Paul Prudhomme
Paul Prudhomme was a chef best known for popularizing Cajun cooking on a national scale. He opened his legendary New Orleans restaurant, K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, in 1979.
Prudhomme’s cooking was famously fresh and personal. He used local ingredients and was a trailblazer for regional cooking. He also grew many of the ingredients that were used in his dishes himelf — long before it was popular to do so.
His fame led to many television appearances, including spots on Dolly, Late Night with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Live with Kelly and Michael and Top Chef.
Taught by his mother, Prudhomme began cooking at a young age, and opened his first restaurant near his hometown of Opelousas, Louisiana. That restaurant and the two that followed all folded, but he found success in Denver, Colorado. There he took over three restaurants, but later sold them so he could move back home to care for his mother. He began working as a lunch chef at a French restaurant upon his return, and within a week became the chef of the entire restaurant. There he met a waitress named K Hinrichs and together they opened K-Paul’s.
Paul Prudhomme was a chef best known for popularizing Cajun cooking on a national scale. He opened his legendary New Orleans restaurant, K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, in 1979.
Prudhomme’s cooking was famously fresh and personal. He used local ingredients and was a trailblazer for regional cooking. He also grew many of the ingredients that were used in his dishes himelf — long before it was popular to do so.
His fame led to many television appearances, including spots on Dolly, Late Night with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Live with Kelly and Michael and Top Chef.
Taught by his mother, Prudhomme began cooking at a young age, and opened his first restaurant near his hometown of Opelousas, Louisiana. That restaurant and the two that followed all folded, but he found success in Denver, Colorado. There he took over three restaurants, but later sold them so he could move back home to care for his mother. He began working as a lunch chef at a French restaurant upon his return, and within a week became the chef of the entire restaurant. There he met a waitress named K Hinrichs and together they opened K-Paul’s.
He also wrote nine cookbooks, including Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, Seasoned America and Family Cookbook.
Prudhomme died October 8, 2015, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was 75.
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