I ended up turning down a full scholarship of music at the conservatory to pay to go to cooking school.

Life just doesn't hand you things. You have to get out there and make things happen. that's the exciting part.

Food is very representative of a city's culture. In order to really get to know a place and the people, you've got to eat the food.

My Food Network shows, 'Emeril Live' and 'Essence of Emeril,' are not in production right now, but I wouldn't say that I'm necessarily leaving Food Network. I have a lot of television still in me. I enjoy teaching people, so it's just a matter of time before I do something new.

I've always done food that can work in a set time frame. The message I'm trying to get across is, it doesn't have to take three days to do this. With planning, you can do a lot and really have quality food every day.

I moved to Louisiana to become the executive Chef at Commander's Place. And I must say I had some encouragement from friends such as Ella Brennan, the queen of the New Orleans's culinary set, and others. This was very flattering to a young man with a dream. I was only 26 years old.

If somebody has a chance to put my food in their mouth, that tells the story.