Canada’s Claim to New Orleans’ Culinary Greatness

E.J. Lagasse is the prince of the culinary world. The son of one of the most celebrated chefs in America and the leader in the kitchen of a New Orleans gastronomic institution, Lagasse is clearly aware of the crown he wears. Though it’s also apparent while talking to him that the hardware comes with some heaviness. The footsteps he follows lovingly are saturated with lofty expectations. After all, Emeril Lagasse is the man who turned the Food Network into must-see TV, forever changing cooking shows with his oversized personality and signature catch phrases, “Bam!” and “Kick it up a notch!” Not long after his first appearances in 1993, Emeril became a one-name culinary rock star.

His son knows the shadow he has stepped out from and the mantle he is claiming. No shortage of scrutinizing observers exist who wonder if he can do it. I was curious myself what the lanky young man — with a family history tied to Canada — was about. Then we met and spoke, and I ate his food, and realized that he is genuinely, and somewhat remarkably, unabashed in his ambition to earn his place — and to do it the right way. At 23 years old, E.J. Lagasse has already achieved an incredible amount since acquiring the title of executive chef at Emeril’s, the beloved restaurant that launched a few blocks outside of the French Quarter in 1990.

With the Food Network notoriety that followed, opportunity after opportunity arrived to spread the Emeril’s brand far beyond the boundaries of New Orleans. Restaurants launched in Las Vegas, Florida, and on Carnival cruise ships, and retail products and cookbooks filled shelves. However, after three decades and all of the accolades, something was missing, and it was Emeril’s son who pointed it out.

When E.J. Lagasse announced to his father he wanted to be a chef, too, Emeril sent him to apprentice at Le Bernardin with chef Eric Ripert. At the New York City icon, the mercurial chef gained the knowledge — at age 15 — of both recipe development and the business acumen needed for success.

“My dad taught me to cook. Eric taught me to be a chef,” the younger Lagasse says. He then went on to London to work at Clare Smyth’s Core to further his restaurant training before returning to his roots in 2021. After a couple of years, the prodigal son decided on his career path: To stay home. He wanted to be a fine-dining chef in a place that recognized the legacy of his father, contemporized New Orleans cuisine while staying true to original recipes, and matched the quality of the leading restaurants in the world. To realize such a vision, Emeril’s needed to change. In 2023, the restaurant closed for renovations.

“The whole goal for dad and I was to bring the restaurant back to where it was in the 1990s before it stopped evolving,” he says, noting that more than 250 diners were served on a nightly basis pre-renovation. Although the room was full and the atmosphere jovial, innovation was often absent because of the volume and the time needed to meet the demand.

Among the notable changes: a reduction of seating from 36 tables to 11; the addition of an eye-popping new kitchen with top-of-the-line equipment and stations for each member of the brigade; a “wow factor” glass wall that lets diners see into that kitchen to observe the chefs at work; and a tasting-only menu, allowing for greater consistency, and perhaps perfection.

“There’s a playfulness to the menu, for sure. But we wanted to have a serious dining room that immediately feels comfortable. I think people realize that when they enter,” E.J. Lagasse points out.

He’s right. There’s a whimsical quality to the artwork and the mix of classical and blues music that plays in the colourful room where tables are decorated with flowers. Then the glass wall and the white smocks of the chefs capture your eye, and for the rest of the seating it’s hard not to pay attention to the orchestration between Lagasse and his staff.

At Emeril’s, you’ll also get the goods. Since 1999, it has held the prestigious Wine Spectator Grand Award designation. While I reviewed the list gob-smacked at the might of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) collection, which includes bottles dating to 1994 and topping out at a splashy $55,000 for a 2011 vintage, it is the pairings that impressed. They feature a mix of classic and avant-garde, New World and Old — all brilliant selections.

The food includes Louisiana classics like Trout Almondine, done to exacting detail from the original recipe and with touches of today’s elegance, and Emeril’s beloved masterpieces, such as the Salmon Cheesecake that was on the opening-day menu in 1990, topped with 180-day-aged Petrossian caviar. Divinity on a plate. A tableside butter service dollops out beautifully yellow servings to lavish on the famous cornbread and a cheese cart adds to the luxury dining.

Many of those features have been part of the restaurant’s history. E.J. Lagasse’s aim is balance his desire to push forward creatively and keep the legacy intact. That nurturing aspect represents both his youthful idealism and his faithfulness to his family’s story. Emeril’s past matters as deeply to him as its future because the brick-walled edifice represents his life blood.

A New Orleans Legacy Forged in Quebec

The Lagasse story in North America actually begins in Quebec. The family’s matriarch immigrated to Canada from Portugal and settled in Montreal, where she met and married John Lagassé Jr., E.J.’s grandfather. They moved to the United States during the Second World War, settling in Massachusetts. A passionate French-Canadian, the Lagasse patriarch instilled in his family an appreciation for Quebecois culture and cooking, including in stews, stocks, and meat dishes. When Emeril Lagasse, who was born about an hour north of Boston, pursued a chef’s career, he started in New England. By happenstance, he served the Brennan family of New Orleans, owners of the city’s landmark restaurant, Commander’s Palace. They recruited him to the Big Easy, which E.J. Lagasse believes is “the most Canadian city in the U.S.” He was last in Montreal in 2017, while still a teenager, and dined at two of Canada’s most influential restaurants, Au Pied du Cochon and Toqué.

Certainly a deep connection exists between Louisiana and the Acadians of Quebec and the Maritime provinces. The name “Cajun” derives from “Acadian”, and many of those who the British expelled during the Great Upheaval from the then-colonies of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island (formerly Île Saint-Jean), and New Brunswick in the 18th century ventured to Louisiana. Their influence is indelible in the bayou. Appropriately, or poetically, the Lagasse family has helped to further cultivate that French influence in New Orleans.

And the city has reciprocated, helping to define the family’s way of life.

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“People ask me why I’m still here. I’ve gotten offers to start restaurants in all kinds of places. But I’m here because I’m from New Orleans. Our family is from New Orleans, and this is what people do here. They work with their families. They keep these businesses going. The Brennan family still operates their restaurants. Cafe du Monde could have been sold years ago but it’s still owned by the same [Fernandez] family that started it,” E.J. Lagasse says. “There’s a sense of community in New Orleans, in general, and there’s an expectation and a desire that you stay here. It’s the New Orleans thing to do. Specifically in regards to my dad, I don’t think I’ll do anything more fulfilling than what I’m doing now. I think I’ll look back on this stretch and feel nothing but appreciation for being able to do this. And, yes, I feel I have a huge responsibility to carry on this restaurant.”

Where Else to Dine in New Orleans

Dakar NOLA: Chef Serigne Mbaye and his business partner, general manager Effie Richardson, have brought African cuisine into the fine-dining conversation in the American south. Mbaye’s Senegalese heritage inspires the menu at Dakar NOLA while his tenure at Commander’s Palace, Atelier Crenn, and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon give him the culinary pedigree to blend flavours and techniques in marvellous combinations that showcase West African cuisine. The food is persuasive. It connects diners to a part of the culinary world that has been rarely celebrated. Now, Dakar NOLA is among the 50 Best Restaurants in North America — placing fourth in the 2026 rankings (Emeril’s was 20th) — and one of the most talked about places to dine in the United States.

Where to Stay in the Big Easy

Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans: Located on Canal Street, one of the boundaries of the French Quarter, the circa 1908 property is a luxury location for your visit. It features rooms and suites with decor fitting for the historic city centre. Its spa is 25,000 square feet and offers more than 100 treatment options. Not to miss: The beignet cart, which serves New Orleans’ famous powdered and fried dough treats daily in the lobby. The hotel is a short walk to every attraction in the French Quarter and the newer Warehouse District, noted for the National World War II Museum and restaurants such as Emeril’s.

Note: Vacay.ca occasionally features content from outside of Canada that our editors believe will be of interest to readers. In this article, Managing Editor Adrian Brijbassi ventures to New Orleans to explore the diversity of its cuisine. No organization reviewed the article before it was published.