Thierry Rautureau was born on a farm in the Muscadet region of France, and grew up in the French countryside, enjoying the freshest foods. Their tastes and aromas became a part of his taste vocabulary as he entered his profession as a 13 year old apprentice. At age 16, he was working in the kitchen at Mont St. Michel in Normandy, then on to the famous Chamonix in the French Alps and finally to St Jean de Luz in the Basque country. In 1979 he went to work at La Fontaine in Chicago, then to the Seventh Street Bistro, Mangia and the Regency Club, all in Los Angeles.

In 1987, he felt it was time to open his own restaurant and Rovers was born in Seattle. Great Chefs Television caught up with Chef Thierry in 1994 where he prepared an appetizer, Pacific Smoked Salmon for their Great Chefs-Great Cities series. He also prepared two entrees, a Sturgeon with citrus, and King Salmon Tournedos for the Great Chefs of America series.

Later in 1998, he was named “Best Chef of the Northwest” by the James Beard Foundation, Seattle’s Chef of the Year, and Zagat rated Rovers #1 in Seattle. He also released his cookbook “The Chef in the Hat”, a nickname given by his customers, after he began wearing a hat that his wife Kathleen gave him, in the restaurant.

In 1999, Great Chefs returned to film him preparing two dishes, a Pacific Rim Barbecue Chicken and Grilled Sea Scallops, for the Weber Grill Cookout America-Seattle television special. At the same time, he prepared a Bing Cherry Clafouti dessert for the Great Chefs French Fest television special.

In 2010, Chef Thierry and his wife opened Luc Restaurant, a casual French American café named after his late father Luc Rautureau. In April 2013 Chef closed Rovers, and later that year, opened a new flagship in downtown Seattle at the Sheraton Hotel called Loulay.