Southern Breeze 2007 Holiday Issue

“IT’S AMAZING HOW LIFE WORKS,” EMERIL SAYS. “IT’S FULL OF OPPORTUNITIES; YOU JUST HAVE TO BE READY FOR THEM.” The chef compares opening a restaurant to cooking gumbo— which, of course, is on the menu at Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House. “You start adding flavors,” he says, from his staff, “the young people we have who have made a commitment to a restaurant like this,” to behind-the-scenes assistance from Emeril’s Homebase (his corporate office in New Orleans), and the hotel/casino. With some 90 people “from all over” working in the restaurant, the Gulfport location is evolving into its own tasty concoction that’s just begging to be sampled. Emeril noted that in the first week after it opened, the restaurant’s clientele was about 90 percent local. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to be: the best restaurant for locals. We want to be part of the rebuilding on the coast.” Orleans. Alden and her family became familiar faces at Emeril’s. “We’d had a thing for each other for years,” he admits, but at first, “I wasn’t married, and she was,” Emeril says—“then she wasn’t.” They’ve been married for the past seven years and have two young children, son E.J., 4, and daughter Meril, 2. Emeril has two grown daughters from a previous marriage. The Lagasses have been generous supporters of the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center children’s museum in Gulfport, which was named for Alden’s late friend. In fact, the grand opening of Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House doubled as a fundraiser for the children’s museum. While Emeril had been fishing along the Mississippi Coast and eating in local restaurants for years, he says, marrying Alden in 2000 introduced him to more people and gave him a more intimate knowledge of the coastal lifestyle. A couple of years before Katrina, they bought a home that his mother-in-law, an interior designer, and his wife, “a frustrated interior designer,” transformed to suit their needs. They moved in over the 4th of July weekend in 2005, right before the hurricane wreaked havoc on the coast. The family’s primary home is in New Orleans, where three of his restaurants and Emeril’s Homebase are located. Emeril spends a week out of every month in New York taping his shows, Emeril Live and The Essence of Emeril, which air on the Food Network. He was on hiatus in June and July so he could concentrate on opening Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House. When he’s on the Mississippi Coast, one of his favorite pastimes is going out in his boat, Ole Miss, to “do a little fishing, cook a little fish, eat a little fish,” he says. It’s a great way to escape the constant recognition of his familiar face, though his celebrity doesn’t seem to bother him. “Mississippi people are very respectful,” he says. Emeril turned down a scholarship to attend the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music to study cooking at Johnson and Wales University instead. When he made that decision, choosing one joy over another, he never imagined that he would find such fame and fortune. “It’s amazing how life works,” Emeril says. “It’s full of opportunities; you just have to be ready for them.” Holiday 2007 35 TIME, PATIENCE ESSENTIAL In addition to losing his vacation home in Pass Christian, Emeril’s New Orleans businesses suffered as well following Katrina. Emeril’s flagship restaurant on Tchoupitoulas in the Warehouse District was closed for a few months, reopening in the last week of December 2005. “It’s going to take some time, obviously, in New Orleans,” he says. “The progress is extremely slow there.” And on the Mississippi coast, the key to recovery is support systems—grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, all of which were destroyed in Pass Christian. “Here, there’s devastation for 30 miles. The devastation is so bad, it’s just taking some time,” Emeril says. Like any other survivor, he has experienced the frustration of not having what he needs when he needs it, even two years after the hurricane. He recalls driving for miles along the beach searching for a dry cleaner. Still, he does see progress on the coast. “It’s starting to happen in Gulfport,” he says. “There’s tons of construction going on. I think it’s going to come back stronger than it was; we just have to be patient.” Emeril has known Alden for the past 17 years. They met when she was working for her father, a real estate developer, on a condo project around the corner from Emeril’s restaurant in New

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Southern Breeze 2007 Holiday Issue

Editor's Letter Contributor Gumbo Words & Notes Coastal Calendar Storefronts Sweet Dreams Art of Living Fixtures Our Backyard Make Yourself at Home Beach Bam! A Big Easy Christmas Upwardly Mobile Can't Drive Old Dixie Down Rock On! The Play's the Thing Cheers Dish Chef's Table Let's Eat Reader Services Last Bite

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