Emeril Lagasse used to be the top chef star of the Food Network (before Paula Deen or Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives,” which now dominates.) In recent seasons, he’s been a star judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef.” Now he’s promoting a new TNT series titled “On the Menu” with Ty Pennington of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” fame.
“It’s becoming a very challenging industry to become a very successful average restaurateur,” Lagasse said, as reported by The Week magazine. “I can’t charge $300 a person in my restaurant or I would not be in business. Am I using any different ingredients? Not really. Am I using any caliber of service staff? I don’t think so. I think our service is as good or better than most places.”
What raised eyebrows was the anti-Obama argument: "And then you add all the Obama nonsense to what it's become in the last several years. I don't have anything against Mr. Obama. I'm just saying ... the government should stay out of things."
He then added, "Pretty soon, they're going to wipe a lot of the middle restaurateurs...If it continues, then watch: you're going to have high-end, and you're going to have fast food, and you're going to have chain restaurants."
But this is strange, since chain restaurants are the stars of the TNT show, “in which everyday cooks will vie for the chance to have their own dishes served in major restaurant chains across the country.” The list includes Chili’s, Denny’s, California Pizza Kitchen, Outback Steakhouse, and the Cheesecake Factory.
