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"You have a rash..?"
—Colette to Linguini

Colette Tatou is a main character in Ratatouille. She is Linguini's co-worker and eventual girlfriend.

Ratatouille

Colette is part of Gusteau's staff. Determined to make a difference in the intimidating masculine world of haute cuisine, she is a firm believer of Gusteau's motto, going as far as defending Linguini from being fired when Skinner caught him "cooking" the soup in which Remy had made.


Colette takes Linguini under her wing and teaches him the skills necessary to survive in the fast-paced kitchen. Initially unaware of Linguini's admiration for her, Colette realizes her affection for the russet-haired chef after Skinner takes a personal, albeit feigned, interest in him.

The next day, she tells a sleepwalking Linguini (puppeteered by Remy at the time) that she likes him, and storms out after mistaking his lack of reaction for snobbishness. Linguini awakes and struggles to tell her the truth.

Initially, Colette is puzzled by his actions and raving behavior and slips a hand into her bag for a canister of mace. Remy desperately makes Linguini fall onto Colette to prevent him from talking further and the two kiss. Colette is equally surprised as Linguini, but quickly falls in love, dropping the mace. A romantic relationship quickly blossoms after this incident.

When Linguini suddenly inherits the restaurant when Remy successfully steals papers and will that testify that Linguini is Gusteau's secret son, he and Colette run the restaurant. Food critic Anton Ego arrives with a challenge for the restaurant. With Remy having been driven off and captured by Skinner, Linguini is unable to prepare any of Remy's recipes and struggles to explain to his staff until Remy's family staged a rescue. After Linguini reveals the truth, his entire staff leave in dismay. Colette spots Gusteau's cook book on display. Reminded of what she fought for, she decides to return, only to find the rat colony having taken over the kitchen. Disgusted, she nearly storms out again, but Linguini stops her and convinces her to help Remy, who suggests his own style of Ratatouille. Despite initial objections, they worked seamlessly.

With Ego pleased by the dish, he requests to see the chef, and Colette announces he must wait until all other patrons leave, then helps Linguini and Remy in demonstrating Remy's cooking. She, Linguini and the rats soon rejoice at Ego's positive review. After Gusteau's was shut down, she continued her career at a new Parisian bistro with Remy.

Personality

Colette is a very tough, assertive woman who is very hardworking. She is very fierce and strong, as shown when she is forced to train Linguini, and immediately sticks knives in his sleeves as she tells him she won't let a new trainee screw up all of her hard work. During her training with Linguini, she scolds him for taking his time while cooking and later threatens to kill Linguini if he can't keep his station clean. Colette herself states that the reason she is the only woman in the kitchen where cooking is regulated "by rules of stupid old men who make it impossible for women to cook" is because she is the toughest cook in the kitchen.

However, despite some of her tougher qualities, she is a firm fan and believer in Gusteau and his famous motto: "Anyone can cook." She has also memorized all of his recipes by heart. Her strong belief in his words causes her to defend Linguini from being fired by Chef Skinner, saying that it would betray Gusteau's words especially after Solene LeClaire said she liked the soup he made. Her belief in Gusteau's words is so strong that despite being betrayed by Linguini admitting that he was not the great chef he was made out to be, she goes back after remembering Gusteau's words and later works together with Remy (while the rest of the staff left) as a cook in Gusteau's and later in Remy and Linguini's bistro, La Ratatouille.

Trivia

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