Emeril Lagasse, renowned chef, restaurateur and America’s beloved expert on everything flavorful, will be featured in a new television campaign that will help re-launch Crest Whitening Expressions, a line of uniquely flavored whitening toothpastes. The toothpaste flavors are so tasty--- they might just be bigger than BAM!

In the ad campaign, Emeril is assisting Crest Whitening Expressions to look for the new Expression. The advertising introducing the contest will debut in mid September.

I had the opportunity to interview the chef and had a blast doing it. He is as personable as you think. Below is the complete story. Yes, I say story because I can't believe how much I typed this last hour. ;) I asked him things I always wanted to know from a chef. Does he eat Fast Food? Are his kids good eaters? And where the heck is his NYC restaurant?!And yes, I blurred the pic because I didn't really like the way it came out. It's not your eyes playing tricks on you.

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Are there any other restaurants in the works? I live in NY and would love to hear you have one opening in the city.

There’s none in the forecast. I work in NY enough. I do television here and now with my responsibilities with Martha and MSO, there is just a lot going on here. There are actually no expansion plans for restaurants in any area.

You are continuing your partnership with Crest. I hear there is a new contest in the works where viewers are going to attempt to replace the Bam?

Well, I don’t know if you could ever replace the Bam. (Laughs) But we are going to see if someone can come up with another phrase Crest can use to sum up their new flavor.

Who cooks at home? In all honesty.

I do. I do about 95% of the cooking. My wife is a great cook but like she says, why do I have to?

Especially because she married a chef! How about your favorite family meal? What do your kids enjoy eating?

My kids love food so you know. We are one of those families that we get up and the first thing we are talking about is what we are having for dinner. They like steamed mussles to roast chicken to pasta bolognaise. They really eat.

Is it ever just a mac and cheese night in your house?

Rarely. We eat a lot of fish. When we are here in NY we live in a great neighborhood. It's one of those streets that has a great butcher shop and fish shop and a cheese shop. So my kids are really exposed to that kind of stuff. They know Saturday especially is a big day. We go together and we shop for good fish and whatever else we are going to have for the weekend.

What are their ages?

I have two older daughters and then I have a 5 year old boy and 3 year old girl.

How do you get the three year old to try new food? I'm asking because I have young children.

You know, I think that it starts from the top and um, I think that really unless there is some sort of medical problem or allergy problem, kids should be exposed to all type of food. When you live in a household that is putting their nose up to green beans or Brussels sprouts; there is really nothing that my kids don't eat.

They don't eat a lot of lettuces just because of the texture. They just haven't figured it out. But they do the cucumbers and tomatoes. They really just eat about each vegetable.

One thing I like to tell parents is - a great way to introduce and expose your children to different vegetables is to put it all in a good soup – a homemade soup.

A whole lot more after the jump. Click on the continue reading link below to continue.

Future show plans? I heard that things are moving over to Fine Living.

Emeril Live is. Emeril Live is being syndicated on Fine Living kicking off July 7st. My brand new show, Emeril Green on Planet Green debuts on July 14th.

Tell me about that?

It's a great show. Very cool. It's pretty eco-friendly. I cook a lot… mostly organic. It takes place in this Super Wholefood market outside of DC. 65,000 square feet! Basically people write in and say, ‘Dear Emeril, my name is Angela and I have 2 children. I don’t have a clue how to cook seafood. Please help me.’

So we go and do a profile , invite her to come to Virginia, comes to store, meets me and we find out her likes, scares, techniques  and level of knowledge. We say ok, I’m going to teach you how to go shopping and while we do, we run into unique characters during the process – a dietician, an organic farmer, or an organic rancher or the fish monger who is going to tell us about wild cod vs. farm raised etc. Then I take Angela into one of the kitchens and teach her to make a few dishes.

So you are saying I get to be on your show then? How very nice of you!

It could be! I could help you out.

It’s settled. I’m going to give you my card!

I’ve been watching you since the beginning of time with Sarah Molten. I’d say the two of you basically started the concept of bringing the passion for food to the general viewer. If you could give a tip to a viewer like me, what would it be?

Well I think that you have to have fairly good tools to do a good job.

So that really matters?

Absolutely, you have to have good cutlery, good pot and pan set and a well stocked pantry. Those three are the major keys to being somewhat successful. And it’s not a matter of being skilled or being a great cook, it’s about planning.

And most people, you know, you're a busy lady, you're running a business, juggling a family, you don't have a food plan. Most people figure out their food plan

Ten minutes before they have to cook?

Exactly! So what happens is they have a weekly plan schedule. They know where they have to be for the children, for their school activities or for their jobs, but not their meals.

Now all of a sudden, they are at the salvation of...

Frozen pizza?

It could be that. Or fast food. So, I say take your time and plan out what you are going to do for the week. If you have a well stocked pantry I.E salt pepper stocks, herbs flour etc etc and then what you can really do is buy your perishables on a day or every other day basis. And then that is what you should start eating.

So whatever is good in the market is what I should make that night.

Absolutely. The other thing is that too many people want to try something new, so they find a recipe and they want to cook it and they don’t read it. Then it doesn't turn out very well because they haven’t planned properly for it.

You mentioned fast food. Is there every a day where your family takes home fast food instead of cooking.

Rarely. I eat hamburgers. But I go to places that specialize in making hamburgers or I make them myself. Do I ever eat fast-food? It’s very rare. I try to eat around Mardi Gras Popeye’s at least once because it’s just one of those things. But then again, that doesn't mean I don’t eat fired chicken either.

You are a busy, busy man. Do you have time to do watch TV or take vacations?

I don’t have huge vacations. I have little ones. I’m going to have 5 or 6 days off for the 4th where I will be with my family and go fishing and hang out at the beach at our beach house. I might have another one like that in August. But it’s pretty busy. Right now, it’s been really busy for a couple of reasons.

1 - Starting my position joining forces with Martha Stewart. So we are just trying to figure that all out. Where we are going and what fun we are going to have.

2 – I’m still under contract with the food network. I’m getting ready to shoot Essence of Emeril next month. I’m doing Emeril Green which has been a brutal schedule.

Writing cook books?

I haven't written a book in a few years. But I'm getting ready to start one.

Because you found you have like 10 minutes free in your day and you’re looking to put an end to that?

Kind of.

Back to Martha Stewart Living – What plans do you have with the organization and then I know my time is up?

The Emeril brand will be the Emeril and the Martha brand will be the Martha brand and we are here to support one another as much as possible. As you can take a look around it’s a phenomenal place. A very creative atmosphere. I had a very successful business and now I am unpeeling that and figuring out how I can make it more successful. And to take advantage of what Martha has to offer. She has a lot to offer besides her being the smartest she can be and a great lady. Her organization is phenomenal with phenomenal people.

So, I’m just a little small guy and now I’m just trying to figure it all out. You know, you mentioned publishing. That is obviously one area we are going to take advantage of. I have 11 books at this time.

Talk shows?

I’ve done Regis and Kelly a bunch of times while Regis has been off and it was fun. Would I want to do it full time? I don't know if I would want to do it full time. I want to cook full time. That’s what I want to do .

And I hope you continue. Thank you for your time and best of luck.
:)