Chef Paul Prudhomme died Thursday at the age of 75, his restaurant, K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, confirmed to CNN.
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At K-Paul’s – which celebrated its 30th anniversary earlier this year – Prudhomme refined his style of authentic but elevated local cuisine, influenced by the traditional Creole and Cajun recipes he grew up eating.
Other tweets came quickly from noted New York restaurant critic Gail Greene; from Louisiana’s Abita Beer; from PBS, which produced Prudhomme-hosted shows; from New Orleans shops and restaurants; and from “Top Chef” host Tom Colicchio.
Prudhomme is widely credited with popularizing New Orleans-style cuisine nationwide, and a few even say he’s the man most responsible for the foodie trend that’s given us everything from more exotic menu options to celebrity chefs such as Anthony Bourdain and Alton Brown.
Prudhomme has a Pennsylvania connection, his nephew and niece, David Prudhomme and wife, Sharon own and operate Prudhomme’s lost Cajun Kitchen in Columbia, Lancaster County.
WWLTV reports that in the 1990s, he created his own line of all natural herbs and spices. His line of spices, Magic Seasoning Blends, are sold nationally.
Prudhomme was born on July 13, 1940 in Opelousas, the youngest of 13 children.
Thursday, he recalled his first encounter with the person he called his mentor. “My heart goes out to Paul’s family”, fellow New Orleans legend Emeril Lagasse was quoted as saying.
“Paul had a great sense of showmanship”, Ella Brennan, his former boss at Commander’s Palace’s told the Times-Picayune. He had over 100 employees adversely affected by the Hurricane. We have something here that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.
“My first memories of Paul go way back – he was a warm and welcoming friend to so many”. He slimmed down from 560 pounds to just 220.
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“Paul was truly one of the original sort of celebrity chefs, I remember when I was kid, actually they asked my mom I think to be on Johnny Carson and she pushed and got, wanted Paul because pushed to do it, and wanted people to understand chefs, and Paul was the flawless person”, Martin said. “Just not as much of it”.
