Rautureau apprenticed in Anjou, France, and at twenty moved to the United States to work at several fine restaurants.

This was followed by Loulay Kitchen & Bar in 2013, a French-inspired restaurant that balanced the upscale Rover's with country-style cooking that he enjoyed growing up on the farm in France.

[1][2][3] Rautureau cooked for such well-known figures as Hillary Clinton, Francis Ford Coppola, Jackson Browne, and Julia Child.

As the oldest child, Rautureau was given the chore of doing the prep for dinner; and as such he quickly became acquainted with fresh homegrown ingredients at a young age.

At twenty, after six years of traditional French training, Rautureau headed for the United States and took his professional experience to La Fontaine with Jean Claude Poilevey in Chicago.

After three years in Chicago, Rautureau moved to Los Angeles where he worked at the Regency Club with Joachim Splichal, and then The Seventh Street Bistro with Laurent Quenioux.

[3][2] After closing Rover's in 2013, Chef Thierry Rautureau opened Loulay Kitchen & Bar[12] in downtown Seattle, at the bottom of the Sheraton Hotel.

[3][1] From 2003 to 2010, Rautureau was the co-host of the talk radio show “Seattle Kitchen" with fellow chef Tom Douglas on KIRO 97.3FM.

On television, Rautureau was featured on the Food Network's “Dining Around”[15] and “Ready, Set, Cook!," Ming Tsai's “Simply Ming,”[16] the PBS Series “French Fest,"[17] and the Discovery Channel series “Great Chefs from the Great Cities.

[19] Rautureau's most well-known television appearance is as a contestant on the second season of the Bravo reality series Top Chef Masters.

[20] Rautureau competed against Monica Pope (T'afia), Carmen González (Chef Consultant), David Burke (David Burke Townhouse), and the eventual winner of the season, Marcus Samuelsson (Red Rooster, Aquavit) in the second episode entitled "Top Chef Masters Season 2: It's My Party.

"[21] The challenge for the chefs was to cook a meal inspired by soul food for actor Mekhi Phifer's birthday party.

[22] Rautureau also participated in various other community and charity events and fundraisers, such as the opening of the Dale Turner YMCA in Shoreline, WA.

[27] From Rautureau opening Rover's in 1987, both the chef and his restaurants received local and national recognition from both press and industry critics.