Influential chef Paul Prudhomme dies at 75

We have more sad news to report, as we have learned that legendary chef Paul Prudhomme passed away today at age 75. Prudhomme popularized Cajun and Creole cooking, elevating the status of those cuisines through his restaurants, cookbooks, and television programs.

New Orleans restaurateur Mary Sonnier, who worked for Prudhomme in the 1980s, says his vision for cooking was a drastic departure from the status quo. “He sort of started the whole farm-to-table movement,” she said. “When we opened every night, we opened with a new menu. We didn’t buy food for the menu, the menu was created based on what food we had.”

Prudhomme influenced chefs in his native Louisiana as well as countless chefs and home cooks across the globe. In addition to running his flagship restaurant, K-Paul, he hosted several cooking shows, wrote numerous cookbooks, and created his own line of spices and seasonings.