Tchoup Chop Will Feature Asian and Polynesian Cuisine

ORLANDO, Fl (January 2002) - The world’s newest Emeril’s restaurant is scheduled to open at Universal Orlando and will offer a dining experience unlike any other ever created by the famous master chef.

The new restaurant, the second by Emeril Lagasse at Universal Orlando, will be called Tchoup Chop (pronounced chop-chop). It is scheduled to open at Universal Orlando’s newest hotel, the Royal Pacific Resort, in Fall 2002.

In both atmosphere and menu, Tchoup Chop will offer diners a unique and exotic journey through the Pacific Seas, a perfect complement for the Royal Pacific Resort.

“We’re thrilled that Emeril has decided to open a second restaurant at Universal Orlando,” said Tom Williams, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the Universal Studios Recreation Group. “The current Emeril’s of Orlando restaurant at Universal’s CityWalk offers a special highlight for many of our guests. His new restaurant promises to bring an entirely new experience in fine dining to our destination.”

“It has been a dream for over ten years for our company to build Tchoup Chop and we are excited to bring it to the city of Orlando,” said Emeril Lagasse, owner and executive chef of Emeril’s Restaurants. “The climate, backdrop and energy of Orlando is a perfect fit for this style restaurant.”

Tchoup Chop - the name is meant to offer a hint of New Orleans’ famous Tchoupitoulas Street, where Emeril’s parent restaurant is located, and the word “chop” a bold culinary term - will be a separate building at the Royal Pacific Resort, looking out over a boat landing and lagoon surrounded by a lush tropical garden. The restaurant will be accessible from the hotel porte-cochere, a common area shared with the resort’s convention area, its own entrance road and via water taxi from other areas within Universal Orlando.

The new restaurant is being designed by the Rockwell Group, of New York City. It will occupy a ground floor space of 6,237 square feet with a terrace area serving 160 diners and an open display kitchen. The restaurant is an extension of a South-Pacific inspired paradise, with the soft colors of natural woods accented by bright colors of tropical flowers. The restaurant is designed as a space within a space, surrounded by a terrarium of lush plants, waterfalls and sculpted gardens.

A moon gate made of carved wood, batik fabrics and canopies, carved wood grilles, pierced metal light fixtures and cast-glass chandeliers are a few of the other features guests will see as they dine.

The menu at Tchoup Chop focuses on the islands of the Pacific. The Pacific Islands borrow flavors from Asia and Europe, but are unique unto themselves. Chef Emeril will offer diners a delicious experience of Asian and Polynesian influences complemented by his signature bold flavors.

The Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, a Loews Hotel, is scheduled to open in summer 2002 and will feature 1,000 guest rooms and suites, a variety of restaurants and lounges, and nearly 80,000 square feet of meeting space in a lush, tropical South-Pacific themed setting.

The Universal Orlando resort destination (www.universalorlando.com) includes two dramatically distinct and adjacent theme parks, the Universal Studios motion picture and television theme park and Islands of Adventure, Orlando’s next generation theme park. Universal Orlando also includes CityWalk, a 30-acre dining, shopping, club and live-entertainment venue as well as premier on-site Loews hotels and world-class film and television production facilities.

Universal Orlando is a unit of Universal Studios, a part of CANAL+, the TV and Film division of Vivendi Universal, a global leader in media and communications.

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