This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Reed Cooley.
Camera crews from the Discovery Channel’s new eco-lifestyle network, Planet Green, filmed on campus Wednesday for an episode of celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse’s new television series.
The show, Emeril Green, will feature junior Billy Wolfe dealing with severe food allergies while eating and living on campus. Camera crews filmed Wolfe cooking in his kitchen in the Dakota residence hall and studying in Gelman.
Wolfe nabbed a spot on the show after his mother, who stumbled upon an Emeril Green taping near their hometown in Virginia, applied on the channel’s website.
The one requirement was that the applicant be in some way “food challenged” or have a “food oddity,” said Wolfe, who is allergic to wheat, among other things. Wolfe said he was invited to and attended a casting call in April but never expected to hear back. Two weeks ago, however, he received a call from an Emeril Green representative asking when he could begin filming.
Although he admits he’s not on the same level as Lagasse, Wolfe describes himself as something of an amateur chef.
“I’ve been cooking since I was eight,” he said. “I never went to culinary school, but I do good home-cooking.”
Wolfe works in the intensive care unit at GW Hospital and as a pharmacy technician at CVS. He also volunteers at EMeRG, GW’s emergency medical response team.
“I think they liked that I’m really active,” he said of the people that selected him for the show.
Wolfe will also be filmed cooking with Lagasse at a Whole Foods in Fairfax, Va. on Wednesday, July 16.