He decided to study cooking at a New Orleans com-
munity college. But when his father discussed Jona-
than's plan with Fair Grounds trainer Louis J. Roussel
III, who sent out Risen Star to win the Preakness and
Belmont a few years earlier, Roussel had other ideas.
He informed the elder Lundy that Jonathan, in fact,
would not be attending that school, and instructed
him to show up in New Orleans the following weekend.
Jonathan did as he was told, and found himself with a
job at one of the best new restaurants in town, a place
called Emeril's.
"And my life would have been completely different
if Louis hadn't done that," said Lundy. "It was a really
important place at a really important time."
Emeril Lagasse's joint was named Restaurant of the
Year by Esquire, and Lundy learned under one of Amer-
ica's first celebrity chefs.
"There were no books at that time, no TV shows,
and he worked there all the time," said Lundy. "He was
young and aggressive."
Lagasse saw promise in the young Lundy and sent
him to the Johnson & Wales culinary school in Rhode
I
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