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Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Edge Bams Emeril
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On February 2, the New York Post quoted Emeril Lagasse on what’s happening in his adopted hometown, New Orleans: “Nothing. The mayor’s a clunk. The governor is also a clunk. They don’t know their (nether sections) from a hole in the ground. All my three restaurants got hit. I’ve reopened Emeril’s, but only a few locals come. There’s no tourists. No visitors. No spenders. No money. No future. No people. It’s lost. It’ll never come back.”
Lagasse, a native of Massachusetts, has served New Orleans best as a fabulist, as a telegenic cheerleader for the city’s sundry indulgences. On those terms, I have long admired his work. And I have long believed that his popularization of American cooking in general and New Orleans cooking in particular has been a boon for traditional foodways.
But this quote throws me. I’m not willing to agree with a friend who quipped, “Just goes to show you what happens when a Yankee tries to pass for Southern.� And I’m almost willing to dismiss his foot-in-mouth moment as a product of post-Katrina stress. Yet, neither sits right.
What New Orleans needs now – in addition to a sustainable revamp of the levee system – is a clarion call from its hometown heroes. Emeril is the man with the megaphone. So why did he shout out this message?
Tell us what you think. And, by the way, I recently spent a weekend in New Orleans. Clancy’s was packed on Thursday night. Upperline was packed on Friday, Restaurant August on Saturday. If no one is eating with Emeril, could comments like this be why?
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