Growing up in the Lakefront area in New Orleans, Stephen Guilbault lived just four doors down from chef Emeril Lagasse. When Guilbault was 16, he was invited into the kitchen during a walk with his dog. Lagasse was cooking that night and asked Guilbault to assist as a taste-tester. They hung out for two hours that night.
It was a one-off experience, but over 30 years later, Guilbault still remembers the menu: barbecue shrimp, souffle bread pudding, banana cream pie and crabmeat crawfish au gratin.
Guilbault began his culinary career at Vincent’s Italian Cuisine in Metairie a few years later, when he was 18. After an unconventional career path, he opened his Italian restaurant in Prairieville, Stefano’s, last August, where he serves up his take on Italian dishes inspired by home cooking and restaurants that helped him hone his craft.
The name Stefano’s is an homage to a nickname he got while working in kitchens. Vincent’s sous chef at the time was from Sicily and refused to call him Stephen. He was always Stefano. Later on, the sous chef at Emeril Delmonico (also from Italy) was the same way…