Bobby Flay Vs Emeril Lagasse: A Clash Of Culinary Styles

While chefs Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse seem to have much in common — both are wildly successful, with long-standing television careers and popular restaurants — the way they each approach cooking is distinctly unique.

Flay started his culinary career in New York, where he worked as a teenager at Joe Allen's. Shortly after, he was part of the first graduating class of the French Culinary Institute and took jobs working for Jonathan Waxman, who planted the seed of his interest in Southwestern cuisine. Flay opened Mesa Grill in New York in 1991, which existed for 22 years, and he started making television appearances a few years later on Food Network.

Lagasse, although originally from Massachusetts, traveled the world to learn cooking techniques after graduation from Johnson and Wales University. He started his career at Commander's Palace when he was just 23, spending eight years there. The restaurant is one of the most famous New Orleans institutions. Lagasse started his first establishment, Emeril's Restaurant, in 1990 in New Orleans, and got his first show, "How To Boil Water," in 1993. Both chefs have come a long way since the 1990s and have carved a distinct niche in the culinary world.

When you hear about celebrity chef and entrepreneur Emeril Lagasse, you probably think of his most well-known cuisine, which he refers to as "New New Orleans." Like Southwestern food, New Orleans cuisine is infused with Indigenous heritage but also incorporates African and European components. One crossover ingredient in both Southwestern and New Orleans dishes is beans — but traditional New Orleans dishes favor red beans as opposed to black beans, and the spices used tend toward bay leaves and thyme over chiles. 

While training to cook in New Orleans, Lagasse consumed books, papers, and other restaurant menus, as well as meeting local fishermen and farmers, to learn everything there was to know about the local cooking techniques, which included Cajun and Creole cuisine. Though similar, Cajun food, like smoked meats and crawfish, comes from French settlers and Creole food is a mix of European, African, and Native American cuisines and typically uses a tomato-based sauce. Both are now the basis for most of Lagasse's dishes. He told Tasting Table when asked, "That's really the foundation of what my food is." 

If you've ever heard Emeril Lagasse's signature "Bam!" or "Let's kick it up a notch" catchphrases, you know he is less of a traditionalist than Bobby Flay. Lagasse likes to be dramatic in the kitchen and playful and silly in his television appearances: He pours extra alcohol into drinks, lights huge fires, dons costumes, and plays characters.

His over-the-top personality inspired executives at Food Network to create "How To Boil Water," Lagasse's first show in the early 1990s. At the time, most cooking shows were rather low-key and straightforward. Chef Aaron Sanchez told Saveur that Lagasse changed all that, saying, "Emeril added flair. He was like the OG, you know?"

"How To Boil Water" eventually led to a live show, a cooking show, an ongoing correspondent slot on "Good Morning America," and a sitcom for Lagasse. While his brand of feistiness wasn't for everyone, it won over viewers and up-and-coming chefs looking for fun in the kitchen.

While Bobby Flay has upped his television appearances over the past few years, Emeril Lagasse has only recently returned from a television hiatus. "Emeril Live," Lagasse's Food Network show, ran for eleven seasons but was canceled in 2007. Lagasse continued to make a handful of one-off appearances, like a spot as himself on the short-lived "Treme" and as a special guest on "Good Morning America," but he has focused on opening and running his restaurant empire more than making appearances on camera.

Lagasse told GQ that he wasn't into the reality TV format that Flay embraced, and wanted to instead "teach people how to cook, how to eat, how to serve, how to shop, how to drink wine, how to mix a cocktail properly." He didn't re-enter the television arena until the highly-rated "Top Chef" season in New Orleans, where he felt more comfortable. His new show for Roku, "Emeril Cooks," premiered in 2022. On it, Lagasse is primarily covering both traditional Louisiana dishes and his own, unique takes.

The chef also occasionally makes videos for the Emeril YouTube channel with his son and fellow chef, E.J., and you can also frequently see Lagasse plugging his own branded kitchen items in infomercials, such as an air fryer and non-stick pans, where he takes a hands-on approach with demonstrations and cooking lessons.

Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse agree that the secret to effective cooking is the seasoning. On her eponymous talk show, Flay told Rachael Ray, "I think for the most part, the home cook seasons a little more timid than the professional chef." He then proceeded to show the audience how much salt and pepper he would use when seasoning a thick steak — and it was a healthy handful. He encourages cooks to use more than they think they should to bring out all the flavors of a meal.

And then back to the "Bam!" Emeril Lagasse has always believed in the power of seasoning, particularly with his own special blend of Creole magic. He recommends using his Essence Creole Seasoning, containing paprika, cayenne pepper, and dried leaf oregano, on everything from chicken to pork to shrimp, to give a "kicked-up flavor" to a variety of dishes. Or, if you want a taste of Lagasse's signature flavor without the heat, you're in luck — Lagasse has a recipe for Baby Bam, a milder version of Essence for younger and more sensitive palates. It goes to show that even if you're a child, Lagasse believes you should be seasoning your food!

If there's one fruit Emeril Lagasse loves to use, particularly in desserts, it's the trusty banana. In the 1950s, New Orleans became a major port of entry for bananas entering the country from Central and South America, which is how the traditional Bananas Foster was born. Lagasse has his own recipe that calls for four bananas in addition to banana liqueur (and rum, of course). Another dessert Lagasse favors is his grilled banana splits with hot fudge and rum caramel sauce, which calls for six bananas (and more rum). Then there's his famous banana cream pie with caramel drizzle and chocolate sauce and his Bananas Foster bread pudding, which uses half a dozen bananas and lots of sweet alcohol.

It's true that Bobby Flay also uses bananas, but rather than load them up with more sugar, he'll mostly keep them on the healthier side, like throwing them on the grill and plating them with some fresh mint. He also loves a grilled peach or a grilled apple, giving slightly more variety to his fruit-based dessert selections.