The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) is proud to present the Season Two premiere of Emeril’s Florida airing on Sunday, January 5, 2014, at 2:30 pm EST on the Cooking Channel. On Sunday’s episode, Coming to America, celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse features three chefs who have moved to Florida from foreign countries. He also meets an aspiring young chef from the Dominican Republic who was named Florida’s Top High School Chef in 2013.
“Florida is home to people of culturally diverse backgrounds,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “We are thrilled to have Emeril back for a second season to showcase this extraordinary diversity while learning more about FRLA’s restaurateurs and future chefs, which make our state one of the country’s top tourist destinations.”
Emeril begins this week’s show at Cress Restaurant in DeLand where Hari and Jenneffer Pulapaka manage two full-time careers during the day and, at night, still have time to run one of the best restaurants in Florida. He then visits Longboat Key where he and Chef Jose Martinez of Maison Blanche sample some of Martinez’s signature French cuisine with an American twist. Emeril then travels to meet with Chef BT Nguyen of the highly acclaimed Restaurant BT in South Tampa. Nguyen, originally from South Viet Nam, was evacuated to the United States with her sister, leaving behind her parents, during the fall of Saigon back in the mid-1970s.
Finally, he meets with Guillermo Quezada a Leto High School student in Tampa, originally from the Dominican Republic, who was named the Top Florida High School Chef in the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association’s ProStart 2013 Competition. The show also reruns on Monday, January 6th at 9:30 am EST and Thursday, January 9th at 11:30 am EST. Please check local listings.
Emeril’s Florida Season Two is a 13-episode series highlighting the Sunshine State through the eyes of Emeril on-location with a focus on food, cooking, events and activities around the state. Throughout the second season, Emeril will be visiting Florida’s top restaurants and resorts. He will also prepare some of his favorite recipes which often will feature some of the best seafood Florida has to offer.
The program is sponsored by the FRLA and VISIT FLORIDA. For additional information on the series, including links to previous episodes, please go to the Cooking Channel website here. For a preview of Sunday’s episode, click here.