A Lagasse in the James Beard mix

E.J. Lagasse, the chef running Emeril’s in New Orleans, is now a finalist for Best Emerging Chef at the 2026 James Beard Awards. (jamesbeard.org) The James Beard Foundation announced the 2026 restaurant and chef finalists on March 31. Winners will be named June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (jamesbeard.org) Lagasse is one of five finalists in the Emerging Chef category, alongside Fátima Juárez of Komal in Los Angeles, Rasheeda Purdie of Ramen by Ra in New York, Bailey Sullivan of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago, and Adrian Torres of Maximo in West University Place, Texas. (jamesbeard.org) The nomination lands as Lagasse is taking over one of New Orleans’ best-known restaurant names from inside the family business. He returned in 2022 as chef and co-owner of Emeril’s and now leads day-to-day operations there. (emeril.org) Emeril’s reopened in October 2023 after an extensive renovation, with a smaller dining room and tasting-menu format built around a more polished version of Louisiana cooking. The shift put the younger Lagasse, not just his father’s name, at the center of the restaurant’s next chapter. (emeril.org; myneworleans.com) Lagasse’s résumé is unusually stacked for a chef in his early 20s. Emeril’s says he started in the kitchen at 13, trained at Café Boulud and Le Bernardin, then worked at Core by Clare Smyth in London and Frantzén in Stockholm before coming back to New Orleans. (emeril.org) By November 2025, Emeril’s had earned two Michelin stars, and Michelin said Lagasse became the youngest chef ever to lead a two-star kitchen. Michelin also named him its 2025 American South Young Chef Award winner. (guide.michelin.com) His work also connects back to southeastern New England. Emeril Lagasse’s Portuguese restaurant, 34 Restaurant & Bar, opened in New Orleans on October 23, 2024, drawing on family roots in Fall River and the Portuguese food traditions the younger Lagasse has said shaped how he cooks. (heraldnews.com; nola.eater.com) The Beard finalist slot does not settle the family-legacy question around the Lagasse name, but it does put E.J. Lagasse on the awards circuit as his own contender. The next marker is June 15 in Chicago. (jamesbeard.org; guide.michelin.com)