Top 74 Quotes by Emeril Lagasse

Many of my staff have been with me for over 20 years. I have a great team, and I make sure they feel respected and appreciated.

I'm not a TV guy. I'm a restaurant chef and a businessman.

The world has changed, and it's almost been 11 years. I have 975 employees. I have six restaurants. We haven't opened any new ones in almost three years.

When I first decided to open a restaurant, I was turned down by several banks. It was the late 80's and many restaurants were failing. I refused to give up because I knew I had a good concept.

If you don't follow your dream, who will?

I think many cooks are afraid of undercooked meats. A good thermometer is a cook's best friend.

A lot of parents ask me how to get kids to eat more vegetables. The first thing I say is that it starts from the top.

Kids are now eating things like edamame and sushi. I didn't know what shiitake mushrooms were when I was 10 - most kids today do.

The cool thing is that now that people have made this evolution where cooking is cool, people are doing it on weekends, they're doing their own challenges. It's back to cooking. And it's real cooking.

I think all kids need snacks. Mine are fruit machines. I give them things like apple slices, berries and melon. Do I let them eat ice cream? Absolutely. But not every day.