Chef Lagasse named finalist

E.J. Lagasse is a finalist for the 2026 James Beard Award for Emerging Chef, one of five chefs named in the national category on March 31. (jamesbeard.org) The James Beard Foundation lists Lagasse as the chef of Emeril’s in New Orleans, alongside finalists from Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and the Houston area. Winners are scheduled to be announced June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (jamesbeard.org, jamesbeard.org) The Emerging Chef award goes to a chef the foundation says shows “exceptional talent, character, and leadership ability,” with no age limit for the category. The Restaurant and Chef Awards are part of the James Beard Foundation’s annual national honors for food and hospitality. (jamesbeard.org) Lagasse has been leading day-to-day operations at Emeril’s since returning to New Orleans in 2022 as chef and co-owner, according to his biography on the Emeril organization’s website. The site says he started working in kitchens at 13, trained at Café Boulud and Le Bernardin, and later cooked at Core by Clare Smyth in London and Frantzén in Stockholm. (emeril.org) His rise has unfolded inside one of New Orleans’ most famous restaurant families. He is the son of Emeril Lagasse, and local reporting this week also highlighted his Portuguese-American roots tied to the Lagasse family’s background in Fall River, Massachusetts. (emeril.org, usatoday.com) That heritage has also shaped the family’s newer New Orleans project, 34 Restaurant & Bar, which opened in October 2024 as Emeril Lagasse’s first restaurant centered on Portuguese cuisine. New Orleans CityBusiness reported that E.J. Lagasse was collaborating on that opening while also heading the kitchen at Emeril’s. (neworleanscitybusiness.com) Lagasse’s official biography says Emeril’s received a Five Diamond designation from the American Automobile Association in 2024 and joined Relais & Châteaux and Les Grandes Tables du Monde that same year. Those credentials helped position the restaurant, and its young chef, for a bigger national spotlight in 2026. (emeril.org) The next date that matters is June 15, when the James Beard Foundation is set to name the winner in Chicago. Until then, Lagasse remains one of five chefs still in the running for the foundation’s 2026 Emerging Chef honor. (jamesbeard.org, jamesbeard.org)