Iconic Seattle chef Thierry Rautureau dies at 64
Seattle chef Thierry Rautureau dies at 64
The Seattle restaurant community is mourning the loss of one of their own. Chef Thierry Rautureau passed away on Sunday.
SEATTLE - The Seattle restaurant community is mourning the loss of an iconic French chef, Thierry Rautureau, who passed away Sunday at the age of 64.
According to The Seattle Times, Rautureau, more commonly known as ‘The Chef in the Hat’, died after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
Rautureau was an award-winning chef who owned several local restaurants, including Loulay in Madison Valley.
In 1998, Rautureau won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northwest. At the time, he was running his first restaurant in Madison Valley called Rover’s – which closed in 2013.
Rautureau was born and raised in the French countryside. According to The Seattle Times, his parents were farmers and since he was the oldest child, most of the cooking duties fell to him.
By the age of 20, he had moved to the United States to work in restaurants in Chicago and Los Angeles. While visiting Seattle, Rautureau became fascinated with the food of the Pacific Northwest and settled.
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Rautureau leaves behind his wife and two sons.