NEW ORLEANS — The iconic New Orleans eatery that put Cajun cuisine on the map has shut down for good.
There is a “Temporarily Closed Until Further Notice” sign on the door of K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen on Chartres Street in the French Quarter.
Monday, we learned the temporary is now permanent.
The restaurant, founded by Chef Paul Prudhomme and his wife Kay in 1979, announced it will not be reopening.
The owners said repeated closings due to Coronavirus forced their decision to shutter the restaurant.
The news was heartbreaking for Frank Brigtsen, Prudhomme’s long-time friend and the original night chef at K-Paul’s.
“We are in a new world and I’m not in love with the new world, I will tell you that straight up,” Brigtsen said.
Brigtsen says Prudhomme, who died in 2015, pioneered what we now call “farm to table” at K-Paul’s.
“Hogs, yard hens, ducks, guinea fowl and whatever else he could procure in Cajun Country and this is what we had to work with,” Brigtsen said. “This is what we made our menu’s with.”
Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate Food Writer Ian McNulty said what Chef Paul did at K-Paul’s was revolutionary.
“The reason why people to this day think about Cajun Food and they think Louisiana and they just think delicious, robust flavors is due in large part to what Chef Paul did at K-Paul’s first and then took it to the world,” McNulty said.
Brenda Prudhomme, Chef Paul's niece released a statement saying, "We have been blessed and honored to serve our customers who have become family through shared stories, breaking bread with jalapeno cheddar yeast rolls and raised martini glasses."
K-Paul’s closure underscores the challenges the restaurant industry faces in the Coronavirus era.
“No family, no restaurant, no brand is immune from the hardships that are ravaging the economy right now,” McNulty said.
“We all have to make very, very difficult decisions whether to stay open, whether to reopen, whether to close, whether to get out of this industry altogether or whether to just pivot and try to find some way to keep hospitality alive,” Brigtsen said.
While the restaurant may be closing, former staff members and former chefs like Frank Brigtsen will carry a piece of K-Paul Louisiana Kitchen with them for the rest of their careers.
Brigtsen now has his own restaurant “Brigtsen’s” in the Riverbend area.
“My 7 years with Paul was my culinary education, but it was not only that, Paul gave me a chance to be a Chef, but he also taught me how to be a man,” Brigtsen said. “It’s everyone who worked at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen over these many years, everyone had this opportunity to improve themselves.”
K-Paul’s served it last meal in May.
The building at 416 Chartres Street that housed the restaurant, built in 1864, is now up for sale.
Chef Paul's Magic Seasoning is a separate entity.
It will continue operations from its headquarters in Elmwood..
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