Paul Prudhomme

Paul Prudhomme (July 13, 1940 – October 8, 2015), also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines; he was credited with popularizing the cuisines, as well. He was the chef proprietor of K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and had previously owned and run several other restaurants. He developed several culinary products, including hot sauce and seasoning mixes, and wrote a number of cookbooks.

Early life

The youngest of 13 children, Prudhomme was raised on a farm near Opelousas, the seat of Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. His father Eli Prudhomme, Jr., was a farmer, but the family struggled to make ends meet during Prudhomme's childhood. Prudhomme was named Paul on his birth certificate as a priest thought he should have the same name as a saint, but he instead went by the name Gene Autry Prudhomme during his youth.

Career

Prudhomme opened his first restaurant in Opelousas in 1957, a hamburger restaurant called Big Daddy O's Patio. The restaurant went out of business in nine months, which also saw the end of his first marriage. He became a magazine seller initially in New Orleans, and afterwards a number of restaurant jobs took him around the country. During this period he began creating his own spice mixes and giving them away to customers. In 1970, he moved back to New Orleans to work as a sous chef at the Le Pavillon Hotel. He left after a short while to open Clarence Dupuy's restaurant Maison du Puy. While there, he met his second wife, Kay Hinrichs, who worked at the restaurant as a waitress. In 1975, Prudhomme left to become the first, American-born executive chef at the restaurant Commander's Palace under Richard Brennan, Sr. Chef Paul turned the unsuccessful Garden District restaurant into a world-class destination for food.