Oct. 13--The man with the bam is coming back to Charlotte. Mega-chef Emeril Lagasse will do a cooking demonstration and book signing Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. in SouthPark for Sur La Table.

Lagasse came to Charlotte briefly in March 2007 to dedicate a teaching kitchen named in his honor at Johnson & Wales University's Charlotte campus. But that visit wasn't open to the public. Lagasse, a JWU alumni, posed for pictures, signed autographs and gave a lecture for culinary students only.

This time, he will demonstrate several recipes -- using cookware from his signature product lines -- in the mall's center court, then will sign books inside Sur La Table.

The cooking demonstration is free and seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

To meet Lagasse in the store, you'll need to buy a book -- either his 2005 book, "Emeril's Delmonico: A Restaurant With a Past," or Sur La Table's new book, "Knives Cooks Love." Or you can buy a product from Lagasse's cookware lines that day and get a free copy of the knife book for signing. Lagasse wrote the foreword in the knife book.

In addition to his shows on the Food Network and the Fine Living Network, Lagasse is the author of 12 cookbooks and owns restaurants in several cities, including New Orleans and Las Vegas.

-----

To see more of The Charlotte Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.charlotteobserver.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:SSP,