Emeril Lagasse Spotlights America's Original Restaurants in New Series

This May, Chef Emeril Lagasse hits the road to pay tribute to The Originals - iconic food establishments that have helped shape the country's culinary landscape - in his new primetime Cooking Channel series. While the restaurant industry is notoriously challenging and the life of a restaurant is sometimes short, every city has those cherished institutions that have stood the test of time. In each 30-minute episode of The Originals with Emeril, premiering May 5th at 10:30pm ET (7:30pm PT), Emeril visits a new city and goes behind-the-scenes at three historic eateries - speaking with the chefs and customers to help reveal their fascinating stories. From uncovering the birthplace of famous dishes like Boston Cream Pie in New England and the French Dip Sandwich in Los Angeles to revealing Charlie Chaplin's favorite 1920's Hollywood hangout and DR. Martin Luther King's preferred Atlanta dining spot, Emeril travels to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, and his beloved New Orleans during the 13-episode first season. This time on the other side of the stove, Emeril takes viewers on an informative and tasty culinary journey visiting the places Americans have loved to eat for over a hundred years and counting.

Well known to Food Network and Cooking Channel fans, Chef Emeril Lagasse is an acclaimed chef and national TV personality. He has hosted over 2,000 shows on Food Network, and has been the food correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America for over 13 years. His shows, Fresh Food Fast, which launched in July 2010, and Emeril Live (formerly on Food Network), can currently be seen on Cooking Channel. Additionally, he hosts the original television series Emeril Green and a live, call-in radio program, Cooking with Emeril, which airs twice weekly exclusively on Martha Stewart Living Radio on SIRIUS XM. Chef Emeril Lagasse is the chef/proprietor of 12 restaurants including three in New Orleans, four in Las Vegas, two in Orlando, one in Miami, and in Pennsylvania. He is also the best-selling author of 15 cookbooks; his latest book is Farm to Fork: Cooking Local, Cooking Fresh.

The Originals with Emeril is produced by Authentic Entertainment, Inc.

COOKING CHANNEL (www.cookingchanneltv.com) is an entertainment brand dedicated to today's passionate food lover. For food people, by food people, Cooking Channel is the answer to a growing hunger for more content devoted to food and cooking in every dimension from global cuisines to international travel, history and unconventional how-to's. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com, Food Network (www.foodnetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com) and Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com), is the manager and general partner.