SEATTLE — Loulay is known for contemporary French food, but the most comforting menu item was inspired by the past.
Chef's Hot Chocolate was created by owner Thierry Rautureau, based on his experiences growing up in the French countryside.
His grandparents worked on the farm of a chateau and started their mornings by milking the cows and making breakfast: hot chocolate, made with fresh milk and powdered cocoa, and homemade bread toasted over an open flame.
"We didn't have a toaster. I don't even know if they had a plug in the kitchen,” Rautureau laughed. "And then we had this big mountain of homemade salted butter, so you took that and slathered the bread with it.”
His restaurant adaptation includes pieces of brioche, grilled to perfection and served with a side of salted butter, and hot chocolate made with ground cocoa powder from Theo.
Rautureau calls the dessert his all-time favorite "memory taste."
"There's many things I've eaten in my life, many many many things, I'm a very fortunate man,” he said. “But, you know, I always go back to that one."
Chef's Hot Chocolate costs $5 and is on the Loulay dessert menu.
Loulay 600 Union St, Seattle, WA 98101
