NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – If cooking exists in the world beyond this one, Chef Paul Prudhomme is likely finding ways to spice up the menu beyond the pearly gates.
The Louisiana icon died Thursday, after a brief illness.
Inside Restaurant R’evolution, celebrity chef John Folse remembers his dear friend and culinary brother.
“We sat around table and we did what chefs and cooks in Louisiana did; we talked about food, and out of that came tremendous inspiration. And of course, R’evolution, this room I stand in right now—I’m proud to say this was also an inspiration from some of the conversations I had with Paul.”
He laughs, recalling a time when they walked into New York’s Carnegie Deli together with Leah Chase, and received a standing ovation.
“And we knew why, but I tapped Paul on the shoulder and I said ‘Paul, you see what happens when you walk into a restaurant in New York with me?’”
When it comes to cultural heroes, President of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, Mark Romig, puts Chef Prudhomme in a league of his own.
“He established a brand for New Orleans cuisine like no other person could have,” says Romig.
“I remember back in the ‘80s when he took it nationally and internationally, it was the blackened craze. He really took food and made it so much more exciting. People would come to New Orleans to experience what everyone was talking about.”
But before the brand now known around the world, there were the Brennans, who hired Prudhomme as chef for Commander’s Palace in 1975.
“Paul is the one who got everybody to go ‘POW’ in their mouth, truly!” recalls Lally Brennan.
“Paul Prudhomme was transformative for the food at Commander’s and in New Orleans, Louisiana, and frankly in the country,” says Ti Martin, adding, “because Paul was doing Cajun and we’re really Creole. People don’t get it now that there was no Cajun food in New Orleans at that time.”
The co-proprietors of Commander’s Palace laughed, remembering how the big-hearted chef would prepare gourmet meals for a pet Yorkie that belonged to an eccentric aunt.
He was a Cajun country boy who chopped and seasoned his way through the stereotypes to give Cajun cuisine celebrity status.
“And Paul’s gonna always be right on the top of that. Nobody will ever step over him when it comes to defining who created Cajun cuisine on the world map. It was him,” says Folse.
Chef Paul Prudhomme was 75.