James Beard Award-winning chef and former owner of several Seattle restaurants, Thierry Rautureau died Sunday, according to a media release.
After he apprenticed in France, Rautureau moved to Seattle at the age of 20, where he became the head chef and owner of Rover’s Restaurant in 1987.
He won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Pacific Northwest in 1988.
Luc, a French-American cafe and bar followed in 2010, then Loulay Kitchen & Bar in 2013. Both restaurants closed in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Known in Seattle as ‘The Chef in the Hat,’ Rautureau also cohosted ‘Seattle Kitchen’ with chef Tom Douglas on the radio for seven years.
He may best be known as a contestant on the second and fourth seasons of Top Chef Masters.
Rautureau died Sunday after complications from a lung transplant he received on Sunday, Oct. 1.
He is survived by his wife Kathy and his two sons, who were by his side when he passed.