Photo by Olaf Starorypinski
Chef Emeril Lagasse recently kicked his growing culinary empire up another notch with the exciting addition of a third restaurant to the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem. Joining Emeril’s Chop House and Burgers and More by Emeril comes Emeril’s Italian Table, a rustic Italian eatery featuring the chef’s most beloved cuisine.
Though Lagasse has ten restaurants throughout the country in addition to the Sands, none of them have an Italian menu, something he’s wanted to do for the last 20 years. So, after many years of waiting, the opportunity to create his dream Italian restaurant came when Sands Bethlehem President Robert DeSalvio requested the addition to his casino, Lagasse explains.
“When we were preparing to open Emeril’s Chop House, Sands president Bob DeSalvio told me that he really wanted an Italian restaurant as part of the hotel and high-end shopping mall they had planned. I just knew this was the place to create that restaurant that’s been in my head for a long time.”
While the Lehigh Valley may seem like an unlikely place for Lagasse to open his first and only Italian restaurant, the location has proven to be ideal for several reasons. For one, he has grown to love the Valley and the Sands property.
“The Sands team has really hit it out of the park. I love how they’ve been able to preserve the important features of the historic mill and highlight the heritage of the old site in the design.What they’ve accomplished here in Bethlehem is a new chapter centered on food, hospitality and entertainment,” he says. “The entire Lehigh Valley is incredible, it’s really beautiful…a great agricultural community, great people. It’s also close to New York, where I do a lot of my television projects, so I’m able to make it down pretty often. I love it here.”
The restaurant’s ambiance is reminiscent of Tuscany, achieved with stone walls, aged wood ceiling beams salvaged from an area barn and warm lighting that creates a cozy atmosphere. A wood burning pizza oven, antipasto bar “stocked with some of Italy’s best salumi and cheeses” and around 200 wine selections almost exclusively Italian (including more than 20 available by the glass) are just some of the many special touches Lagasse put into this restaurant.
Since he can’t be there to oversee the day-to-day operations, he appointed Executive Chef Tony Page to carry out his vision. Page, who also oversees Emeril’s Chop House, works with Lagasse’s culinary director, Chef Chris Wilson and the pair remains in constant contact with Lagasse. “I have complete faith in Chef Tony and our team here,” Emeril says.
Together they worked tirelessly for one year in the test kitchen at their Homebase office in New Orleans to develop a menu of simple Italian classics with an Emeril twist. “We try to be as authentic as possible with the best quality ingredients, be respectful of them and prepare them simply. We make the fresh pasta for our lasagna Bolognese and our own semolina pizza dough and foccacia. There are no shortcuts.”
And amid the television shows, cookbooks and charity events, Lagasse always makes time to do what he loves best—cook. So pour a glass of your favorite Sauvignon Blanc (a perfect
pairing for this meal) and get cooking like Emeril. Salute!
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