Chef Emeril Lagasse Tours Restaurants in St. Petersburg & Clearwater on National Television

(St. Petersburg, Fla.) The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) is proud to present this week’s episode of Emeril’s Florida airing Sunday, January 31, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. EST on the Cooking Channel. In Sunday’s episode, “Sugar Sand Paradise,” celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse visits three fantastic properties in the St. Petersburg and Clearwater area, including: Locale Market, Guy Harvey’s RumFish Grill and Palm Pavilion. Emeril rounds out the episode preparing Cedar Key Baked Oysters with Portuguese Chorizo Butter.

“Florida’s West Coast is packed with wonderful restaurants featuring picturesque backdrops and unique dining experiences,” said Carol Dover, FRLA President and CEO. “Emeril’s Florida certainly selected some of our favorite spots this year and we are proud to help give visitors the opportunity to sample them.”

On this episode of Emeril’s Florida, the first stop is Locale Market, a gourmet market located in downtown St. Petersburg that’s owned by nationally renowned chefs Michael Mina and Don Pintabona. It’s chef driven and offers locally sourced meats, seafood, and produce along with house made pastas and artisanal products. Emeril tours the market with Chef Don Pintabona and then sits down with Chef Michael Mina to sample some of Locale’s signature dishes including Steamed Two Docks Clams; Faithful Farms Tuscan Kale Salad; The “St. Petersburger” (a dry aged beef monster hamburger); a 32 oz. Bone In Dry Aged Tomahawk Ribeye; and a Liquid Nitrogen Bon Bon Sundae.

Next, Emeril visits Guy Harvey’s RumFish Grill on St. Pete Beach. The centerpiece of the restaurant is the 33,500 gallon aquarium in the dining room that was built by Wayde King and Brett Raymer of Animal Planet’s hit series Tanked. Emeril sits down with Executive Chef Justin Harry to sample some of the seafood dishes on the chef’s menu including Caribbean Ceviche; Cedar Key Oysters; Jerk Lion Fish; and Seafood Brochette with shrimp sea scallop and fish.

Then, Emeril visits Palm Pavilion, a restaurant that was built on Clearwater Beach in 1926 and sold in 1964 to the family that continues to own and operate it today. Emeril gets the backstory from owner Ken Hamilton on this family run, gulf front icon. Emeril then sits down with Executive Chef Marlin Kaplan to sample some of Palm Pavilion’s signature dishes including St. Louis BBQ Ribs; The Palm Burger; The Palm Grouper Sandwich; and The Palm Nachos.

The show reruns on Monday, February 1 at 9:30 a.m. EST and Thursday, February 4 at 10:30 a.m. EST. Please check local listings.

Emeril’s Florida Season Four 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 fourth 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 FRLA and VISIT FLORIDA sponsor the series. 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.

Editor’s Note:
For photo and video requests of Emeril Lagasse with personnel from Star Fish Company, Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen and Crazy Fish Bar & Grill, photos of signature menu items and recipes of featured dishes, please contact Elizabeth Ray at ERay@FRLA.org or 850.224.2250 x255.

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About the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association
FRLA is Florida’s premier non-profit hospitality industry trade association. Our mission is to ‘Protect, Educate and Promote’ Florida’s $82 billion hospitality industry which represents 23% of Florida’s economy and more than 1.1 million employees – making it the state’s number one industry. We offer regulatory compliance and food safety training needs (RCS and SafeStaff®); industry developed career-building high school programs (FRLAEF); sponsor the only event in Florida exclusively serving the restaurant and foodservice industry (FR&L Show, September 27-29, 2016 in Orlando); and we safeguard the needs of the hospitality industry by providing legislative advocacy. We represent and serve more than 10,000 independent and household name members, suppliers, and theme parks. For more information, go to www.FRLA.org and find us on Twitter @FRLAnews, Facebook and YouTube.