Bam!!! Emeril gets into N.Y. restaurant game
BY CLAUDE SOLNIK
On a recent evening, Chef
Emeril Lagasse carried a dish
out of the kitchen of Rodos, a
restaurant he launched in the Flatiron
District. Lagasse looked a little harried,
but happy, as he hurried around the restaurant
near a date tree. Now and then
he stopped to pause for photographs
(which promptly showed up on Facebook)
before returning to the kitchen,
the backstage area for the Broadway of
this eatery.
While Emeril Lagasse remains a
celebrity, he remains a very hands-on
chef, developing and tweaking menus
and working in the kitchen, as well as
working a little charisma on diners.
After opening restaurants in cities
such as New Orleans, where his
business is based, and Las Vegas, he
worked with Yiannis Chatiris, a Greek
restaurateur, to bring his brand of dining
to Chelsea.
Rodos, at 39 W. 24th St., launched
with a fairly low-profi le soft opening
Jan. 8, tweaking offerings as a few articles
announced Emeril’s arrival.
The 59-year-old chef, born in Fall
River, Mass., helped create the concept
of the celebrity chef, as one of the earliest
hires at the Food Network.
He became famous with shows
such as “Emeril Live” and “Essence
of Emeril,” as well for a demonstrative
style peppered with exclamations such
as “Kick it up a notch!” and “Bam!”
While Rodos is something new for
New York, it’s also a remake of what
was formerly known as the Mykonos
Blue Grill, which Chatiris, who is from
the Greek Island of Rhodes, created.
It is named after the Greek word for
Rhodes.
Chatiris also owns Mykonos Blue,
located nearby at the Hotel Hayden,
at 127 W. 28th St. Rodos is a blend of
Greek and Cajun/Creole cuisine, marking
a combination of two cuisines and
two chefs.
“We’ve known each other for a long
time,” Chatiris said at Rodos.
While Rodos is Emeril’s fi rst venture
in New York City, it’s part of a
bigger adventure as the chef launches
an entirely new business and grows his
brand.
The 112-seat restaurant was launched
as a collaboration between Chatiris
and Lagasse’s new consulting division
called We Love Food Hospitality.
A Lagasse spokesperson said the
goal of his new business is “to consult
with both existing and new concept
restaurants on menu development, culinary
training and other restaurant
operations.”
Lagasse brought his touch to Flatiron,
launching the new business on
what may be the world’s biggest culinary
stage.
Rodos is located in the Hotel Henri,
Lacquered Long Island Duck is among the offerings at Rodos. Photos
by Dimitris Gelos
Also on the menu at Rodos is lavraki (grilled branzino).
where it operates on the ground fl oor,
giving the hotel a little more cachet.
“I’ve been operating restaurants for
over 30 years now and it’s truly my passion
and something my team and I take
great pride in,” Lagasse said regarding
the Rodos launch. “This is about using
what we’ve learned and perfected over
the years and sharing our craft.”
Rodos, he said, is about injecting his
brand of “food and service in established
restaurants looking to reach the
next level.”
The restaurant came out of their
relationship, which includes time in
Greece — the source of much of their
place’s menu.
“After knowing each other professionally
for years, Yiannis and Emeril
traveled to Greece together on several
occasions,” according to a spokesperson
for the consulting business. “After
a food tour of Emeril’s restaurants in
New Orleans, talk started amongst the
two about collaborating to overhaul the
menu at Chatiris’s popular New York
City eatery.”
The duo revamped the menu, renovated
and rebranded, turning an ordinary
restaurant into a business that ties
in with Emeril’s brand.
“This collaboration is a testament to
our long-standing friendship, and love
of great food and hospitality,” Chatiris
added.
Lagasse is the chef and owner of 11
restaurants, including four in New Orleans
such as Emeril’s, NOLA, Emeril’s
Delmonico and Meril, as well as his
headquarters.
His career took off in 1982 after he
replaced Paul Prudhomme as executive
chef before opening Emeril’s in New
Orleans, soon dubbed “Restaurant of
the Year” by Esquire magazine.
He also owns and operates three in
Las Vegas including Emeril’s New Orleans
Fish House, Delmonico Steakhouse
and Lagasse’s Stadium, and three
at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem
in Pennsylvania, including Emeril’s
Fish House, Emeril’s Chop House and
Burgers And More by Emeril.
Before opening in New York, Lagasse
opened Emeril’s Coastal Italian
in Miramar Beach, Fla., the state where
he lives.
While many New York City restaurateurs
hail from Greece and many in
Astoria offer traditional Greek menus,
few in Manhattan offer Greek menus.
Rodos offers dips, such as Butternut
Fava “Hummus,” Taramosalata, Tzatziki,
Tirokafteri and Melitzanosalata.
You can also get Cajun caviar and
Horiatiki served with fresh tomatoes,
cucumber, olives, peppers, onion feta
and barley rusk.
Rodos features classic Emeril entrees,
such as Miss Hilda’s Pork Chop
($33) seasoned with pimento moida
and molho cru, Lacquered Long Island
½ Duck ($36) glazed with hazelnut,
citrus and Aleppo and Lavraki ($32)
and grilled Branzino topped with kritamos
leaves, ladolemono and capers
Lagasse’s restaurant business, Emeril’s
Homebase, is located in New Orleans
including operations and a test
kitchen.
While Lagasse is known as a chef,
he also hosted more than 2,000 shows
on the Food Network and remains the
food correspondent for ABC’s “Good
Morning America.”
Lagasse most recently teamed with
Amazon to launch “Eat the World with
Emeril Lagasse,” earning fi ve daytime
Emmy nominations and winning for
Outstanding Culinary Program.
The show also was a semifi nalist for
a James Beard Award in the category of
Outstanding Personality of Host.
He is also the author of 19 bestselling
cookbooks, including the most recent,
“Essential Emeril: Favorite Recipes”
and “Hard-Won Wisdom from My Life
in the Kitchen.”
In addition to producing fi ne food,
Lagasse is known for his foundation,
which teaches the culinary and related
trades.
In 2002, he created the Emeril Lagasse
Foundation to support children’s
educational programs that inspire and
mentor young people through the culinary
arts, nutrition, healthy eating and
life skills.
His fi rm said the foundation has
distributed more than $10 million in
grants benefi tting children’s charities
in New Orleans, Las Vegas and on the
Gulf Coast.
In other spots on the small and big
screen, he appeared on “Space Ghost
Coast to Coast” and did the voice-over
for Marlon the Gator in Disney’s “The
Princess and the Frog.”
Lagasse played himself in an episode
of HBO’s “Treme” and starred
with Robert Urich in “Emeril,” an NBC
sitcom where he played a fi ctionalized
version of himself.
Schneps Media CNW February 21, 2019 3