SP Resident Makes Reservation for 'Emeril's Table'

It’s a special honor to be invited by a chef to dinner. But when the host is celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, the event rises to new heights.

Scotch Plains resident and flight attendant Mark DiCarlo joined four other flight attendants on last Wednesday’s episode of “Emeril’s Table,” which airs on the Hallmark Channel. In each episode, Emeril invites five guests to partake in a cooking lesson and conversation about eating, preparing and sharing food.

DiCarlo’s episode was titled “International Soups,” he said, “probably because we were all flight attendants.” The menu consisted of five selections that included a Cuban black bean soup and a simple French onion soup.

“I’ll definitely use the recipes,” DiCarlo said. “I wouldn’t consider myself a foodie, but I do like to try different things.”

DiCarlo said he does try to avoid eating airline food. But once his planes land, his tastes range as wide as his travels.

“You can be positive I will try anything,” DiCarlo said. On a recent trip to Japan, he “made sure to sample a little bit of everything… What’s the point of getting Italian food when you are in Germany?”

Like many home cooks, DiCarlo said he often finds himself stumped when he returns to his own kitchen. “I try to cook when I can, but I’m usually at loss with what to make.”

So what did he learn from Emeril? Not just new recipes, but also the mindset to simply “enjoy what you are doing,” Di Carlo said. Although, “having the proper equipment is definitely a plus!”

Emeril’s Table, a half-hour cooking series, premiered on the Hallmark Channel on Sept. 26. It airs Monday to Friday at 11 a.m.