For over decades, Chef Paul Miller had guided the award-winning cuisine of K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen. As executive chef of the renowned French Quarter restaurant, Miller oversees the exacting preparation of Louisiana dishes that have drawn diners from around the world for 35 years.

A fortuitous meeting between Miller and K-Paul’s proprietor, Chef Paul Prudhomme, led to a lifelong collaboration between the two culinary professionals. Although they both grew up in Opelousas, Louisiana, the pair did not meet until their paths crossed at Brennan’s of Atlanta. Chef Miller, who was working in the restaurant’s kitchen, and Chef Prudhomme, a visiting Brennan’s corporate chef, discovered they had much in common, including a shared birthplace.

In 1977, Chef Miller moved to New Orleans to work with Chef Prudhomme, who was executive chef at Commander’s Palace, the Brennan’s Garden District restaurant. Chef Prudhomme opened K-Paul’s in 1979 and the restaurant became a sensation, with diners lined up nightly to eat at the small establishment. A couple of years later, Miller rejoined Chef Prudhomme in the K-Paul’s kitchen.

As Paul Prudhomme’s role as a globetrotting ambassador for regional cuisine grew in the 1980’s, and with the increasing popularity of his signature Magic Seasoning Blends, the famed chef turned over the reins of his flagship restaurant to the other Opelousas native son, Chef Paul Miller. Under his watch, the restaurant underwent extensive renovation in 1996 and new menu concepts were developed. Chef Miller furthered the restaurant’s use of fresh, local ingredients in the creation of flavorful, authentic Louisiana cooking, a philosophy that earned the restaurant a prestigious Ivy Award from Restaurants & Institutions magazine in 2000.

Chef Miller heads the catering division of K-Paul’s, ensuring excellence in the private caterings, group cooking demonstrations and seminars hosted on and off-site by the restaurant. In addition to his responsibilities at K-Paul’s, Miller works closely with Chef Prudhomme as a food manufacturer consultant, exploring new innovations in the culinary arena, and serving as a culinary advisor to companies in Portland, Los Angeles and Japan. Chef Miller also initiated the K-Paul’s smoked meat facility that distributes premium sausage products throughout the United States.

Although he has made numerous television appearances both locally and nationally, one of Chef Miller’s proudest accomplishments is the role he has played in the training of many visiting chefs who travel to New Orleans to learn about the region’s spices, flavor profiles and unique cooking culture.

Chef Miller is active in civic and community projects, lending support to organizations including Meals-on-Wheels, Cystic Fibrosis Association, Big Brother/Big Sisters, Boy’s Hope, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Shriner’s Hospital and Easter Seals. He is the former president of the French Quarter Business Association, an office he held for two years, and is a member of the American Culinary Foundation.