Chef Paul Prudhomme Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Chef Paul Prudhomme has died at the age of 75. (Getty)

Celebrity chef Paul Prudhomme has died at the age of 75 in Louisiana, WWL-TV reports.

Prudhomme, who specialized in Cajun and Creole cuisine, owned K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans. He also developed a hot sauce and seasoning mixes, and wrote several cookbooks.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. His Death Came After a Brief Illness

Paul Prudhomme, left, with fellow celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. (Getty)

A representative for Prudhomme’s family told WWL-TV that he died after a brief illness.

Funeral arrangements are pending, according to the news station.

Prudhomme is credited with helping take Cajun and Creole flavors to a national level in the 1980s.

“Prudhomme helped ignite a revolution in American gastronomy, inspiring chefs and diners to embrace regional cuisine and fresh, local ingredients. By uncovering opportunities for chefs outside their restaurant kitchens, he transformed his profession,” Brett Anderson, of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, wrote in a spectacular 2005 oral history of Prudhomme’s rise in the culinary world. “In drawing influences from beyond the parish line, he profoundly altered the dining landscape in New Orleans. And he found a national and international audience for local chefs and restaurateurs, pushing Louisiana, particularly New Orleans, onto the world map of great culinary destinations.”

2. He Is Survived by His Wife, Lori

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Prudhomme is survived by his second wife, Lori Bennett. They were married in 2010 in Las Vegas.

His first wife, Kay Prudhomme, died in 1993 after a 7-year battle with cancer.

3. He Opened K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in 1979

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Prudhomme, known affectionately as Chef Paul, opened K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in 1979, according to his website.

“In 1979, when Chef Paul Prudhomme and his late wife, K, opened their ‘modest,’ 62-seat K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen on Chartres Street in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans, they had no idea the restaurant was soon to become a sensation, with nightly lines of eager diners waiting sometimes hours to be seated. That was back in the days when K-Paul’s didn’t accept reservations or credit cards! But now, under the hands-on,” the restaurant’s website says.

According to WWL-TV, Prudhomme introduced the “blackened redfish craze, which made the fish so popular that commercial fishing of the species became restricted in order to prevent it from going extinct. Prudhomme is also credited with introducing the turducken poultry dish, now a mainstay. The line outside his Chartres Street restaurant, which at the time had a no-reservation policy, often stretched down the block. The restaurant now accepts reservations and remains a must-visit for locals and tourists alike.”

The restaurant was refurbished and expanded in 1996, and now has seating for 200, and does accept reservations.

4. He Was Born the Youngest of 13 Children in Louisiana

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Prudhomme was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, and was the youngest of 13 children, according to the biography on his website.

In an October 2011 interview with StarChefs.com, Prudhomme talked about how his childhood helped launch his culinary career:

I was from a large family, I was the last of 13 children. Someone had to help mother feed all these people.We were a farm family…we had no gas or electric. We had a wood burning stove. My mother would put me on a wooden box at the stove and tell me to call her if certain things would happen. Like if the steam turns blue that’s dangerous. If the noise from frying gets too high call me….She would then come and correct those things. These are my earliest cooking memories. Some people absorb in different ways. I didn’t realize until I was 15 years old how much I retained.

He opened his first restaurant in 1957 in his hometown, but it closed in less than a year. He then began developing his own spices, and eventually made his way to New Orleans, where he worked at the restaurant Maison du Puy. While there, he met his first wife, Kay, who was a waitress. Prudhomme then became the executive chef at Commander’s Palace in 1975, which would propel him to be able to open K-Paul’s four years later.

5. He Wrote 9 Cookbooks & Created Seasonings That Are Sold Nationwide

Prudhomme published his first cookbook, Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen, in 1984. The success of his cookbook and restaurant made him a celebrity chef, which led to appearances on television and his food products line.

He authored nine cookbooks and produced several cooking videos. His latest cookbook, Always Cooking, was published in 2007.

Today, his Magic Seasoning Blends are sold nationwide.