Skip to content

Seattle Culture

The Chef in the Hat’s Latest Project? Perfume

The Chef in the Hat adds the role of perfumer to his résumé

By Andrew Hoge November 14, 2018

FullSetWhiskFig

This article originally appeared in the November 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.

This article appears in print in the November 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe.

You might expect to find an award-winning chef experimenting with new ingredients, but Thierry Rautureau, chef and owner of Loulay and Luc, is applying his skills to a new medium: custom fragrances. In July, he launched his new line, Chef in the Hat (the nickname he earned while running his renowned French restaurant Rover’s for decades), which he created with French-trained, Seattle-based perfumer Molly Ray.

His debut unisex fragrance, Loulay, which is sold as a room diffuser, hand soap and eau de toilette (from $38), features a base of fig and green tea with delectable top notes of lime and bergamot—scents he has been drawn to in his decades as a seasoned sensory showman. “Scent is a natural part of my world,” the chef explains. “If you pinch your nose, you won’t taste a thing…in many ways, designing this line is similar to creating a good dish.”

Follow Us

Ageless in Seattle: Trailblazing Through Time

Ageless in Seattle: Trailblazing Through Time

Aging is a virtue. Here’s how to do it well.

What if everything you’ve been told about aging isn’t true? What if age isn’t something to endure or fear but a secret superpower waiting to be unlocked? Imagine a world where every birthday isn’t a reminder of limitations but a celebration of wisdom, vitality, and untapped potential. Welcome to Ageless in Seattle, a column, community,…

Moxie on Monday: The Antidote to Exhaustion Isn’t What You Think

Moxie on Monday: The Antidote to Exhaustion Isn’t What You Think

Maybe you don’t need more rest. Maybe you need more heart.

Burnout is real. It can also be a tricky devil, misleading us into believing that what we need is more rest.  I believe it’s something else altogether. The antidote to exhaustion is living life with more gusto and gumption. You know, jumping in with both feet rather than tippy-toeing in from the sidelines? Life’s a…

Moxie on Monday: Let It Take Root Before You Reveal It

Moxie on Monday: Let It Take Root Before You Reveal It

Some things grow best in the dark

We live in a world that celebrates the loud, the visible, the shared. Social media turns our lives into highlight reels, with ideas and dreams posted before they’ve even taken root. But the most powerful growth happens in the quiet. Life-changing ideas often rise from solitude — like mushrooms, meant to grow in the dark,…

Nature Rx

Nature Rx

Rediscover your health through these increasingly popular outdoor wellness hacks

It could have been the fact that I was lounging in a comfy recliner, staring out of the open-air room at the Four Seasons Resort Maui, in Hawaii, listening to birds chirping, surrounded by exotic plants and palm trees. Perhaps it was the calming outrigger canoe ride I had taken from the shores of Wailea…