E.J. Lagasse is a James Beard finalist

E.J. Lagasse is now a finalist for Best Emerging Chef at the 2026 James Beard Awards, putting the 22-year-old New Orleans chef on one of U.S. dining’s biggest stages. (jamesbeard.org) The James Beard Foundation announced the 2026 restaurant and chef nominees on March 31, and Lagasse was one of five chefs named in the Emerging Chef category. Winners will be announced June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (jamesbeard.org) Lagasse is listed as chef and co-owner of Emeril’s in New Orleans, the flagship restaurant founded by his father, Emeril Lagasse. The 2026 finalist field also includes chefs from Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and the Houston area. (emerilsrestaurant.com; jamesbeard.org) The category matters because the James Beard Awards are one of the restaurant industry’s main national honors, and the foundation says the program recognizes talent, hospitality, and leadership across American food culture. The Restaurant and Chef Awards have been running since 1990. (jamesbeard.org; jamesbeard.org) Lagasse’s finalist run follows a fast rise at Emeril’s. In November 2025, the Michelin Guide said he became the youngest chef ever to lead a two-star Michelin restaurant after Emeril’s earned two stars in the 2025 guide, and Michelin also gave him its 2025 American South Young Chef Award. (guide.michelin.com) Michelin’s New Orleans coverage says Lagasse now oversees a dining room that has been serving Creole food for more than three decades, while pushing the restaurant in a more contemporary direction. That gives the Beard nomination a second layer: it recognizes both a young chef and the renovation of a long-running name. (guide.michelin.com) His rise has also been tied to the family’s Portuguese roots. Emeril and E.J. Lagasse opened 34 Restaurant & Bar in New Orleans on October 23, 2024 as a Portuguese concept inspired by Emeril’s late mother, Hilda, and by the family’s Fall River, Massachusetts background. (neworleanscitybusiness.com; heraldnews.com) That project did not last long. The Herald News reported in January that 34 Restaurant would close on January 31, 2026, about 15 months after opening, even as E.J. Lagasse stayed in the spotlight at Emeril’s. (heraldnews.com) The Beard finalist spot does not decide the winner yet, but it keeps Lagasse in the national awards race through June. For a chef already carrying a famous surname, the nomination puts his own résumé at the center of the conversation. (jamesbeard.org; guide.michelin.com)