South Walton will soon air as the second feature in a new television series hosted by celebrity chef, Emeril Lagasse. Emeril, who now resides in Northwest Florida with his family, will showcase different locations throughout the Sunshine State in the "Emeril's Florida" series airing on the Food Network's Cooking Channel. “The show is about what this great state offers,” Lagasse said. “So it’s not just about cooking, it’s not just restaurants, although that’s a nice chunk of it. But it’s about the beaches, it’s about fishing, it’s about farming, it’s about the agriculture.” During his time in South Walton, Emeril visited Mac Farms located in Santa Rosa Beach to view the locally grown and distributed herbs and vegetables.
Local restaurants featured in the episode include Fish Out of Water and Bud & Alley’s. Emeril also embarked on a charter fishing trip from the Baytowne Marina at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort and cooked up dinner right on the docks. During his time in South Walton Emeril also visited Stinky’s Fish Camp which will be showcased in a separate episode along with a segment featuring Florida Governor, Rick Scott.
“When people think about Florida, of course, they think about sunshine and how beautiful it is. They don’t really know the variety, the extent of what is really here. There’s so much here it’s incredible,” Lagasse said.
The South Walton episode will air on Sunday, January 13, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. and rerun on Monday, January 14, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. and Thursday, January 17, 2013, at 11:30 a.m.