsit on a platterwith
featuremusical
guests,
rangingfromupIt wasBoutte's
secondtimeto playNew
frenchfriessittingnextto a pitcherof iced
and-comers
to stars.
York.Thefirsttime,four yearsago,didn'tgo tea.Thestylistaddsa few dabsof mayonnaise " F o rm e , "G i b b s a y s",C h i c kC o r e aw a s
s ow e l l .T h i st i m e ,t h e c l u bs c h e d u l ehdi ma t ascarefully
assomeone
applying
eyeshadow. a realspecial
one,because
hes somebody
7 : 3 0p . m .a n dd i d n ' te x p e cm
t uchN
. o w ,t h e y A cameraman
swingsin a crane-mounted
thatwe all cameup listening
to. BuddyGuy
want hrmto comebackand playthe 9:30
cameraandtakesa shotfor laterin the show. wasanother-incredible
spiritandenergy.
p . m .s l o ta n da l a t es h o w
Boutte,DukeandGibbs'five-piece
band
Whenhe hit the firstcoupleof chords,
B o u t t e sm a n a g eKr i m b a P
l l a c k a rl d
ined
l a u n c hi n t oa r e v v e ud p t a k eo n " D i d n ' ti t
man,we knewwe werethere.And I would
up the Joe'sPubgig afterEmerilllve booked R a i n . B
" yt h ee n d ,h a l ft h ec r e wi sd a n c i n g
saySammyHagarwasanotherbig,fun
the NewOrleans
singerasa guest."Theonly andeveryone
claps.
situation,
because
that'srock'n' rolland
"
waywe couldaffordthiswasfor the show
Sammy
s a ballof energy.
to payfor travelandhotel,"Packard
says.
EmerilLive,launchedin 1997, wasthe
NewOrleans
and Louisiana
musicians
" B u tI t h i n k
i t w i l lg e te a s i et ro g e tu p h e r e
FoodNetwork's
firsthit.Unlikeothercooking havealwaysbeenpartof the show.Those
now." Ihe VillageVoiceran a glowing,fullshows,the modelwasmoreJohnnyCarson
with a lowernationalprofile,likeBoutte,
pagepreviewof the Joe'sPubgig,calling
t h a nJ u l i aC h i l dI.n s t e aodf a p a t i e nct o o k
foundthat the nationalexposure
boosted
"l'm quitesure
Boutte"NewOrleans'
best-kept
secretand
b e h i n dt h es t o v ea, n a u d i e n caen da b a n d
theircareers.
that it really
possibly
itsstrongest
voice."Ihe NewYork
stokesLagasses
energy.
Helookedmorelikea helpedsellCDs,"saysKermitRuffins,
who
Iimeswrote,in a generally
positive
reviewof Saints
fan at a homegamethana properchef playedon a barbecue
episode
lastyear.
"steadily
the show,that Boutte
exudedNew i n a s t a r c h ewdh i t ea p r o n .
Pianist
HenryButlerperformed
on Emeril
"WhenI had
O r l e a nfse e l i n gt :h e b o n h o m iaen dp r i d e
the conceptfor Emeril
Livein 2004."l got emailsfrom peoplethat I
alongwith the heartache
andfrustration." llve, I wasdoinglotsof Essence
of Emeril
certainly
didn'tknow,"he says."l got phone
Packard
sayswrite-ups
in the NewYorkpress shows,"Lagasse
says,referring
to hisearlrer, callsfrom peoplethat I did knoweverytime
will helpBoutteget moreshowsaroundthe
moretraditional
cookingshowon the Food
it ran."Lagasse
promotes
alwaysheavily
country.
Network."l wascontemplating
whetherI
the CDsof guests."Manyof the people
ThesegmentproducelSuzanne
Cornelius, shouldretire,andthe lFoodNetwork]said,
that contacted
me arefirstfansof the Food
tellsBoutteandguitarist
ToddDukethat
whatwouldyouwantto do?SoI said,you
Network,"Butlersays,"andthenthey
exceptfor a full songat the end,theyonly
guysknowI havea strongconnection
to
becomefansof whatevermusicians
theyare
haveto playa few seconds
beforeandafter m u s i ca, n dI t h i n kw h a t sm i s s i nigsa f o o d
s e e i n g" .
eachcommercial
break."Whatever
you
showthat usesmusicandthat'slive."
UnlikeBoutte's
manager,
Butlerdoesn't
"my
want," Bouttesays,
mamas justgoing
At first,a changing
rosterof musicians
believe
that appearrng
on a national
to be gladto seeme on W."
entertained
the audience
whileLagasse
programdirectly
television
leadsto more
As the musicians
discuss
the songs,a
c o o k e dO. n eo f t h o s ew a s" D o c "G i b b s ,
workaroundthe country."l thinkgetting
coupleof crewmembers
finishbreakfast
a j a z zp e r c u s s i o nf ri sotmP h i l a d e l p hwihao
gigsout of a showlikethat is kindof
at the kitchencounterseatswherea few
earned
h i sn i c k n a mi en 1 9 1 7w h e nh e c u r e d overblown,"
he says."l thinkpeoplehave
luckyaudience
members
will sit andwatch
GroverWashington,
Jr.with herbalmedicine. to seeyou on a varietyof showsin orderfor
"Eachtime
Lagasse
cooklaterthat afternoon.
Thefood
I cameup, I developed
moreof
agentsandtalentbuyersto contactyou."
prepthe kitchenfor the show,called a rapportwith Lagasse
stylists
on camera,"Gibbs
Musicians
with a largernational
following
"Backto New
Orleans."
Themenutodayis
says."lf therewasdeadtimeandthey
playEmerilLiyemorefor fun than exposure.
Italiansalad,a debrispo-boy,redfishcourtneededsounds
to carryhimfromonething
LosHombres
Calientes,
ledby percussionist
b o u i l l o nw, h i t eb e a n w
s i t hs h r i m pa n dc a l a s . to another,
I didwindchimesor different
BillSummers
andtrumpeterlrvinMayfield,
Onefoodstylistchecks
the refrigerator.
lts
sounds."A few monthsafterEmeril
Live
liketo playthe showwhenthey'rein New
a bachelortfridgefilledwith nothingbut
began,KarenKatztook overasexecutive
York."l thinkthe realkickfor Emerilwasto
30
*
S E P T E t v B2EoR
o7
ByToddA. Price
ivwr,.y.OFFBEAT.r,rtrrI
N E W I J ' I T R Y O F F B E A TM O B I L E :T C X I" O f f b C A t , ,t O 3 3 6 6 9
haveBillSummers
on the show,and Billloved
doingit because
the foodwasso good,"says
"but it didn'thaveanyimpactasfar
Mayfield,
asan outletfor us." KevinHarrisof the Dirty
DozenBrass
Band,whichplayedthe show
"Thepeoplethat
beforeKatrina,
agrees.
e n j o yE m e r i lfso o ds h o u l dk n o wa b o u t h i s
band,"he says."We'vebeenaroundlong
enoughfor themto know."
"Themusicpartof it obviously
is easy,"
Lagasse
says,"l justhappento loveit. I want
t o s u p p o rat sm a n ym u s i c aple o p l e
a sI c a n . "
SinceKatrina.
EmerilLivehasfeatured
moreLouisiana
musicians
thanbefore."We
reallyfeelit s important
to supportthe
recovery
of musicians,"
saysKatz,"because
they'vebeenso goodto us."
b a c k s t a gTeh. ea u d i e n c e
n ,e a r l 2y 5 0p e o p l e ,
mostof whomwaiteda yearfor a ticket,files
intothe soundstage,
whichon otherweeks
becomes
Rachael
Ray's
retrokitchenor /ron
ChefAmerica's
KitchenStadium.
Mostpeople
sit in risersalongthe back,but VlPs-friends
of Lagasse,
the networkor a sponsor
along
with kidson tripsfromthe Makea Wish
Foundation-sit
at small,tightlypacked
caf6tablessetwith whitetablecloths
and
A few luckyguestssit at the kitchen
candles.
counter,
wheretheywatchLagasse
cookat
closerange.According
to producer
Rochelle
Brown,thosespecial
seatsgo to high-energy
peoplepulledfromthe lineof regularguests.
Shedoesn'tsayit, but allthe youngpeople
in theseseatsarebetterlookingthanthe
average
audience
member.
jarsof crabboil
Backon the set,mirlitons,
W a r m - u p e r f o r m eJ ra n eC a m p b e a
ll,
andmoundsof livecrawfish
aresetout on
brunettewho moveslikeEllenDeGeneres,
the kitchencounter.Foodprepared
in the
comesout andgentlytauntsthe crowd."A
FoodNetwork'snext-doorkitcheniswheeled crewmembertold methat youguyslook
S E P T E M BzEoR
oT *,
rn;wlv.OFFBEATtlrr
N E W ! ) ) T R Y O F F B E A TM O B I L E :T e x t
shy,"shesays."l told him no way."The
yellsbackto provethat they'renot
audience
shy.Shewhipsthemintoa furyandthen
standsin for the host,runningout ontothe
setandtakinga lapthroughthe cheering
audience,
astheypractice
Lagasses
entrance.
"lf youfelt a littleself-conscious
during
that," shetellsthem,"thenyouweredoing
it right."
Next,sherunsdownthe rulesfor the
day.Don'tpointat the monitorif a camera
you.No,not everyone
catches
will get food.
lf youdo getfood,don'teatuntilafterthe
commercial
breakandsharewith everyone
aroundyou.According
to the schedule,
Lagasse
shouldalready
be at the stove
by now.Campbell
stallsby askingwho is
celebrating
birthdays
andanniversaries.
Finally,
shegetsthe wordthat EmerilLiveis
readyto begin.
On a videomonitor,Lagasse
introduces
the
menufor the day.And then,he walksonto
"off
beat" to 33669
31
"I thought,tbiscowldbethe
bestfoodbeingdone
He uasredllJcoohing
fo an Americancheftoday.
unbelieuable
stufr,"
the set,beaming,
andthe audience
screams I don'twantto talkto him,he5too young.
andcheers-justastheyweretaught.
I don'tthinkhe hasenoughexperience.
Talking
overthe crowd,Lagasse,
hisvoice
ljust don'tthinkit'snecessary
for meto
barelyamplified,
says,"NewOrleans
really
interview
thisman,"EllaBrennan
recalls.
The
seepsintoyoursoul.lt'slikenowhereelsein
headhunter
wasinsistent
andeventually
flew
"Hewasn't
the world." Anothervideoplaysof Boutte
Lagasse
downto NewOrleans.
leadinga tour throughNewOrleans.
Lagasse herea veryshorttime," Brennan
says,"and
grabsan escaping
watchesthe monitors,
my brotherlookedat me andtold me,'Thats
crawfish.
and mutters"Oh Yeah"when
our man,huh?'And I said,'lt surelookslike
Bouttedescribes
the barbecue
shrimppo-boy it to me."'
at Liuzza's
by the Track.
In Lagasse,
Brennan
saw"passion.
Passion
Thevideoends,and in the minutesbefore for food,passion
for doingwhat he wanted
the firstbreak,Lagasse
describes
hisfirst
to do with hislife."Butfirst,shehadto
d i s ha
: nltalian
s a l a dH
. e sw i s ee n o u g hn o t
teachhimaboutCreolecuisine.
Shefed him
to mentionthat manyNewOrleans
menus
everyCreoledishshecouldthinkof and
stilllistthe dishas "wop salad."Thebreak
took himto allthe importantrestaurants
"Withina few
begins,anda swarmof crewmembers
in NewOrleans.
weeks.he
puttingout pickedup on what I alwayscallthe taste,"
descends
on the kitchencounter,
pots,polishing
themand bringingplatesof
shesays."lf you'rea goodcook,I couldtake
preppedingredients
from backstage.
you
In the
to Chinaandgetyou in the kitchen,
middleof the commotion,
Lagasse
focuses
andin a few weeksyou'dbe ableto get the
"
on whiskingtogetherhisvinaigrette
for the
message.
"Most
Italiansalad.Hethengreetsthe guestsat
of the restaurants
in NewOrleans
the kitchencounterandtakestheirdrink
at thattimehadthe samemenus,"says
orders-"Youwant redwine.whitewine
B r e n n a nL.a g a s saen dB r e n n a n
t h, o u g h ,
or beer."Heventures
out to VIPtablesand
hadbeenreading
aboutnouvel/e
cuisine,
shakes
handswith someaudience
members. a stylethat replaced
classic
French
recipes
And,afterchecking
in with Gibbs,Lagasse with lightersauces
andfreshertasting
returnsto the kitchencounterandchops
preparations.
EverySaturday
morning,
an onionfor hissaladasthe crewmembers Lagasse
and Brennan
wouldmeetand
scurrybehindthe set.RhodaGilmore,
the
discuss
how to updatethe foodat
"We said,we'vegot
stagemanager,
startsa countdown,5
Commander's
Palace.
to
4-"For what?"Lagasse
interjects-32 1.
get with this,"Brennan
says,"but we can't
Lagasse
smilesand hisenergylevelrises.
changewhatour customers
like." Slowly,
theyusedthe dailyspecials
to introduce
WatchingLagasse
duringthe break,
newflavors,
fishfrombeyondthe Gulfand
whenthe cameras
areoff, its easyto see
smaller,
lighterportions.
that hissprawling
empireof restaurants,
GeneBourg,the foodcriticat the timefor
endorsements
andtelevisions
showsare
TheTimes-Picayune,
reviewedCommander
s
the extension
of two talents:hisskillin the
Palace
whenLagasse
wascookingthere."lt
kitchenand hisabilityto charm.With a team wasa realrave.Beautiful
cook.Theflavors
" Bourgsays."At that
of trainedchefson the set,Lagasse
could
werejustperfect,
time,
haveleftthe prepworkto hisassistants
I thinkhe wasat hispeak.Heinjected
a new
duringthe break.Instead,
he keepshishand energyanda newimagination
intothe food,
in the cooking.Hecouldhaveeasily
slipped justas Prudhomme
haddonebefore."Later,
backstage
to catchhisbreath,but instead
he whenLagasse
leftCommanders
Palace
in
makesthe roundsthroughthe audience
like
1990to openEmeril's
Restaurant,
Bourg
"l thought,thiscould
a c h e ft a k i n ga l a pt h r o u g hh i sd i n i n gr o o m . remained
impressed.
Lagasse
s firsttrip to NewOrleans
wasan
be the bestfood beingdoneby an American
interview
for a job at Commander's
Palace. cheftodayoutsideof the [Jean-Georges]
EllaBrennan
neededa replacement
for Paul
Vongerichten
crowd[in NewYork].Hewas
Prudhomme,
anda headhunter
suggested
a
reallycookingunbelievable
stuff."
"l said,well,
youngcheffrom Massachusetts.
Bourgalsosawthe qualrties
thatwould
32 *
makeLagasse
a starat the firstJamesBeard
Foundation
Awardsceremony
in 1989.
"lt wason a boatin the
EastRiver,
and
Emerilwasoneof the chefswho cooked
alongwith Charlie
Trotter,
Jean-Georges
Vongerichten,
allthosepeople.Charlie's
food was littlepursesstuffedwith something
or other.lt wasso precious.
Hehadallthis
contemporary
stuff.Emerilhadcrawfish
6touff6eon biscuits,"
he says."Andthe line
in frontof Emerils
tablewasaboutfivetimes
longerthanit wasat anybodyelses." Over
the years,Bourgsawthe crowdsof chefs,
food writersand restaurateurs
at the Beard
AwardgalasgravitatetowardsLagasse
long
beforehe tapedhisfirstshowfor the Food
Network.
" E m e r ihl a da l lt h eq u a l i t i e s
t h a ta
celebrity
chefneededfromthe beginning.
Hegot alongwith men,women-at that
time he wasyoungerandthinner,andthey
thoughtthat he wasveryhandsome,"
Bourg
says."Thisguywasvery,verygoodone-ononeandverydownto earth."
Despite
hisaffability,
Lagasse
wasn'ta
naturalcelebrity.
Hewasoftentoo quiet.
Hehadtroublegettinghispointacross
in
interviews.
And,likemanycookswho spend
theirdayshovering
overplatesand pans,
he hadwhat is oftendescribed
asa "cheft
hunch."Beforehe startedhisfirstbooktour
in 1993for "New"New OileansCooking,
Lagasse
enrolled
in a media-training
course
with LisaEkus-Saffer
of the LisaEkusGroup,
a publicrelations
firmthatteaches
chefs
andcookbook
authorshow to dealwith the
media."l loosenpeopleup to find out what
theydo well naturally,"
Ekus-Saffer
says,
"andthats reallywhat
we workedon with
Emeril."On that booktour,Lagasse
was
spottedby a scoutfor the fledglingFood
Network.
Overtime,Lagasse
becomemoreof a
celebrity
thana chef."Hisfocusis no longer
on cooking;hisfocusis on hispersonality,"
saysBourg."Speaking
strictlyin culinary
terms,I don'tthinkEmerilistodaywhat
he was25 yearsago.ltb because
he,
understandably,
wentfor the money.lf I
slavedin a restaurant
kitchen18 hoursa day,
sixdaysa week,andsomebody
said,'Hey,I
c a nm a k ey o u$ 5 0m i l l i o n l, ' d s a y',W h e r e
d o I g o a n dw h a td o I d o ? " '
s e p t e M szr o
no z
i \ ' \ ! . i O F F B E A TC O I ' I
N E W I ) ) T R Y O F F B E A TM O B I L E :T e x t
"offbeat"
to 33669
Notbingis scripted,exceptfordfew introductory linesat
thestart of eacbsegrnent,uhich Lagasse
generallytgnores.
Lagasse's
famehasalsomadehima target
of criticism
fromlocaland nationalmedia.
TheOctoberafter Katrina,BrettAnderson,
restaurantwriter for the limes Picayune,
scoldedLagasse
for not immediately
returning
to NewOrleans
whileotherhigh
profilechefssuchas ScottBoswelland Paul
Prudhomme
wereherecookingfor relief
workers."ThatLagasse,"
Andersonwrote,
"one of popular
greatmedia
culture's
masters,
took a passon the chanceto put
hisown megacelebrityto good useat such
an unprecedented
momentisjustoneof
"
manypost-Katrina
mysteries.
"Forasmuch
nonsense
in the beginning,
negativitywise,
that waswrittenaboutme,"
Lagasse
says,"l don't knowof anyother
singlepersonwho hasdoneas muchif not
morefor the citythanI have."SinceKatrina,
the Emeril
Lagasse
Foundation,
which
supportsprograms
for children,hasgiven
morethan$1 millionto NewOrleans-area
organizations.
Musicandfood.lts the combination
that
makesEmenT
Liyeso successful.
lt'salso.
morethananythingelse,whatsetsNew
Orleans
apartfromthe restof country."lts
the partof our culturethat bestrepresents
"We have
who we are,"sayslrvinMayfield.
the onlymusicwhereyou'rerequired
to be
individual
in a group.And we do the same
t h i n gi n o u rc o o k i n gN. oo n eg u m b oi sm a d e
"
likeanyother.
EmerilLiveis built on Lagasse's
p e r s o n a l i tby u, t i t ' sa l s ob u i l to n t h e
p e r s o n a l i toyf N e wO r l e a n sI .n t h e s t u d i o ,
t h e a u d i e n cg
e e t se x c i t e da b o u tf o o d
a n d c a n ' tk e e pf r o m c o m m e n t i n gJ.u s t
l i k ep e o p l ei n N e wO r l e a n sA. n d L a g a s s e
e n j o y st h e m u s i cw i t h o u tr e s t r a i n Jt .u s t
l i k ew e d o i n N e wO r l e a n sF. o ro n e h o u r
duringEmerilLive,in a studioin New
Y o r k ,L a g a s sree c r e a t et sh e s p i r i to f o u r
city.
"Oncepeopleget it
andunderstand
it,"
Lagasse
says,"theycan'twaitto go to New
"
Orleans.
*
Backin the FoodNetworkstudios,Lagasse
cooksthe restof hismenu,delivering
bigplates
of po-boys,
whitebeansandcourt-bouillon
to
Boutte,who oncegetscaughtwith hismouth
fullwhenhe needsto sing.Lagasse
pullsout
somegarlic,andsomeone
fromtheaudiences
"Ohyeah."Hemakes
hollers,
cornyjokesas
he stuffsroastbeefwith garlicslivers-"Hide
the garlic,whata game."Nothingisscripted,
exceptfor a few introductory
linesat the start
of eachsegment,whichLagasse
generally
ignores.
And whileEmerilLivemaybe asmuch
aboutentertainment
asteaching
kitchenskills,
Lagasse
doesn'tsoft-peddle
ingredients
some
find unpopular.
lf a dish,likethe ltaliansalad,
usesanchovies,
thanhe layerson theanchovies.
"Wedon'thave problem
any
withthat,"he
says.
At the end of the show,Bouttegetsa
chanceto playa full songand launches
into
"Didn't
lt Rain,"the samesongthat got
the crewdancingduringrehearsal.
Lagasse
grabsa kitchentowel and wavesit in the
air.Bouttepullsout a handkerchief,
and
the two starta secondlinethroughthe
audience.
Thefriendsthat Bouttebroughtto
the tapingjoin in. lt feelsspontaneous
rather
than self-conscious,
the way peopledancing
in NewOrleansoften do.
34
*
sEPTEMB
2E
o oR7
wr,vwOFFBEAT.r:or:r
N E W ID T R YO F F B E AfTv l O B l L E
T :e x t
to 33669