> Emeril is very controversial and has been called a buffoon, showman, and
> other names not befitting a chef. I honestly don't know how much
influence
> he even has at a restaurant when there are nine of them spread out
thousands
> of miles in every direction. I surely did not expect to see him flipping
a
> pan in the kitchen.

It's funny you say that. A few years ago, my wife and I spent a long
weekend in New Orleans and made reservations at Emeril's. Imagine our
surprise when we showed up and found him working the kitchen and the dining
room. There was a group seated one table over from us that must have
ordered the degustation (or they might have been some local bigwigs). It
seemed that during every course, Emeril was either serving the plates or
stopping by to chat with them.

After we paid our check, we saw Emeril head into the kitchen. We waited
until we saw him coming out, and then we headed to the exit making sure we
"accidentally" bumped into him. We exchanged a few pleasantries and chatted
about Philly's (my home town) Italian Market.

But like you said, I never expected to see him there either.



"Edwin Pawlowski" > wrote in message
. com...
> Last Friday evening (11/19) we had the pleasure of dining at Emeril's
> Delmonico Steakhouse. It was a treat.
>
> Emeril is very controversial and has been called a buffoon, showman, and
> other names not befitting a chef. I honestly don't know how much
influence
> he even has at a restaurant when there are nine of them spread out
thousands
> of miles in every direction. I surely did not expect to see him flipping
a
> pan in the kitchen.
>
> In this case, a group of us from work and our wives were guests of a
vendor.
> We had to actually do some "work" in Las Vegas and attend a seminar. Yes,
> that's it, we had to work one of the four days.
>
> Dinner was for 8:30. We were seated in a private room at about 8:40.
There
> were 20 of us in the group. We were seated with all proper manners.
> Napkins spread for you, water poured, beverages offered. In our case, the
> menu was selected for us but we had a choice of a salad (baby greens,
> roasted tomatoes, white cheddar, Creole spiced croutons and balsamic
> vinaigrette) or one of three soups. Soups were gumbo, French onion or
> mushroom and scallion. Both Gloria and I had the mushroom and scallion.
> The gumbo looked very rich and others at our table enjoyed it.
>
> Again, it was served in a very elegant manner. The soup bowl was brought
on
> a dish and inside the dish was a small pot of hot soup that was poured for
> you at the table.
>
> We were offered both red and white wines.
>
> Next was Emeril's New Orleans BBQ Shrimp served with a rosemary biscuit.
> Three large shrimp were grilled and covered in a tomato sauce with a
Cajun
> tang. I'd rate it good, but not great.
>
> Second was Grilled American Lamb Rack with apple mint relish and natural
au
> jus. By far, this was the best lamb I've ever eaten. Part of a rack it
was
> about 1 1/2" thick. It was very tender, very tasty. I don't care how
fancy
> a place this was, you had to pick up the bone and eat the meat off the
back
> of it. Fantastic.
>
> Just when you think you had enough to eat, the next course was served.
> Petite Dry Aged Ribeye with garlic smashed potatoes and red wine demi
glace.
> It was also very good. The potatoes had a pronounced garlic flavor. The
> steak itself was excellent, but the labs slightly overshadowed it. Did I
> tell you the lamb was fantastic?
>
> For desert, Irish Whisky Crème Brulee with Scottish shortbread cookie.
>
> If meals from the regular menu are as good as this, I'd rate it as one of
> the better places to eat. Not cheap, but a good treat for a special
> occasion. The regular menu had ribeye steak for $30, others were higher.
>
> http://www.opentable.com/restaurant_profile.asp?id=1823
> I'd go back again.
> Ed
>
>