Toulouse Petit gets the first part of its name from Toulouse Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

In 1993, I was hired as a waiter at a little restaurant named Rienzi at 533 Rue Toulouse and Chartres (just a block from Jackson Square) that had a rather talented and sometimes pretty hot headed young chef, a British formally trained Maître D’, and a capable and really quite hilariously witty and charming wait staff, all of whom introduced me to a world of dining, cuisine, and sensibility I had not known exists (I grew up in quaint Edmonds, around 20 miles north of here).

I also lived in the Quarter, and whenever I was on Rue Toulouse, I was distinctly aware that I had been introduced to a world I had not yet experienced nor even knew too really appreciate or understand.
Petit is a play on words and reference (meaning young child and a term of affection) to my two daughters, Ava and Téa, who were 4 and 8 years old when the name for the concept was decided in 2007. By the time we were ready move forward on the Toulouse project in this building (2008) it was quite apparent that we would need to construct a more abbreviated and initial version of how Toulouse was originally conceived, given the complexity and scope of our construction and decor, menu range, and what we would require and demand from us kitchen. What is here is still the ‘Petit’ version, though our menu has expanded its scope and range with this new release in several important ways and through the years.

After returning to Seattle in 1994 I had no notion of opening a dining establishment with a French Quarter thematic backdrop; however, after being invited to consider a nearly 10,000 sf space (2002 in Pioneer Square) that had been damaged in the Nisqually earthquake, the Toulouse concept was conceived and then underwent several revisions over the next several years.
The question being well: what kind of place could keep a space this size sufficiently patronized . . . and it doesn’t feel like a giant, impersonal environment . . . and it can deliver and perform dinner, brunch, business lunch, happy hour . . . and be an integrated lounge and dining environment that the entire demographic spectrum and community will feel at home being here . . . and it all goes together seamlessly and coherently.

From this question the Toulouse concept found its provenance and initial conception . . . as in how would we make this idea even work?
Toulouse is thus by design and intention centered, designed, and constructed around a French Quarter / New Orleans thematic backdrop and the related imagery and styling that goes along with it and which respects where dining and cuisine came from before us to deliver our unique menus and the experience and environment we provide.

The environment here is intended to be timeless, warm, inviting and welcoming to all. . . and everywhere you look someone skilled and who cares had to think about, draw, redraw, design, redesign, construct, make corrections, and finally properly install every square inch of what you see.
The subtext being: it all matters that much to us because your moments and lives together are meant to be special and regarded and delivered as such. The candles lit every night are another expression of that sensibility.

To that end we deliver the essential requirements of a French Quarter restaurant; however, I do not think of Toulouse as simply a ‘New Orleans’ or ‘Creole / Cajun’ restaurant per se. Our menu takes you on a tour of technical capability, unique preparations, and sheer range within (mostly) traditional
cuisine and its moorings.
We have not offered to clarify any of this more explicitly through the years, because any patron can determine what we are for him or herself. And on any occasion, there will be various people and parties here all at the same time for their own separate and distinct reasons.

Our menu format change seems a good opportunity to clarify what kind of dining establishment do we think of us as being. The question does get asked rather frequently.
For those who may wish to put us strictly in the ‘Creole’ category: You can find that here; however, you may limit your own possibility for experience.