BAM! Fall River native, famous chef, Emeril Lagasse visits local Portuguese restaurants

A famous Fall River native dropped by the area to get a taste of the region’s famous Portuguese cuisine.

Portas Da Cidade Restaurant and Lounge at 231 State Road in Westport announced that Emeril Lagasse and his crew stopped by to dine at the restaurant Sunday afternoon.

Lagasse then stopped by Sagres Restaurant at 177 Columbia Street in Fall River later in the day.

Europa Pastries & Coffee Shop on Columbia Street also announced that Lagasse paid them a visit.

Emeril, who got his culinary start at Diman Regional in addition to his mother’s kitchen, is known these days for his restaurants in New Orleans, Las Vegas and Miramar Beach. He has also hosted over 2,000 shows on the Food Network, and is the food correspondent for ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Lagasse has appeared as a guest judge in four seasons of Bravo’s hit food series, “Top Chef,” served as co-host for TNT’s first cooking series, “On the Menu,” and the tenth season of the “Rachael Ray Show.” In September 2016, Amazon launched an original series featuring Lagasse called Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse. In January 2017, Lagasse entered his fifth season of “Emeril’s Florida” on the Cooking Channel. Emeril even was the lead on his own sitcom.

Lagasse is the best-selling author of 19 cookbooks.

Emeril was also chosen as “Chef of the Year” by GQ magazine in 1998. In 1999, he was named one of People magazine’s “25 Most Intriguing People of the Year.”

It is currently unclear what brought Lagasse to the Fall River area.