Seattle's 'Chef in the Hat' Thierry Rautureau dies at 64

"Joie de vivre" came up a lot as KUOW talked with people who knew and loved renowned Seattle chef Thierry Rautureau, who died on Sunday.

The restaurateur known as "The Chef in the Hat" was a regular presence for many years on KUOW, often helping listeners whip up a meal with whatever they had on hand in their refrigerator.

Former KUOW arts reporter and host Marcie Sillman says Rautureau was integral to building Seattle's culinary identity and inspired countless home cooks.

“You felt so happy when you were interviewing him, and you had such a good time, and the listeners had a good time. And you just left at the end of the show smiling. And I think that that is truly one of the biggest gifts that he gave us, was just his joie de vivre.”

Just before the first pandemic Thanksgiving of 2020, Rautureau talked to KUOW’s Bill Radke and listeners about his favorite holiday:

“Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of all year because there's nothing else involved but thanks. And we live in a community, thank God, that is so kind. Seattle has been very responsive to helping the restaurants, going to the restaurants. And I want to thank every single one of you out there supporting restaurants in this terrible time.”

Rautureau grew up in the rural town of Saint-Hilaire-de-Loulay, in the Muscadet region of France. He chose cooking as a career when he was only 14. When he was 20, he moved to the United States with just a few dollars in his pocket.

Rautureau later met his wife Kathy in a Los Angeles restaurant where they both worked. In 1988, looking for a place to raise children and start a business, they chose Seattle. With the help of a partner, they bought Rover's restaurant, in Madison Valley.

One Christmas, Kathy gave Rautureau a fedora as a present, and he started wearing it at work. Soon after, a customer at Rover's yelled out, "It's The Chef in the Hat!" Rautureau trademarked the name, and went on to earn a James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest in 1998.

Fellow Seattle chef Tom Douglas, Rautureau's radio co-host and close friend, told KUOW about his health struggles over the last two years. They included a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis, and later, a double lung transplant.

“He went into this whole situation eyes wide open," Douglas said. "He had an opportunity to possibly extend his life for a decade or more by doing this and didn't have much more than a year or two if he didn't, so I think he was all in and, and we were all in for him.”

Among many tributes pouring out for Rautureau was one from former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, who studied cooking with Rautureau before going on to write the Modernist Cuisine cookbooks. He called him “a fantastic mentor.”

Seattle food writer Cynthia Nims had just returned from studying cooking in France when she first met Rautureau in the early 1990s. She later co-wrote the Rover's cookbook with him. “He always was going to find the bright spot," she said. "And making people around him feel at ease was one of one of his great gifts.”

“Guys like him don't come around very often," added Tom Douglas. "He's such a charmer. He was upstanding, thoughtful, creative, energetic, smiley, supportive, you know, he was just the most dynamic guy.”

Thierry Rautureau was 64 years old. He is survived by his wife Kathy, and his sons Ryan and Adrian.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.