Chef Paul Prudhomme brought his Louisiana restaurant to San Francisco in 1983.
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Prudhomme was one of 13 children born to Louisiana sharecroppers, and his upbringing helped shape his approach to cooking with fresh and local ingredients, according to Tooker, CNN reported.
Prudhomme’s legacy is felt strongly at Commander’s Palace, where he helmed the kitchen for four years.
Prudhomme died after a brief illness, said the official from K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen.
It was the country’s first pop-up restaurant – a genre that, three decades later, has become as widespread as the Cajun and Creole cuisine that Prudhomme put on the map.
At first, it was a neighborhood restaurant, a dim, even cozy spot in an unpretentious brick building, designed for French Quarter residents and their friends.
“Paul was the selfless promoter of all things South Louisiana – from our culture and hospitality to our generosity and food – and I will miss him greatly”, said New Orleans restaurateur John Besh.
The restaurant remains a popular fixture among NOLA’s elite dining establishments.
The rotund, bearded Prudhomme became a household name in the 1980s through countless television appearances – including his own cooking shows – in which he encouraged viewers to spice up their lives and expand their palates.
He opened K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, so named for him and his wife, Kay, in 1979. The network hosts the archive site with the Louisiana State Archives. But chef Paul was this incredible combination of his food, his personality and just his accessibility.
That day, Huget said he received his first autograph ever. People flew across the country to eat his roast duck in pecan gravy, jambalaya and blackened redfish.
Prudhomme’s impact on American culinary history will be felt for decades to come. We’re sorry to hear of the loss of Chef Paul Prudhomme. “We didn’t buy food for the menu, the menu was created based on what food we had”.
His tremendous influence is now evident on Twitter, where professional and amateur chefs, restauranteurs and fans of good food the world over are paying tribute to the man brought the flavors of New Orleans to kitchens across the globe.
Funeral arrangements for Chef Paul Prudhomme are still pending. Prudhomme is also credited with introducing the turducken poultry dish, now a mainstay.
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New Orleans has lost a great ambassador. “My heart goes out to Paul’s family”, fellow New Orleans legend Emeril Lagasse was quoted as saying. The restaurant remains one of the city’s most notable sentinels of New Orleans cuisine, and a thriving tourist destination.
