Emeril Lagasse met with students in the Edible Schoolyard Project at Orlando Junior Academy recently. With him are, from left, Vanessa Crux, R’Zarick Buckman, Chrissy Nickless, John-Dalton Bonjean, Konnor Settie, and Inez White.

Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse has been spending a lot of time in Central Florida lately. That shouldn’t be a surprise — after all he has two restaurants here that bear his name. But it also isn’t unusual for celebrity chefs to lend only their names to restaurants and their presence less frequentily.

But Lagasse was in town for extended visits, first as one of the chefs who gathered to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Norman’s at the Ritz-Carlton (where he pretty much ran things back in the kitchen) and then to record some more episodes for his Emeril’s Florida television show. He taped at K restaurant in College Park with chef/owner Kevin Fonzo, and then at Orlando Junior Academy to highlight the school’s Edible Schoolyard Project. 

Lagasse spent time with the students and their instructors, Fonzo among them, and brought his spotlight to this very worthy project. More on when the episodes will air later.